John Muir Trail:

The last section was finished in 1938 and runs for 212 miles north south from Yosemite Valley to Mt. Whitney summit in Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park. Most people also add the miles down to the trailhead at Whitney Portal for a total of 221.

This is one of the more spectacular segments of the Pacific Crest Trail, and has many access points from the east and west sides – making for good loop trips of 3 to 15 days. High granite wilderness with stark blue lakes in glacier carved basins.  There are many potential loop trips and a backpacking shuttle service can pick you up or drop you if you are doing JMT segments.

John Muir Trail area Permits:

Required since the routes are thru National Parks or wilderness areas. Get the permit at the point of entry. East side permits are U.S. Forest Service. The Mt. Whitney end is thru the Forest Service by lottery, but there are nearby passes where you can get to the JMT and permits are usually available in advance or at the trailhead. For 2013, Yosemite end reservations opened in late November. Try to get them asap as there is a daily quota at all trailheads. Get your wilderness permit (a lottery) through recreation.gov/permits/445859

There is an exit quota of 45 people per day over Donohue Pass. nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/jmt.htm Of those 45, 30 are allocated to Lyell Canyon, the remaining 15 are for Happy Isles Trailhead. These are the only two trailheads that allow access to the JMT via Donahue Pass..

You can apply up to 24 weeks in advance (168 days). This is a weekly lottery starting on Sunday 12:01 am, If you don't win a spot on the first week's lottery, resubmit the next week. Repeat.
Only 60% of the spots are available in the advance lottery. The remaining 40% traditionally are released up to 7 days before depart date. Very few are available for walk-up. This varies by year. Also, Inga Aksamit has done a good blog post on this: ingasadventures.com/how-to-get-a-permit-to-hike-the-john-muir-trail/

If you decide to start outside of Yosemite, get a Forest Service permit.If you are taking a west side (of the Sierras) trail from Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park to access the JMT, get your permit from Sequoia Kings Canyon NP.

Adam White from Yahoo John Muir Trail forum posted some suggestions for starting the JMT from entry points north or east of Yosemite and avoiding the Yosemite permitting process. These routes add from 30 to 40 miles to the trip, and assume that you will stay in the backpackers camp at Tuolumne Meadows, pick up your resupply, and get out of Yosemite over Donahue Pass as quickly as possible. The three possible entry points are Robinson Creek trailhead in Hoover Wilderness, with a permit from Humboldt Toiyabe National Forest, or Green Creek or Virginia Lakes trailhead - same permit location, or Rush Creek Trailhead - permits from Inyo National Forest and more difficult permitting process.

Resupply - Food Drops:

The John Muir Trail is the longest stretch of the Pacific Crest trail with no towns or highway crossings, so food drops are a problem, particularly if you are not doing the 20+ miles per day of a PCT thru-hiker. I went from Yosemite south, so had a drop at Reds Meadows' Resort, one 4 days later at Vermillion Resort, and then had a friend with llamas do one in LeConte Canyon.

 If you don't want to carry a full load of food up from the valley floor, have a resupply at Tuolumne Meadows, two days away.

Vermillion Resort is one of the highlights of the trip with meals, and sleeping facilities for hikers, and a small store. They make a special effort to welcome both PCTers and JMTers - first beer and first night are free. Great pie. ATT cell service works at VVR. They also have internet via satellite.

  Muir Trail Ranch does hiker resupply and is located a couple of days south of Vermilion Valley Resort. Hikers can stay overnight in either a log cabin or tent cabin by reservation. Sometimes openings for cabins are available without reservation, but not too often. One-night and two-night stays include all three meals, use of laundry, showers, and enclosed hot spring baths. Meals aren't available without an overnight stay. The ranch is very close to the trail. Some people start their half-JMT trek by leaving from Florence Lake, which has five ferryboat runs per day, seven days a week. The ranch is five miles east of the lake. Vermilion Valley Resort offers shuttle service from Fresno’s airport, Amtrak station and Greyhound station to Florence Lake, Edison Lake and Mono Hot Springs. Contact them at www.edisonlake.com  at least two weeks in advance. The current charge is about $200 for two people.

