Unpopular Opinion: The JMT sucks

[c9h13no3]

Have we been flattering ourselves for hiking lesser known trails?

Undeniably, yes.

Yes, the lesser known trails offer rewards (solitude, new scenery, additional challenges). But patting ourselves on the back for being a more adventurous tourist is pretty lame.

Also, I'd really hate for this thread to get back on topic.

[gregodorizzi]

Also, I'd really hate for this thread to get back on topic.

Dogs!

[Harlen]

"Dogs" ..... less than a mile from the JMT.

[SSSdave]

The John Muir Trail itself does not suck and in fact contains spectacular planet Earth scenery with the trail a wonderful monument to human vision, design, and labor in a very large wilderness region.

Obtaining a permit to backpack on the JMT is difficult due to recent popularity and the permit system.

There are environmental issues with the way some people use the JMT.

The vision, goals, and methods of some people that hike and enjoy the JMT especially younger newer visitors, is often different and more limited versus those of older more experienced enthusiasts thus open for modest criticism.

Some policies that control the JMT are awkward.

Hiking the JMT today is a very different for the worse experience due to people than it was decades ago while the High Sierra is visually about the same.

[bobby49]

Harlen, if I didn't know better, I would think that the dog is on the north side of Ritter and Banner. Is that more up toward Donohue Pass? Then I see another dog supervising in the rear.

[Wandering Daisy]

Looks like we have a funny, irreverent off topic thread going (well, it has been a long winter!) and a serious one. Perhaps the serious thread needs to be split off so nobody gets offended. Both sides of the coin are valid.

[Harlen]

bobby49 wrote:

Harlen, if I didn't know better, I would think that the dog is on the north side of Ritter and Banner. Is that more up toward Donohue Pass? Then I see another dog supervising in the rear

WD, I'll try to stay roughly on topic with small references to the "Jolly Mountain Toilet," or whatever funny names it was called above.

So first, we love the JMT for the way it serves to super-concentrate backpackers along that corridor, freeing up the rest. We also love the country and the route it travels from Whitney in the south, all the way to the end of Evo.Valley. Then we love it again under the Ritter Range and Cathedral Peak. In between we wonder at the deviations west, away from the brilliant high basins. Like many well-traveled areas, it is better visited in the off-season.

Secondly, about those dogs! In the our former comment, Wolfie and Bear are high on rolling Mount Davis, just north of Glacier Pass, and as mentioned above- it was just off the JMT, and we went from there off trail west for 6 days without seeing a soul!

Where now bobby49? Above us is the logical higher route the JMT misses... and the pass is colled?

[bobby49]

331.JPG Where now bobby49? Above us is the logical higher route the JMT misses... and the pass is colled?

Colled? ...of a col...? The dogs are collared.

[dave54]

Any trail that requires a permit lottery is not worth hiking.

If the trail has a 'Friends of" group or its own website it is not worth hiking.

If the trail has an online trip report from someone in the bay area or LA .... well, you get the picture.... I hike to get away from the insanity of the world, not join it on the trail. Something is seriously wrong when I have more solitude on my living room couch than at a campsite.

[Lumbergh21]

Any trail that requires a permit lottery is not worth hiking.

If the trail has a 'Friends of" group or its own website it is not worth hiking.

If the trail has an online trip report from someone in the bay area or LA .... well, you get the picture.... I hike to get away from the insanity of the world, not join it on the trail. Something is seriously wrong when I have more solitude on my living room couch than at a campsite.

The Idaho Centenial Trail has a trail orginization and website as does the Oregon Desert Trail. Then there's the Hotsprings Trail, which is far from a beginners trail and only has a handful of finishers. The guy who put together the Hotsprings Trail grew up in LA. Grand Enchantment Trail, Hayduke Trail, etc. You would be hard pressed to find a place to go with more solitude than these trails. There are many times more people hiking the Sierra High Route than these trails. You may want to rethink these rules.