The John Muir Trail. Alan Castle

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       Equipment

       Food Supplies

       General Fitness and Trail Fitness

       Health and Medical Considerations

       Water Purification

       Coping with Altitude

       Dealing with Bears

       River Crossings

       Other Natural Hazards

       Low-Impact Trekking and National Park/Wilderness Regulations

       Camp Routine

       Time Difference

       Public Holidays in the US

       Money

       Insurance

       THE NATURAL WORLD by Dr Charles Aitchison

       Geology of the Sierra Nevada

       Vegetation and Flowers

       Birds of the John Muir Trail

       Mammals along the Trail

       TRAIL GUIDE

       Day 1 Yosemite Valley (Happy Isles) to Half Dome Trail Junction/Sunrise Creek and the Ascent of Half Dome

       Day 2 Half Dome Trail Junction/Sunrise Creek to Sunrise High Sierra Camp

       Day 3 Sunrise High Sierra Camp via Cathedral Pass to Tuolumne Meadows

       Day 4 Tuolumne Meadows to Upper Lyell Canyon

       Day 5 Upper Lyell Canyon via Donohue Pass and Island Pass to Thousand Island Lake

       Day 6 Thousand Island Lake to the Devil’s Postpile

       Day 7 The Devil’s Postpile via Reds Meadow to Deer Creek

       Day 8 Deer Creek to Tully Hole/Cascade Valley Junction

       Day 9 Tully Hole/Cascade Valley Junction via Silver Pass to Edison Lake

       Day 10 Edison Lake to Rosemarie Meadow

       Day 11 Rosemarie Meadow via Seldon Pass to the Muir Trail Ranch

       Day 12 Muir Trail Ranch to McClure Meadow

       Day 13 McClure Meadow via Muir Pass to Unnamed Lake North-East of Helen Lake

       Day 14 Unnamed Lake North-East of Helen Lake to Deer Meadow

       Day 15 Deer Meadow via Mather Pass to Kings River

       Day 16 Kings River via Pinchot Pass to Woods Creek

       Day 17 Woods Creek via Glen Pass to Vidette Meadow

       Day 18 Vidette Meadow via Forester Pass to Tyndall Creek

       Day 19 Tyndall Creek to Guitar Lake

       Day 20 Guitar Lake via Mount Whitney and Trail Crest to Trail Camp; and the ascent of Mount Whitney

       Day 21 Trail Camp to Whitney Portal

       Epilogue

       APPENDIX 1 Camping Areas on the JMT

       APPENDIX 2 Ranger Stations along the JMT

       APPENDIX 3 Escape Routes on the JMT

       APPENDIX 4 Bear Box Locations on the JMT

       APPENDIX 5 Mountain Passes and Peaks on the JMT

       APPENDIX 6 Useful Addresses and Websites in the UK and US

       APPENDIX 7 Bibliography

       APPENDIX 8 Trail Summary Table

      Hiker on the steep descent from Forester Pass (Day 18)

INTRODUCTION

      The John Muir Trail (JMT) is one of the world’s greatest treks and is North America’s best-known middistance walking trail. It runs for 216 miles through the high Sierra Nevada mountains of California, from Yosemite Valley in the north to the summit of Mount Whitney (14,496ft) above Lone Pine in the south, and takes about three weeks to complete.

      The route is largely a wilderness experience, and this intensifies as one progresses along the Trail from the relative civilisation between Yosemite and Tuolumne, where there are many day-trippers and other walkers, to the huge wilderness areas further south, particularly after the Muir Trail Ranch. Tourists are once again encountered, in the form of day walkers on Mount Whitney, during the very last stages of the Trail.

      The Edison Queen approaching Mono Creek ferry pick-up point (Day 9)

      However, although the JMT passes through areas of genuine wilderness, the Trail by its very nature confines backpackers to a narrow corridor through that wilderness. The Trail was man made and is maintained by rangers, and along its length there are Ranger Stations where officials are found during the summer season. You will undoubtedly pass many other hikers during your sojourn along the JMT, and will rarely be more than a mile or two from other human beings. Only by leaving the man-made trails would one truly be entering the huge wilderness that is the Californian High Sierras.

      While the John Muir Trail passes through high mountain country where spectacular peaks and high passes abound, the JMT itself is a relatively easy trail to walk. Gradients are rarely very steep, as the trail was expertly engineered and was originally intended for pack animals, mules and horses. So although the JMT often goes over high passes, the routes over them are nearly always well graded. You may, however, marvel that horses were expected to traverse such narrow and dramatic trails as those over the Forester and Glen passes; both an experienced rider and horse would be necessary!

      There is little in the way of exposure along the entire length of the JMT, no scrambling is involved СКАЧАТЬ