The John Muir Trail stretches from Mt. Whitney in the south to Yosemite Valley in the north. Actually Tuolumne Meadows would constitute the very northern section of the John Muir Trail as the trail swings back south into the Valley. The southern terminus is Mt. Whitney, but you need to hike to the top to start at the official starting (or actually ending) part of the trail. You can start or end your hike from Whitney Portal and climb up over Trail Crest to reach the junction of the John Muir Trail. The highest point of the trail is Mt. Whitney at 14,494 +/- feet in elevation, depending upon which reference you use (mine came from the National Geographic Topo Map software, which was used to develop all of the maps on this site. Unfortunately this software is no longer avialable.) At approximately 211 miles up the trail, you will reach the lowest point at the northern terminus, Happy Isles (4,022 feet +/-) in Yosemite Valley.

Most of the guides and books I've read recommend the route be north to south, where hikers will start at Yosemite Valley and end at Mt. Whitney. This gives most people the time to acclimate to the higher elevations that are encountered in the southern sections of the trail. Starting in Yosemite allows one to climb up and out of Yosemite Valley and reach Tuolumne Meadows for their first re-supply and then make their way through the meadows and over Donahue Pass and into the Ansel Adams Wilderness area. By doing this you will not reach the 13,000 + elevations until late in your trip. For those who want to hike south to north, you can start at Whitney Portal if you are lucky enough to obtain a wilderness permit or you can start a couple of days south out of Horseshoe Meadows and join the John Muir Trail near Crabtree Meadows. Starting from the south will put you at 13,500 +/- in your first couple of days. If you can reach the top of Whitney, you will be at over 14,000 in your first couple of days. After that the elevations will have either forced you to reconsider your hike or the rest of the trip will be a piece of cake!

The John Muir Trail (or JMT) follows the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) for much of its journey. It meets up with the PCT near Crabtree Meadows and generally follows the PCT until the turn south at Tuolumne Meadows, except for one section out of Devil's Postpile. The JMT contains 10 passes (not counting Trail Crest), ranging in elevation from about 9,700 feet at Cathedral Pass to about 13,200 at Forester Pass. Your trip will need to consider how you wish to climb these passes and the time of year may dictate the time of day you ascend and descend them. During the mid-summer months, the Sierra Nevada mountains get affected by the monsoon pattern of the southwest and afternoon thunder storms are likely during this time. Hiking up and over these passes during a thunder storm can be a challenge at best. Be prepared to plan your trip so that the passes are approached at the right time of the day.

The John Muir Trail runs through three national parks. Yosemite National Park at the north, and both Kings and Sequoia National Parks in the south. During the middle section of the trail it runs through the Inyo National Forest, the John Muir & Ansel Adams Wilderness Areas. The trail also runs through the Devil's Postpile National Monument.

You can learn more about the John Muir Trail and strategies for hiking the trail from several on-line sources and through many books. Some of my favorites are:

Some of the books I used to research the trip:

How Long to Hike?

For a detailed account of our trip please refer to the Journals section of this site!