The term ‘Trail’, with a capital ‘T’, refers to the John Muir Trail, while ‘trail’ indicates a side-trail or path other than the JMT.
Distances are given in miles and yards, and heights in feet, as the US uses the imperial system. American maps are also in imperial units, unlike those of the UK and continental Europe. Generally, metric conversions have not been given in the text.
Most distances in miles that appear in the guidebook have been estimated from maps, but when a signpost/board is mentioned in the text the distances stated are those given on the signpost, as this should be an aid to locating your position on the Trail.
No attempt has been made to assign walking times to individual sections. Different people tackling the JMT will have different levels of fitness, and while some like to move fast in the mountains others prefer to progress at a much more leisurely pace. The data on distance and ascent/descent at the start of each day stage should allow the walker who knows his own strengths and weaknesses to estimate how long a particular section will take to cover. But remember that if you are part of a group the progress of the party will be determined by the speed of the slowest member.
Remember also that at the higher altitudes on the Trail, particularly in the southern half of the JMT, a walker’s rate of ascent in the relatively thin air is likely to be slower than at lower elevations. Daytime temperature, which can often be high even at altitude, will also affect progress.
What’s in a Name?
It is interesting how different English words are used around the world for the basic task of putting one foot in front of the other. In Britain this activity is known as ‘walking’ or ‘rambling’; in the Himalayas or in Patagonia and elsewhere it is ‘trekking’; in New Zealand it is ‘tramping’ and in Australia ‘bushwalking’. In the US people go ‘hiking’, which is now considered a very old-fashioned term in Britain. But for some inexplicable reason ‘hiking’ seems just right to describe the activity of walking through the American wilderness, and is used frequently in this book.
Planning your trip
In countries such as the UK it is possible to walk the Pennine Way, for example, at a moment’s notice: pack a tent and backpack, perhaps make a few phone calls to B&Bs, catch a train and then simply … go! It is not possible to walk the JMT in this manner. Only careful pre-trip planning will ensure a trouble-free walk along the JMT with sufficient food and the right equipment.
First, questions must be asked about the direction in which to hike the Trail and the right time of year to do so; whether to walk alone or with a group. Note also that, unlike the UK and most of Europe, permits are required to walk in wilderness areas of the United States (see ‘Wilderness Permits’, below), and they are strictly allocated to ensure the trails are not overused. A permit must be applied for several months in advance of the trip, preferably before a flight is booked to the States. Thought has also to be given to the means of getting from the airport of arrival to the trailhead and back to an airport at the end of the walk, not particularly a straightforward thing to achieve in public-transport-shy America.
There are few places along the Trail where meals can be bought, so food for the whole trip must be purchased and much of it packaged up and posted to a collection point further down the Trail. Water in the wilds of California is generally unsafe to drink and so it is vital to take some means of making it safe.
Granite boulders on the summit of Half Dome (Day 1)
It may all seem a daunting task, particularly to plan whilst living on the other side of the world. But working through the problems logically should see it all through, although it may seem quite a relief when you finally head out of Yosemite Valley at the beginning of the long hike. You will very soon discover that it has all been worth it.
It is hoped that the information supplied in this guidebook will greatly assist walkers plan and achieve the JMT, truly a walk of a lifetime. Information of this type can get out of date quite quickly, so the author strongly advises prospective JMT hikers to check on as many details as possible before leaving for America. This is relatively easily done through the Internet, and several of the more important web sites relevant to the JMT are included in this guide. Once on the Trail the best source of up-to-date information is other hikers, particularly those travelling in the opposite direction along the JMT, and various park rangers who will be encountered from time to time (a list of ranger stations is provided in Appendix 2).
Which direction?
Any long-distance path can, of course, be walked in either direction. So it is possible to walk the John Muir Trail either from south to north (Whitney to Yosemite) or from north to south (Yosemite to Whitney). Hikers walking the Pacific Crest Trail usually walk the JMT section of their route from south to north, as most PCT ‘Thru-Hikers’, for logistical reasons, travel from Mexico to Canada. But for those walking only the John Muir Trail it is far better to hike the Trail from north to south.
Mount Lyell, the highest peak in Yosemite, with its small glacier, towering above the head of Lyell Canyon (Day 5)
If you travel from south to north, beginning at Whitney Portal, there are four major disadvantages. The very first stage is a climb of over 6000ft to the summit of Mount Whitney, at the seriously high altitude of 14,496ft. At this stage you will not be altitude acclimatised and so run a serious risk of suffering altitude sickness, which at best would severely affect your ability to continue northwards along the JMT. Secondly, there is no point along the route of the JMT between Whitney Portal and Muir Trail Ranch where further food supplies may be picked up, so the poorly acclimatised and unfit trail hiker would have to begin the walk by carrying a heavy load of 10 days’ worth of food from the very beginning of the trek. Thirdly, the southern half of the JMT passes through areas of total backcountry wilderness, where escape routes are relatively few and far apart (a list of escape routes is given in Appendix 3), and where even these usually require at least two and often more days to reach civilisation. So the most serious part of the Trail is encountered at the beginning of the trip when the overseas walker will be unused to the American wilderness and so less able to cope. Lastly, the southern section contains a half-dozen high mountain passes of over 10,000ft which come in quick succession, almost one per day. Again the walker not yet trail fit and altitude acclimatised will find the crossing of these high cols extremely arduous.
By walking from north to south, Yosemite to Whitney, all of these problems are overcome. The northern end of the Trail is at a much lower altitude than the southern half; compare the summit of Half Dome, 8836ft, with those of the 11,000ft+ passes further south and the 14,496ft of Mount Whitney itself. The climbs in the northern half of the Trail are generally not as long and hard as those further south, and altitude is gradually gained as the walker heads south, so allowing good acclimatisation. Furthermore, just three days (or even only two days if Half Dome is omitted) after leaving Yosemite Valley, Tuolumne Meadows on a main road is reached, where food supplies may be picked up and prepared foods purchased. Three and a half days later Reds Meadow is encountered, with similar facilities. Then, 2½ days after that, comes the comfort and hospitality of Vermilion. And only two days later comes Muir Trail Ranch, which allows pre-posted food packages (see ‘Posting food on ahead’, below) to be collected. So there is less of a wilderness aspect on the northern half of the JMT compared to the southern half; the walker can therefore build up his or her trail fitness and experience of the Californian wilderness before tackling the harder, higher, wilder sections in the south.
For all these reasons the JMT hiker is strongly recommended to walk the Trail north to south, from Yosemite to Whitney. This is the direction described in this guidebook.
