One of my goals for 2010 was to backpack the entire John Muir Trail. The official JMT trail runs 211 miles from Yosemite Valley in the north to the peak of Mt. Whitney — the highest mountain in the lower 48 states at 14,505 ft. It’s a three week wilderness adventure that requires plenty of planning, preparation and training.
I had thru-hiked the JMT before, way back in August 1980. My second thru-hike on the JMT in 2010 marked the 30th anniversary of that first trip. I thought it made a fitting milestone. Maybe I should plan to hike it every 30 years.
Hike the John Muir Trail was one of the big reasons I got back into hiking and started SoCal Hiker. I’ve always enjoyed hiking, but having a significant goal like the JMT motivated me to hike more, and with purpose.
I’ll be updating this section of the site with details on the planning, training, gear lists and more. Partly this is for my own selfish use; I need to do it, so why not do it here. But it’s also here to share with other hikers and backpackers who are thinking of hiking the JMT as well. If that includes you, please share your knowledge as well. That’s what comments are for!
After the trip, I’ll post a detailed trip report and photos.
Note that the bulk of the content on this page has yet to be written, but I’ll be fleshing it out soon. Here’s a rough outline of what you can look forward to:
- Overview of the John Muir Trail
- Planning
- Training
- Day-by-day itinerary
- Gear List
- Menus
- Resupply Addresses
- Post-trip report
- Photos
- Other useful JMT resources
Let me know if I left anything out!