John Muir Trail, Sierra Nevada, California, USA

First and foremost, the John Muir Trail - 211 miles (338km) from Yosemite Valley to Mount Whitney (at 14,496 ft (about 4,500 m), the highest mountain in the 'Lower 49') is spectacular mountain walking - it's got us looking to move to California.

Unlike walking in Europe (rock up, walk from hut to hut, or supermarket to supermarket), the logistics and planning take more effort than the walking - days of buying, packaging, delivering and posting food resupplies:

[All the food, ready to go in LA hotel]

Then there was the challenge of packing all food and scented items into (mandatory) bear canisters. We didn’t actually see any bears after we left Yosemite campground (no complaints), but heard plenty of stories of clever bears helping themselves to food that was unprotected.

[Bruin, the only bear we saw after Yosemite Campground, in a bear canister at Kearsarge Lakes]

Some found the whole dehydrated food thing a bit challenging. The ‘hiker barrels’ at popular resupply points, which contain people’s leftover food, contained such gems as ‘shake and bake’ cake mixes declaring ‘just add water’...

Numbers on the trails are carefully controlled through a permit system. Although there were people around, it felt like wilderness. We usually had amazing campsites without others in (or close to) sight or hearing, and spent hours in ‘popular’ places without seeing a soul.

[Campsites in the Upper Basin and above Sunrise Creek]

The major exceptions to solitude – on our first day, Half Dome, the day trip from Yosemite Valley but definitely not a highlight for us, and on our last day, the descent from Mount Whitney – the day trip in the Sierra Nevada, which was chock-a-block with 160 (that’s how many permits are issued a day, by lottery because they're so popular) poorly prepared day and overnight walkers slogging up and up and up (then down and down, many not having summited in the freezing cold, windy conditions).

[Half Dome traffic jam]

We met some great people along the way, and particularly enjoyed a day kicking back at the Vermillion Valley Resort (a misnomer, trust us) – well away from civilisation. Other people just provided entertainment and discussion topics (?)…the ultra-lightweighter carrying a 9mm pistol, the guy wandering along with a banjo...no photos...not worth messing with the nutcases.

Flora and fauna were also impressive:

Although perhaps the real marvel was the track – switchbacks everywhere and lots of dynamite involved:

The End:






[Mt Whitney - official end]

[Whitney Portal - the real end]