THE JOHN MUIR TRAIL

Nowhere does magnificent scenery, a vast network of interconnecting trails and beneficient weather come together so gloriously as in the High Sierra of California. Traversing most of the length of this exceptional terrain is the John Muir Trail. It heads south from Yosemite Valley for 208 miles across lush meadows and high alpine tundra, past precious tarns and lakes of assorted sizes and shapes. It winds far above timberline over lofty passes and through immense valleys and basins rimmed by awesome peaks and ridges. The John Muir Trail is one of the classic backpacking routes.

Because of the many access and egress points, the trail can be done in segments, allowing backpackers to break up their trips into weekend-sized elements.

This guide includes detailed maps showing trails, campsites and contours, with descriptive text and many photos.

Authors Don and Roberta Lowe immediately became enchanted with the Sierra Nevada upon their first visit there in 1970 while preparing a hiking guide for the range. Over the next decade, they returned many times on photographic treks, with each one increasing their admiration for the area's grandeur and subtlety. So, by the time they began the field work for this guide to the John Muir Trail they already were familiar with much of what makes the High Sierra such a wonderfully unique place. The Lowes have co-authored 10 other hiking guides for California, Oregon and Colorado. Roberta's articles on the outdoors, accompanied by Don's maps and photos, have been published in many Northwest magazines and newspapers. Don also is a noted photographer and his work ahs appeared in nationally distributed calendars and advertisements and had been featured exclusively in two large format books, Mt. Hood - Portrait of a Magnificent Mountain (The Caxton Printers, Ltd., 1975) and Alpine Country of the West (Graphic Arts Center Publishing Company, 1977).