Best JMT Guidebook/Planning Resource

[JPritch]

What do you all recommend for a JMT guidebook? Is there something out there that is as popular and helpful as the AWOL guide is for the AT?

I am about to start the planning for my trip.

Thanks!

[tflaris]

When we were planning our thru hiking in 2016 we used Elizabeth Wenk's book for planning and the JMT phone app when on the trail.

Mileage between the 2 sources didn't match up leading to some confusion especially on campsites listed in Wenk's book but not on the JMT phone app.

That being said both were great sources for planning. Also used Erik the Black JMT Guide. His maps are easier to read than Wenk's maps.

YMMV


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[Dogwood]

JMTers get along without an on trail guidebook. There are heaps of JMT fodder already on line. The JMT is well marked established tread worthy of some adventure. HYOH not someone else.

Grab some maps, if maps are your thing, and go.

[imscotty]

I enjoyed the Wenk book for all the information on the geology, flora and fauna. It was my bedtime reading. I brought along the Halfmile maps for this section too which I would reference throughout the day. I would recommend both. The weight of everything was pretty negligible. I did not use any electronics so I cannot advise you there.

[Maui Rhino]

I carried sections of Wenk's book... Very helpful. I also used Ray Rippel's PDF on planning a JMT hike. He recently updated it, and give good advice on the permit process. http://www.jmtbook.com

[Miner]

As someone who has been hiking in the Sierra Nevada for years, I think the JMT is pretty straight forward and people over-complicate things. No need to plan each day in much detail as campsites are easy to find unless you are almost at the top of one of the passes. I typically hike til a certain time and then start looking for a campsite and usually can find one in less than 30 minutes in most places. Rather then camping at a scenic place when you can't see it in the dark, stop and take a long break at such places during the day when you can acctually enjoy them. The bears all know the popular places, so why camp there? The only required planning is which of the limited main resupply points do you want to use: Tuolumne Meadows, Red Meadows/Mammoth Lakes, VVR, Muir Trail Ranch, Kearsarge Pass to town of Independence. Using any other resupply point except these is either expensive or too much hassle for the vast majority of JMT hikers And how many days to hike between resupplies so you know how much to carry. That last part is the one people from back east may have issues with since they may not have experience with hiking in high elevation and how it may affect their daily mileage and how long their body takes to acclimate to the altitude (which is an individual thing).

First you need a map and note how many miles between resupplies and how much climbing there will be. Check out online journals of people that seem similar to you (age, region they are from, pack weight) and see how many days they needed to cover those miles and how they did their resupplying. Decide if you want a more aggressive or relaxed hike compared to them and adjust your resupply quantities accordingly. Planning done.

There are some free JMT maps online if you google them, though they all seem to use different miles compared to the official trail mileage due to recreation GPS differences. Halfmile's PCT maps also cover this section since the PCT and JMT overlap for 90%. Commercially there is the Tom Harrison JMT Map pack, Erick the Blacks JMT guide/map book, some phone apps, etc. If the trail isn't burried in snow, Erik the Blacks is pretty compact and easy to read, but too zoomed in to cross country navigate if the trail is burried. The Tom Harrison maps were alwaysthe gold standard for hiking the JMT, but having to keep up with the 10+ individual maps, it's hard to keep them looking nice after 2-3 weeks.

[MuddyWaters]

The hardest part of jmt planning is your transportation

Its not like you have lots of resupply options

You can camp darn near anywhere

Only people that should struggle wirh pkanning are newbies that have no idea how far they should plan to hike daily.

[Lyle]

Eric the Black's guide.

[Dogwood]

Good advise from Miner. Don't over complicate your hike. And, don't hike someone else's JMT hike. It's an easy trail to follow. Allow yourself some adventure. It was what the JMT was designed named after a great adventurous wanderer Naturalist.

[JPritch]

Great info guys, thank you.

[show me the monkey]

Eric the Black's guide.

I second Erik the Black's Ultralight Trail Guide. I do have Wenk's book, both complete and abridged versions, but found that the 2.4 ounce Erik guide was all I needed as far as maps, mileages, elevation profile and misc. information.
If you have a smart phone, down load the free "Halfmile PCT" app. This helped me find the trail more than once when I deviated off of the JMT.

[JPritch]

Really liking Erik the Black's guide! Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for the lead, gonna order it soon.

[Venchka]

Stupid old guy question:
The JMT is 220 miles (+ or -) long. It's been hiked in 9 days without resupply by a teenager with an external frame pack and alcohol stove about 50 years ago.
How can it possibly take all of this discussion repeatedly about printed directions of dubious value? Hey?
Wayne
Dazed and Confused by redundant information.


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[Miner]

I'm actually a little confused by your post?