For Kearsarge Pass - Onion Valley resupply options, check with mtwilliamsonmotel.com in Independence. They expanded their services in 2014 and now have shuttles, motel rooms, meet/drop you at trail, etc.

The pack station out of Onion Valley is run by Berner's Pack Outfit, Brian & Danica Berner. They also run the Pine Creek Pack Station. Contact them at 760-387-2797 or 800-962-0775. Their address is Berner's Pack Outfit, Pine Creek Pack Station, P.O. Box 968, Bishop, CA 93515. I heard they will hold a resupply box for $75, but contact them to be sure.

As a resupply strategy, if you have to hike out to Onion Valley to get a food drop, you might consider doing as Susan and I do if water on the PCT is several miles off the trail. We setup a dry camp at the PCT junction to the water source, I will empty absolutely everything out of my pack except emergency gear and empty water containers, and then make a fast round trip for the water. With the lightened pack, I can make very good time.

For horse or mule resupply from the east side of the Sierras check the pack station list at: pack station list pdf  or a list of east side packers: http://www.bishopvisitor.com/activities/exp_pack_trips.php3

Re Resupply Fuel:

It's best to buy at resupply point. Fuels can't be flown. US Postal Service will allow butane/propane canisters and alcohol to be mailed ground only provided they are packed and labeled properly.  See our pct page comments on this: shipping_fuel . I mailed an unopened can of alcohol to Mt. Laguna for our section A PCT hike, properly packed - wrapped with paper towels inside a ziplock inside a well padded box. Good thing I followed the rules because it did leak - not a lot, but all the paper towels were damp - nothing into outer box.

My Blog entry on planning for long distance hiking

http://timecheck00.blogspot.com/2008/10/long-distance-walk-planning.html

John Muir Trail thru-hiker statistics:

I checked with Yosemite Assn, which issues the southbound permits. As of 29 July 04 they had issued 244 permits for the year and estimated a total of 600 for the season. 300 PCT thru-hikers start northbound, and about 180 of them get to Canada, so I estimate that at least 200 do the JMT.

Trail Conditions:

To check on snow and high water conditions in the Sequoia-Kings Canyon part of the JMT, look at http://www.nps.gov/seki/planyourvisit/trailcond.htm . Yosemite has a similar site but the information is not as good or as current: http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/conditions.htm  . The US Forest Service has information on east side trailheads http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/inyo/conditions/index.shtml . If you are hiking when most of the trail is covered with snow, navigation is a problem. Have good map and compass or gps skills.

Altitude Sickness:

This can happen irregardless of age or physical conditions, usually during the first two or three days at altitude. Sometimes it can be life threatening, so I recommend that you study altitudemedicine.org's website carefully. I used Diamox recently with 125 mg one day before starting the trip, and 75 mg each morning and evening during trip, and it worked for me. Each person is different, not medical advice. Forgot it one night and woke up with a headache.altitudemedicine.org/index.php/altitude-medicine/learn-about-altitude-sickness

Early Season Fording Techniques:

If you are a PCTer, you will have a number of fast deep crossings requiring extreme caution.  Evolution Creek is the deepest, sometimes chest high at the normal crossing point, but not very fast. Others are not as deep but fast and dangerous. Usually its best to cross in early morning - may be 12 inches lower than late afternoon. Tyndall Creek, Bear Creek, south fork of Kings River, Rush Creek, Kerrick Canyon (northern Yosemite) are some of the others. Consensus from PCT-L forum is to use hiking poles or sticks to get 4 points of contact, keep body facing the opposite shore, angle upstream to keep the force of water from collapsing your knees, wear synthetic fast drying clothes, take off long pants, unfasten waist belt. If shoes and boots are already wet leave them on. Walk between rocks, not on them. If wearing trail runners leave them on - some people take socks off. During dry weather if you have to cross in your boots, remove socks and boot liners, wipe out boots after crossing and reinsert liners.  You will walk dry quickly.  You need something to protect your feet (I have gone barefoot in midsummer and it is painful. I have carried lightweight kayak shoes for camp and river crossing - better than bare feet. I don't want the weight penalty of Tevas).   With normal sierra weather you will dry as you walk fairly soon.  If chilly, put on fleece after crossing.

