The John Muir Trail 2021- Part One

To celebrate the 2021 hiking season The Rugged Outdoorsmen will be doing a series of stories/ blogs about the JMT. We will be following three groups of hikers on their preparation for the journey, what their expectations are, and a follow-up story about their individual experiences out on this iconic Thru-hike of approximately 211 miles. The JMT is a high elevation (for the US at least) mountain trail through remote terrain. The JMT ranges in elevation from about 4,000 ft above sea level, to 14,505 ft at the summit of Mt. Whitney. The entire southern half is above 8,000 ft. The trail passes through 3 national parks, 5 wilderness areas, 2 national forests, and 1 national monument… There are so many unforeseen events that will shape their journey in the weeks dedicated to this thru-hike. We will be posting introductions to our featured hikers and short Biography’s following this announcement in ‘Part Two’ of our series, but first, a brief history of the legendary Mr. John Muir and the JMT.

John Muir was a famous 19th century naturalist and conservationist and he was instrumental in the development of the National Park system. John was the driving force behind the creation of Yosemite National Park and the fight to help preserve the American wilderness.

In 1868, Mr. Muir walked from San Francisco Bay to the Yosemite Valley. Muir spent weeks hiking and exploring the natural beauty around him, and writing about his experience. He is quoted as saying “I went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out until sundown, for going out I found I was really going in.” Inspired by the natural beauty he found there, Mr. Muir soon started writing about Yosemite in magazines and newspapers that reached audiences across the USA. His writings were instrumental in raising awareness to the public of the necessity to preserve great tracks of land such as Yosemite.

Muir founded the Sierra Club in 1892 and lobbied to establish protection of the forests and parks, as well as develop hiking routes for people to experience the beauty they had to offer. He said, “If people in general could be got into the woods, even for once, to hear the trees speak for themselves, all difficulties in the way of forest preservation would vanish”.

John-of-the-mountains, as he was sometimes fondly referred to, was inarguably the most influential man in the history of the Sierra and its wilderness. His influence transcended his death, and in 1915 the Sierra Club won California legislation in appropriating the first $10,000 for the construction of the John Muir Trail.

Twenty-three years, and many man-hours later, the trail construction was completed in 1938; the year of the 100th anniversary of John Muir’s birth. Appropriately named, the John Muir Trail offers some of the most scenic vistas in California’s Sierra range.

We look forward to introducing our featured hikers who have volunteered to share their experience with our readers in the coming weeks. So Stay Tuned!