The Getaway Guide to the John Muir Trail

by Guy T. Saperstein

The John Muir Trail, the most popular long-distance trekking trail in the West, runs from California’s Yosemite National Park through 211 miles of roadless wilderness to Kings Canyon and Sequoia national parks. Along the way lie challenging mountain passes, hundreds of lakes and streams, and the most magnificent alpine scenery imaginable, climaxing with an ascent of 14,494-foot Mount Whitney, the highest peak in the continental United States. Guy Saperstein’s 25-year-old son Jacobus invited him on a month-long hike along the entire length of the John Muir Trail just before Guy’s 60th birthday. The trip was to be the realization of a lifelong dream. A prominent attorney, Guy served on the board of the Sierra Club Foundation. It was the Sierra Club’s founder, John Muir, who had originally explored the spectacular High Sierra landscape, and the trail was established in Muir’s honor shortly after his death in 1914. But could an older guy with a desk job actually survive a solid month of backpacking and mountain climbing? The Getaway Guide to the John Muir Trail contains Guy Saperstein’s account of the father-and-son trek and the colorful characters they meet along the way, as well as detailed advice on planning, equipment, food and everything that neophytes and experienced hikers alike need to know to undertake part or all of this high country journey for themselves. Written with panache and humor, the book is an insiration to hikers of all ages. The Getaway Guide to the John Muir Trail is the first in a new series of Getaway Guides to great American trails from RDR Books.

180 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Samantha]

I have read a good amount of trail books and this is on my lower tier. I think I prefer reading from a female's point of view personally. He was pretty straightforward in his description of hiking the trail, that was pretty much it.