Early season hint: Temperature Change with Elevation: If you carry a thermometer, it is sometimes useful to estimate expected temperatures at higher elevations. There is a normal temperature drop of 3.6° F for each 1000 feet increase in elevation. i.e. if you are at 10,000 feet, the temperature is 40° F and it is raining, expect snow at 13,000 feet.

Transportation and Backpacking Shuttle Service:

www.yarts.com is the regional Yosemite transportation service. It includes service to and from Merced to Yosemite, as well as from Yosemite to Mammoth and points in between.

Summary of Public Transit to Yosemite: There was a post on Backpacking Light from John, who lives in Yosemite valley. He uses public transit on a regular basis. To get to Yosemite from the east coast, fly into San Francisco or Oakland  than take Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) to Richmond, there transfer to Amtrak, take it to Merced. At Merced, take the Yosemite Area Regional Transit bus to Yosemite  valley. Coming back from Whitney Portal, there is regional  transit bus service on highway 395. Take it to Mammoth Lakes then YARTS back to Yosemite valley. (ed. note: if you do this be cautious at Richmond Bart. It is in a dangerous neighborhood. Don't walk around.) As of 2013 there is a new service from San Francisco Fisherman's Wharf direct to Yosemite Lodge called gotobus.com

Shuttle Services: There are shuttle services that would drop you at one trailhead and pick you up at another. We usually leave the vehicle at the trip end point and the shuttle takes us from there back to the start point. There are car rental agencies in Bishop, so if you come out there, you can get a car to get back to your car.

Bob Ennis offers shuttles along the Eastern Sierra from Yosemite to Kennedy Meadows (south) Eastern Sierra Shuttle Service [2019] 760-876-1915 He shuttled us from Kennedy Meadows to the Jawbone Canyon area - excellent service.

An East Side Sierra Shuttle Service that is run by Paul Fretheim started in 2012. http://www.eastsidesierrashuttle.com/ It covers the east side from Yosemite to Death Valley, and will do custom trips to almost any location in the Sierras.

Another good source of shuttle info, shower locations, etc that is kept current: http://climber.org/data/shuttles.html

A new shuttle service into Sequoia Kings Canyon from Visalia: sequoia_shuttle

There is a west side shuttle service into Vermillion Valley Resort from Fresno
http://www.edisonlake.com/hikers/transportation

The Williamson Motel in Independence has shuttled hikers to Onion Valley if they stay a night at the motel. Contact them for details http://www.mtwilliamsonmotel. com .

John Muir Trail Maps:

If you want to buy maps, there is nothing better than the the Tom Harrison JMT Map Pack is excellent.


Peter Dascalos has put together a nice backpacking site including a set of JMT maps that Dan Braun created from Topo - viewable online, and if you have highspeed internet, downloadable. They are sized for print on 8.5 by 11. http://www.onthetrail.org/OTT/jmt.html . If you browse his site, you can also find maps and photos for sections A, B and C of the PCT.

The following elevation profile site does the entire Pacific Crest Trail, section by section, including an excellent JMT profile: interactive - you select by section - very nice: http://www.bearcant.org/elevation.php

Brian from the Yahoo John Muir Trail forum has posted a good profile :
http://www.kevinaston.com/files/jmtlarge21day.gif

iPhone use as a GPS

John Hansen put a very good post on the Yahoo John Muir Trail forum on his use of an iPhone with battery extender - was able to get 10 days of use without external recharging: http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/johnmuirtrail/conversations/topics/35156 look at post 6 of the conversation.

GPS Coordinates for Reds Meadow to Whitney Portal:

Kevin Aston has put a useful spreadsheet on his site, with elevations, mileages and distances http://www.kevinaston.com/JMTSpreadsheet.html

http://www.whitneyportalstore.com/data/EWenk_JMT.htm lets you download Excel spreadsheets containing all the gps coordinates from Wenk and Morey's Guide to the John Muir Trail. The release of the data was authorized by Wilderness Press.

