John Muir Trail: The Essential Guide to Hiking America's Most Famous Trail Paperback – June 3, 2014

This is a book review about a trail that Backpacker Magazine has called twice America's greatest trail, the 212 mile long John Muir Trail (JMT) which starts at Yosemite Valley in California and ends at Whitney Portal after you finish getting to the summit of Mt. Whitney, the tallest mountain in the 48 contiguous US States. I just finished reading Elizabeth Wenk's 5th edition of her classic 2007, 4th edition, JMT Guide book. Both books are exactly 296 pages long (counting the introductory pages). The 5th edition book contains much more information (some written and much visual).In the previous edition she included information for both the popular direction (Southbound also called SOBO) and the less popular Northbound (also called NOBO). She migrated the 79 pages of information about the NOBO route to the electronic edition of the book that is forthcoming. This is because the vast majority of JMT hikers do the SOBO route because it starts at a low elevation (around 4,000 feet) versus starting at the end, Mt. Whitney, which is 14,505 feet high. Most hikers want to slowly acclimate to higher elevations, myself included. I have done the JMT Southbound 6 times now and will be doing my 7th consecutive annual JMT hike in the summer of 2014.She has used these freed-up 79 pages to go into more depth about doing the JMT hike.The book has new maps of the trail and now number 16 maps instead of 13. In the 4th edition, each page of a book showed one of the 13 map pages. In the 5th edition, each map page spans two book pages, so the maps are more than twice as big in the 5th edition, and they include an extra color (black/white/red vs black/white). The new maps represent the biggest improvement from the 4th edition. They were created specifically for the book to be easy to read and show the relevant landscape on either side of the trail. They use 200 feet contour lines, versus 80 which enable one to see ridges vs valleys and determine approximate elevation levels, without being overly busy. All the place names and such stand out better with this format. Information from the book is directly plotted onto the maps. If photocopied, they'd be very readable on the trail, an extra bonus.The book now features panoramic images of what mountain peaks are seen from the top of the major JMT Passes, two images shown normally for these major passes, one looking north from the pass; the other looking south. This is what I consider the major reason to get the book if you already own the 4th edition and plan to do the trail again. She presents four panoramic images from the top of Mt. Whitney! The author explained to me she included a panorama for any pass with an open view so she skipped passes like Selden looking south or Donohue looking North, because there you are not looking straight at a "sea of peaks".Another new feature for the 5th edition is that she documents all of the JMT trail sections that are longer than 3 miles without any water or with few options to refill. You'll want to photocopy this page for your next hike!More information is given on the logistics of getting to and doing the hike, on water purification and water quality. She presents a comprehensive history of the making of the trail.She provides updated information throughout including referrals to JMT web sites and social groups that contain extensive, well cataloged information, such as mentioning twice the John Muir Trail Yahoo group which has about 3000 members.She now includes a section on Emergency Beacons and Contacts with emergency phone numbers.For those new to the JMT and Elizabeth Wenk, she has a doctorate in biology whose thesis was on the effects of rock type on alpine plant distribution and physiology. She instructs the reader on the geology, wildlife, and plant and tree life one sees during a JMT hike.Like with the 4th edition, but updated, she continues to show all the utilized camp sites, junctions, passes, and scenic waypoints of the trail. Alongside each map, she has a visual altitude profile of the hiking section involved. She covers in detail side trails and exit trails, including details and maps of the side towns near the exit trailheads. She also provides an Excel Spreadsheet (not in the book though) with included GPS files for your GPS devices containing all the tables in her book as well as additional information. Her spreadsheet is currently hosted at the John Muir Trail Yahoo Group and at the Wilderness Press website.At our JMT Yahoo Group, we have long delved deep into the logistics of how to do the JMT but while reading the 5th edition, I was pleasantly surprised to learn new details myself. For instance, we have always advised people to get to the trail, if by flying, through either San Francisco, Sacramento, Fresno, Merced, Mammoth Lakes or Reno, and we give details how to proceed on from there. Her book includes Los Angeles though and how to utilize public and private transport from there. Impressive and indicative of the thoroughness of the author's attention to detail.I highly recommend this book to all JMT enthusiasts, including those who have done the trail and want to revisit their walk from home. Getting the panoramic images with the peaks labeled is very interesting information to show one just what you're seeing (or have seen) on the trail. If you plan on doing the trail the first time or the nth time, this book is a must. An incredible accomplishment by an incredible researcher who is very attentive and considerate to the needs of her audience.

