We spent the last week of August and first two weeks of September backpacking on the John Muir Trail (JMT). The JMT follows the crest of California’s Sierra Nevada mountain range.
The JMT is a 211 mile long segment of the much longer Pacific Crest Trail. It travels from Mt Whitney Portal in the South, thru Kings Canyon National Park, Sequoia National Park, Several National Wilderness Areas and Yosemite National Park.
A wilderness back packing permit is required. Permits are limited in number and can be difficult to acquire. By starting from an alternate trail head, which added 20 miles to our journey, and by going the less popular South to North direction, we were able to get a permit.
Most back packers choose to travel from North to South because it allows for an easier acclimatization to the high altitudes at the end. Since we did not need to acclimate, we chose to go South to North. That provided several advantageous. We were out of the flow of most other hikers, we had the sun at our backs, and had more favorable camping options.
The best of photo’s from our trip can be seen here.