There is a new Mt Whitney website http://www.whitneyzone.com/ that contains much of the info that used to be on the www.whitneyportalstore.com website, so check them both out for Whitney info. 

GPS - How to get your track on a map

This is a little off topic, but if you are interested in the various ways to see your GPS track on a map, check out Two-Heel Drive's blog entry on the subject.

Bears:

You can encounter them anywhere on the JMT, but are most likely to see them where they have found food before: At the trailhead or a day or two out from it, examples: Kearsarge Pass or Little Yosemite. Anywhere there is a bear box. Bear Canisters for food are required on parts of the JMT. For your sake and the bear's sake, we strongly urge you to use them. See gear page for details. You can rent them in Yosemite when you pick up your permit. Repackage your food so you can store more in the canister. Bear box locations cluster campers with resulting dust, dirt, noise. We try to avoid them. Locations in Sequoia-Kings Canyon: http://www.nps.gov/seki/planyourvisit/bear_box.htm . In Yosemite bear boxes are only at Little Yosemite campground and the High Sierra Camps. Canisters are required in all areas in Yosemite as of 2008. For details see: http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/bearcanisters.htm  For Ansel Adams Wilderness and other east side Forest Service managed areas see link in Where to Camp below.

Bear Canisters

They are required in most of the Sierras. Yes, you may get away without getting caught, either by a bear or a ranger, but chances are that a bear is going to get your food, and eventually get shot due to people not using canisters. More info on canisters on our gear page. http://www.wild-ideas.net  has the largest and lightest/meal hard sided container. They have special rental rates for PCT, JMT, etc. Call them for details: https://id215.chi.us.securedata.net/~wild-ideas/rent.html . We carry a couple of soft Ursacks for all areas of the PCT except the JMT part. The Ursack keeps mice, etc out, as well as less educated bears. The most food anyone has got in one Garcia is 16 days per Ken and Marcia. Don't expect to match that.

 

My Blog entry on  repackaging food

http://timecheck00.blogspot.com/2008/07/repackaging-backpacking-food-our-menu.html

Water:

On the JMT you will find water several times a day. In August it will be dry on the the big passes, particularly on the south side so carry enough water for five or six hot miles. We use roughly three miles per liter per person when going up and get 4 or 5 miles per liter going down. Either pump or treat your water (see our gear page). If you want to get over a pass early, you may want to dry camp high on the ascent. Carry extra water to do this, even if you plan to have a cold breakfast.

Where to Camp:

Stay away from the bear box areas unless you have a craving to be around more people. If your requirements are an eight by ten flat spot, you will find spots frequently. Check out your map for water and start thinking about possibilities mid afternoon if you want to have water 100 feet away. There are a few spots along the JMT where no camping is allowed, so vegetation can recover. In Yosemite you need to be four miles away from a trailhead. This means Tuolumne Meadows as well as where you start in Yosemite Valley. Near Reds Meadows, no camping within 1/4 mile of outlet of Thousand Islands Lake, Garnet Lake, stay 300 feet from Shadow Lake - see Shadow Lake restrictions for full details including trails where bear canister is required. Just north of Rae Lakes there is a small lake with no camping.

Just Mount Whitney:

If you want climb Mt. Whitney from the east side, and return, you are talking about a 22 mile round trip, 6000 feet elevation gain, with about 12 hours one way up.  If you are a rock climber, there is a mountaineers route (not a trail) that is 3.4 miles to the top, still with the 6000 ft elevation gain, part of it a class 3 climb.  Don't try it unless you are an experienced mountaineer with excellent map reading skills and have thoroughly researched the route.  Guides are available if you contact the Bishop ranger station or Mt. Whitney store.  If you are thinking about either route, buy the Mount Whitney: Mountain Lore From The Whitney Store by Thompson and Newbold. From our link below, or Amazon or from the Whitney store website www.whitneyportalstore.com

The Whitney portal store is much more than just a place to buy a hamburger.  It is at the east side trailhead to Mt. Whitney.  The owner, Doug Thompson is an expert on Mt. Whitney, and has personally rescued many exhausted hikers. The store is the first place contacted when anyone is in trouble.