Even when I hiked the PCT and was in excellent shape when I hit the High Sierra, it still took me 11 hiking days (not counting resupplying) of hiking to cover the JMT from Mt. Whitney to Tuolumne Meadows. Taking the JMT down to Yosemite Valley would have added another day on top of that. Most people hiking the JMT, aren't physically able to hike it under 10 days. They haven't spent a summer hiking most of the time and they aren't use to the high elevation. Asking them to carry 10+ days of food on top of that just isn't realistic. Even if I could hike it in 8 days, I still wouldn't want to carry that much food and would still resupply along the way. And no matter what, some sort of map or guidebook is needed. Most of the trail isn't labeled as the JMT or the PCT for that matter as the 2 trails overlap for most of the length. There are very few trail junctions that even mention the JMT and usually refer to a feature 4-8 miles further along. If you don't know if that feature is along your path, you will have no clue which direction to go.

[show me the monkey]

I would have to agree with Miner. I started my hike in late September last year when MTR was about to close and when bus service in the Western Sierra was more limited, so I had to complete my hike from Yosemite Valley to Whitney in 8.5 days. That meant carrying 4 days of food at a time and not deviating from my schedule. Even without such an aggressive schedule, I would not have hiked this trail without some sort of map and I found the Erik the Black guide to have the perfect level of information without doing someone else's hike by numbers approach. Other hikers that saw me with that guide actually questioned me on where I bought it after they perused through its pages and saw how small it was.
I met a SOBO PCT thru-hiker on my trip and we hiked together for a few days since we were doing similar miles. While we hiked south, we came across a search and rescue crew looking for a missing hiker, who was found dead just a day later. Sadly, this happens in the Sierra several times a year. The short story is as Miner said; some sort of map or guidebook is needed as well as the ability to read a map; not only for the confusing junctions, but the high likelihood of losing the trail as I did numerous times.

[JPritch]

Stupid old guy question:
The JMT is 220 miles (+ or -) long. It's been hiked in 9 days without resupply by a teenager with an external frame pack and alcohol stove about 50 years ago.
How can it possibly take all of this discussion repeatedly about printed directions of dubious value? Hey?
Wayne
Dazed and Confused by redundant information.

The AT is even simpler...just follow the white blazes, yet nearly everyone I saw, including myself, found the extremely detailed AWOL guide to be an invaluable resource. I'm sure there is something to be said for just "winging it", but I don't see any harm in knowing how far ahead the next water source, resupply, campground, or cool detour may be. I can still wing it and be adventurous, but have some options at my disposal.

[show me the monkey]

The AT is even simpler...just follow the white blazes, yet nearly everyone I saw, including myself, found the extremely detailed AWOL guide to be an invaluable resource. I'm sure there is something to be said for just "winging it", but I don't see any harm in knowing how far ahead the next water source, resupply, campground, or cool detour may be. I can still wing it and be adventurous, but have some options at my disposal.

Well said. I've done one of my AT thru-hikes without maps or data book etc., but AT and JMT and two very different trails.

[colorado_rob]

We all have our own hiking MO's, but I cannot imagine doing the JMT without a nice set of maps... I love looking at the names of surrounding peaks, lakes, etc. Easiest to do with good old paper maps. Sure, we could have carried them as Jpegs on our phones, whatever, but some situations work best with paper, for me at least.

We printed our own nice set, double sided, color, pretty darn light when it came down to it. IIRC it was 6 pieces of paper and 12 maps, all generated with an old TOPO program (circa 2012!). I cannot imagine doing the AT *WITH* a set of maps, practically useless, except in the White mountains, where a map sure came in handy.

As far as a JMT info-guide goes, we just researched online and had everything figured out there. We did buy a guide book, found it mostly useless after finding info online.

[HooKooDooKu]

My personal recommendation is to get the combination of the Elizabeth Wenk guide book, the National Geographic JMT Map 'booklet', the Guthook's JMT App, and a set of Staedtler permanent markers.

Wenk's book gives you a good overview of what to expect, and if you buy it in electronic form, you can re-read about the section you'll hike the following day while you are on the trail.

The Nat Geo shows the location of just about every campsite Wenk's book lists. Use a Staedtler pen to update your map to add the few missing camp sites, and to number your campsites on the map to match Wenk's numbering system (Since Wenk's numbering system is sequential, you don't have to label EVERY campsite).

The App is needed to find out where you are along the trail. When you're near populated areas like Tuolumne and Red's, you'll need to check the App to make sure you're staying on the JMT as these areas have several well-traveled cross trails and almost NONE of them are labelled as to which is the JMT. Otherwise, the App is great so as to locate where you are along the JMT, and then translate that to the NatGeo map. I usually did this late each afternoon when it was time to start thinking about where I was going to camp that night. With the App, I could find my location on the map, and then use the map to see campsites were located up ahead.

I also utilized the Staedtler pens to make various notes on the map:
Added known campsites in black.
Labelled campsites and various other points of interest in green.
I planned a 21 day itinerary and marked 20 target campsite for each night in orange.
Circled campsites that were reported to be particularly nice in red.
Carried a blue pen with me on the trail to mark where I camped each night.

[gwschenk]

The App is needed to find out where you are along the trail.

Somehow, that's sad.