John Muir Trail

The JMT covers about 213 miles through the High Sierra between Yosemite Valley and the summit of Mt Whitney. It overlaps the PCT for 160 miles and passes through many different federal lands including Kings Canyon, Sequoia, and Yosemite National Parks.

Elevation is a factor on this trail, unlike the other long-distance trails we’ve done together. There are six passes over 11,000′ along the route including Forester Pass at 13,117′, which is also the highest point on the PCT. The southern terminus of the trail has an elevation of 14,505′ — the highest point in the contiguous United States. The entire trail, except for the northernmost seven miles in Yosemite Valley, is above the highest point on the AT (Clingmans Dome).

This trail is also very remote; confined mostly within designated wilderness areas including the John Muir Wilderness and Ansel Adams Wilderness. This includes a 150 mile stretch without a road crossing. Cell phone coverage is mostly non-existent. Compared with our other hikes, we are expecting this to be our longest time away from civilization by a good margin.