There is a new Mt Whitney website http://www.whitneyzone.com/ that contains much of the info that used to be on the www.whitneyportalstore.com website, so check them both out for Whitney info. 

Current self supported JMT hiking record: (you do the resupply yourself - no friends deliver to trailhead)

Haven't got any names for this yet.

Most Times Hiked Record:

Yeti - Jim Fulmis - 22 completions, 18 consecutive years - age 67 in 2007
http://www.trailjournals.com/text/entry.cfm?id=193695
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?ID=211590
http://www.gailpct2007.info/ - the May 21 entry

Yoyo Record:

>2004 - Catra Corbett (dirt diva) in yoyoed - one way  5 days, 15 hours, and 50 minutes. Her yo yo time was 12 days, 4 hours, and 58 minutes. She did a resupply at the midpoint.
 http://www.mt-whitney.info/viewtopic.php?p=3919  Catra's blog: http://trailgirl.blogspot.com/

2008 - John Tibbits yoyoed in 25 days - July 4th to July 28th
http://mailman.backcountry.net/pipermail/pct-l/2008-August/019401.html

Current unsupported JMT northbound hiking record: (noresupply allowed)

2016 - Amber Monforte Current women's record 4 days 19 hours 50 minutes, Portal to Happy Isles 5 days 37 minutes abikebuiltfor2.blogspot.com

2014 - Andrew Bentz 3 days 10 hours 55 minutes August 29, arrived at HI at 11:05 am
backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=94712

2009 - Brett Maune 3 days 14 hrs and 13 minutes at age 30 September 6, 2009, arrived at Happy Isles trailhead in Yosemite at 2:58pm.3 days 9 hours 58 minutes after leaving Mt. Whitney summit. This also broke Sue Johnston's 2007 supported record.
http://home.comcast.net/~pbakwin/fkt/jmt.html
backpackinglight.com

2007 - Michael Popov - 4 days 5 hrs and 25 minutes at age 29
http://mailman.hack.net/pipermail/pct-l/2007-August/009318.html
Aaron Sorensen, Michael's hiking partner had to stop at 120 miles with feet too painful to walk. For Aaron's story see http://www.southernmostrunners.com/JMT/AaronsJMTStory-07.htm

2005 - Jackie Florine 6 days, 6 hours, 23 minutes.
http://www.jacquelineflorine.com/outdoors/johnmuirtrail.htm

2004 - Reinhold Metzger, 62, Point Loma, backpacked the 211-mile John Muir Trail from Mt. Whitney to Yosemite National Park's Happy Isles in five days, 7 hours, 45 min
http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/outdoors/20030929-9999_mz1s29outdor.html .

2004 - Catra Corbett (dirt diva) 5 days, 15 hours, 50 minutes
1012 - 7 days, 2 hours, 5 minutes unsupported
https://twitter.com/dirtdiva33

2003 - Reinhold Metzger, 61, Point Loma, backpacked the 211-mile John Muir Trail from Mt. Whitney to Yosemite National Park's Happy Isles in five days, 10 hours .
http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/outdoors/20030929-9999_mz1s29outdor.html

1988 John Rosendahl 5 days, 7 hours, 50 minutes to Whitney Portal
http://www.mt-whitney.info/viewtopic.php?p=3919
http://members.cox.net/sandiegorock/trail_records.html

Current supported northbound JMT hiking record:

2017 François D'haene October 17, 2 days, 19 hours and 26 Minutes from Whitney Portal.
francoisdhaene.com
outsideonline.com/2252601/francois-dhaene-breaks-john-muir-trail-record

2017 Darcy Piceu Sept 18 Three days 7 hours 57 minutes women's supported fkt trailrunnermag.com/people/news-people/darcy-piceu-womens-john-muir-trail-fkt