Had this in the top pocket of my pack when llama-packing most of the trail. I'd often pull it out as I'd walk to check on where I might be getting to or what I might be seeing. Although a very eager forest service ranger was bad mouthing the book (complaining it promoted illegal campsites, though that ranger's grip on the actual regulations was a bit over the top), there are really only two substantial complaints, neither fatal. One is that the book highlights particular campsites in a table at the end, and indeed some are questionable as the Forest Service has stricter rules on legal campsites than the parks; there are a large number of other places you can camp if you look (some of this is mentioned in the text). It is worth noting that the backcountry rangers in the parks have been replacing traditional fire rings with rock-lined fire pits; the presence of these well-constructed pits is a clue that a campsite is approved even if within 100' of water. The other is that the maps are a bit cruder than necessary; listing a few specific elevations on the maps might help. (Note that Sequoia has lowered the maximum elevation where you can have fires to 10,000' in the Kern backcountry, though that does not affect the campsites highlighted here). Given the tightening of permits at both ends of the Muir Trail, one could hope that future editions might expand a bit on the main alternatives to access the trail, especially the now-very-popular southern entry/exit through Horseshoe Meadows; most helpful would be a map or two for the busiest of these (the Mammoth entry points are reasonably well covered; it is the points south of the Muir Trail that could benefit most). One caution: this describes north-to-south travel. South to north is available as an online supplement.

Good content with maps, elevations, distances, etc. But the text is a a continuous dialog, mostly about what you'll see along the trail (flora, fauna, views, etc). Available campsites are stuck in the back rather than placed throughout the text (should be in both locations I guess). The dialog has no structure so if you're looking for specific information on, say Muir Trail Ranch or the camping in the area there are no headings. This leaves the reader to rely on the index but that's rather cumbersome. Example .. all about MTR (camping, the trail, food cache) is in separate locations meaning you're thumbing back and forth through the book. Still, lots of useful information but I could do less with the writers experiences and sights along the trail and more with better structure and flow.

Easy to follow trail information. Great follow through from one section to the next. Like that she list the flora found along the way.This is a must read.

Lightweight

You can tell that E Wenk loves everything about the High Sierra from flora to fauna, from aquatic to geologic as well. She does a great job describing the minutiae in a way to draw you in and cause you to want to keep an eye out for John Muir's favorite plant or bird and encourages you to sleep at least one night under one of his favorite trees! It's not about the miles you put in... it is more about what she does not want you to miss as you are putting in the miles.

Ebook - No doubt a lot of work has gone into this book, it is beautifully written and formatted and for a while it seems like nothing has been over looked. Real credit should be given for just how thorough the author has gone, specifically when she starts discussing fauna and geology. However, for me there were two major issues with this book.1. The maps are small and in the e-version cannot be zoomed into, or turned around. With that in mind they are completely pointless and I paid £10+ for a book that pretty much has not a single usable map in it.2. There are no suggested itineraries. For example "a suggested 20 day, 15 day, 10 day" etc. I understand people want real freedom on the JMT, but the book seemed too nonspecific, and when you factor in I have no maps to work from it all suddenly seems like a waste of money.Following this book I have to admit that I haven't yearned a great deal from it that I hadn't already found online and for free. I really do think the book is vastly overpriced and in it's e-format simply does not work and is a complete waste of time.That said, I can imagine a hard copy of this book being a suitable companion on the trail, just don't expect to buy this and suddenly have all your questions answered and route planned.

Essential reading if your planning to walk the JMT

Great guide....But Almost too much info. Making the book too heavy to carry on the trail.

Kleines Buch mit sehr umfangreichen Informationen zu allen Gegebenheiten. Die Informationen im Internet sind allerdings umfangreicher und aktueller. ( nps.gov) Tendenziell interessanter sind allerdings die ehemaligen Staaten der GUS. Ein Permit für den JMT zu bekommen ist sehr unwahrscheinlich und viel zu viel Leute unterwegs.

This book is extremely informative. Well laid out. Maps are great! I look forward to hiking the JMT next year!