John Muir Trail

[Arapiles]

I may be in the USA next year to do some walking - has anyone on here successfully booked a slot on the JMT?

The process appears to be rather complicated in that there's only certain windows when you can make bookings for a date that's 24 weeks after the booking window.

[headwerkn]

I've only briefly looked at it, as a "one day in the future bucket-list item", but by all accounts the process isn't completely impossible as a foreigner. Just involved and requires a lot of preplanning with plenty of flexibility built in. Will be interested to hear your experience if you go through with it.

[JamesMc]

A friend of mine tried the lottery repeatedly and missed out every time. We've decided to do John Chapman's Grand Sierra Traverse instead. The entry point is "overland" which means just a pad rather than a constructed track, and hence eaiser to get a permit for. Kim Stanley Robinson's book describes the John Muir Trail as being the Interstate 5 of the Sierras. I think the SGT will probably be a better walk.

I've made detailed notes of the permit booking process (which I expect to be the most challenging part of the whole trip). PM me for details.

[north-north-west]

JamesMc:

Thanks for alerting me to KSR's book on the Sierra Nevada. I've read a fair bit of his SF, and this looks to be equally interesting.