2014 Leor Pantilat, August, 3 days, 7 hours, 39 minutes from Whitney Portal. Time to Whitney summit was 3 hours and 5 minutes, so JMT time was 3 days, 4 hours, 34 minutes.
trailrunnermag.com/people/adventure/1420-leor-pantilat-sets-new-john-muir-trail-fkt
runfar.com/2014/08/leor-pantilats-supported-john-muir-trail-fkt-report.html

2013 Hal Koerner and Mike Wolfe, Aug 3 days, 12 hours, 41 minutes from summit.
runnersworld.com/trail-racing/ultrarunners-claim-speed-record-on-john-muir-trail

2007 Sue Johnston age 41 in 3 days 15 hours 32minutes  August
http://runsuerun.blogspot.com/
http://www.whitneyportalstore.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=40869#Post40869

2004 Kevin Sawchuck in 93 hours and 5 minutes

2003 Brian Robinson..........4 days......7hrs...2 minutes

2003 Peter Barkwin ...........3 days...22 hrs...4 minutes
http://friends.backcountry.net/pipermail/pct-l/2006-September/001490.html

Southbound JMT Records

Most reported records are northbound, but some try for a southbound record

2023 Haneul Lee Sept 19 five days, zero hours and 13 minutes - unsupported female record
fastestknowntime.com/fkt/haneul-lee-john-muir-trail-whitney-portal-ca-2023-09-19
https://www.outsideonline.com/running/news/records-on-the-pacific-crest-trail-and-across-the-u-s-earn-fkt-of-the-year/

2022 Joe “Stringbean” McConaughy Aug 10 three days, one hour and 34 seconds
trailrunnermag.com/people/stringbean-joe-mcconaughy-sets-new-john-muir-trail-fkt

2014 Ralph Burgess 4 days, 8 hours, 43 minutes
dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/85028259/Ralph%20JMT.pdf
fastestknowntime.proboards.com/post/1880/thread
fastestknowntime.proboards.com/post/1883/thread
Ralph also did the Sierra High Route later in 2014 - see Inga's account:
ingasadventures.com/2014/08/28/ralph-burgess-breaks-sobo-john-muir-trail-record
2004 Catra Corbett 6 days, 13 hours, 8 minutes as part of her yoyo record. Her total was 12 days 4 hours 58 minutes, and northbound was 5 15 50

Youngest person to thru-hike JMT in a single trip:

2023 Tyler Jacobs - Age 5. Started July 20, finished Aug 19. Turned 6 on Aug 14th. See their trail journal: https://reneeelsdon.wordpress.com/2023/08/26/john-muir-trail-with-tyler-the-journal-entries/

2016 Sara Harris - Age 6. Started July 7, finished July 28. You can follow her progress in her mother's blog posts: parentingoffthegrid.net

2010 Sierra Burror - Age 6. A note from Heather Burror: " My daughter Sierra Burror thru hiked the JMT with me last summer.  She was 6 when she started at Happy Isles on July 7, 2010, celebrated her 7th birthday at Evolution Lake on July 21, and completed the trail when she summited Whitney 9 days later on July 30 (exiting Whitney Portal on July 31).  Although she weighed in at only 46 pounds, she still carried most of her own gear in a pack that weighed between 10-12 pounds." [Ed note: Another hiker on the JMT shot a picture of Sierra on that trip and posted it on the Yahoo JMT forum.]

2009 Camden Watson - age 7. On 8/11/09 Camden Watson 7yrs old (Born Aug. 2001) arrived at Happy Isles trailhead in Yosemite Valley having completed the JMT carrying a base weight of 17lbs, resupplying in Muir Trail Ranch & Mammoth Lakes. Camden, his brother, Andrew (10yrs old) and his father Jason, (34yrs old) began the hike on the 19th of July from Whitney Portal. Andrew (carrying a base weight 35lbs) just missed the record himself by a few months.

1982 Owen Davis - age 10 (April) started from Happy Isles on Aug 1, 1982 and finished at Whitney Portal on Aug 25 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/johnmuirtrail/message/3077 .

1969 - Chuck Durham - age 8 - hiked with  family in August, weighed 62 lbs and started with a 22 lb pack.

Oldest person to thru-hike JMT in a single trip:

2008 Bill Harman - age 71 started with his wife and daughter from Happy Isles on Aug 21, 2008 and they finished Sept 8.

2009 Dale Easton - age 75 and
        Alfred Patrick - age 72 hiked north to south starting July 19 and reached Mt Whitney summit August 10th. More details.

2020 George Graybill - age 80 completed trail in 20-1/2 days. He and his son Dan left Happy Isles at noon on 7/29/2020 and arrived at Whitney Portal at 5:30 p.m. on 8/18/2020. That is 20 days 5 hrs. and 30 min., which included one rest day at Vermillion Valley Resort and the side trip to Whitney summit. His exact age at the finish was 80 years and 32 days.

Oldest woman to thru-hike JMT in a single trip:

2012 "Rattling Grandma" age 75 started July 2nd, reached Mt. Whitney July 26th
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVdIMJBxY0E

Peter Bakwin's Fastest Known Times page:

/fastestknowntime.proboards.com - A lot of information on this site on fastest times on many different trails. Check it out.

Guided Trips in JMT vicinity

Southern Yosemite Mountain Guides offers trips from guided backpacks, to climbing expeditions, to women's only trips, to day hikes up Half Dome. We have no personal experience with them, but their site lists mentions in many major outdoors publications as well as National Geographic Adventure, Sunset and Frommers 2008. http://www.symg.com/

Llama Packing Services:

Greg Harford of Potato Ranch Llama Packers rents llamas to JMT hikers. I haven't rented from them, but did go on a short trip with Greg, and was impressed with his llamas and methods. You can read my trip in my July 2007 newsletter. Check out Greg's website at www.llamapackers.com .

Cameras:

This is still evolving for us. As of 2020 we mostly use our phone cameras for hiking trips.

Classic Guide Books to JMT area:  Any PCT guide will include at least a brief guide to the JMT.

JMT Links:

JMT Groups

There is a John Muir Trail Group that has several posts every day, and some knowledgeable responders. The Pacific Crest Trail forum PCT-L has a lot of people who can answer JMT questions, though main purpose is supporting PCT thru-hikers. Their url is groups.io/g/JMT

Other JMT Links

We've put most of what we know on this web site, but if you have a question you can't get answered, you can email us at backpack45 at yahoo dot com - We are out on the trail a lot, so can't always give an immediate response.

The Official Inyo National Forest website is a good link - fire info, current info on Mt. Whitney permits left, etc.

www.jmthiker.com Good Story and Photos They followed Ray Jardine's ultralight approach and used Golite® gear - my only negative comment is that they didn't use a bear container.  In the Sierras, that should be a must - protects the bears and you - recommend Bearikade® if you can afford it or rent it - half the weight of the Garcia, and wider mouth.

The Pacific Crest Trail site's page on JMT - lots of links, also PCT info.

www.gossamergear.com  - Mariposa - My most recent pack - I had their G4 but wore it out in about 3 years and wanted something that was more comfortable with larger loads.  Also have Golite Breeze, but the Mariposa and G4 have a minimal waist belt. Glen - the founder of Gossamer Gear -is a scoutmaster - essentially makes these as a service. Materials are lightweight, so expect more wear and tear.  At end of my JMT trip in 2002, mine needed some minor stitching, but that was after 200+ miles of rugged use. Also - his site has a very good set of backpack related links. More on packs in our Gear page.

www.trailcrew.org - Want to give back something to the trail system? This organization does volunteer trail work in the Sequoia-Kings Canyon area. A number of their trips go out of Florence Lake. See site for more info. I have no personal experience with them, but looks good.

Want to go with a group - this Elderhostel site does trips in the JMT area www.sierrapacktrip.com/elderhostel.html

Our Gear List for PCT or JMT:

The gear list is a google spreadsheet. To get an xls file you can save, click on  http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pPFto0EzOaDvrKYt_NSZZEg  - on the bottom right of the resulting google spreadsheet is an edit button. Click that, and you will be able to view it in a form that can be saved off to your hard drive as an xls file.