In the summer of 2003, my teenage son and I hiked the John Muir Trail. In an age where every sport must be "extreme" to be notable, hiking the John Muir Trail seems rather tame. It is, after all, just walking.
Outdoor adventure literature is all about the extreme. It's too bad. Most of us are regular people whose aspirations for adventure are modest. We know we will never summit all 14 of the 8,000-meter peaks. It's beyond our physical capability and it requires a sacrifice and commitment that we are unwilling to make. Though these amazing accounts are true life, for us regular folks, they are a wild fantasy.
But we can imagine ourselves undertaking an adventure like Colin Fletcher. With no experience or special skills, Colin simply decided to walk the length of California and later, the Grand Canyon from end to end. Nearly all of us can walk. The critical difference between Colin Fletcher and the rest of us is that he went and did it. We have reasons, real or imagined, why we never get around to it.
When I browse the bookstore shelves, I keep looking for a tale told by a regular person like me of an adventure I might take. For example, if I trek to Everest Base Camp,
what should I expect? How will I feel? Will the altitude trouble me? I have a guidebook; there are plenty of those. But I'd like to learn from another person's experience what to expect and how I can enhance the trip I am planning. What did you enjoy? What was troublesome?
So, I thought the story of a man and his teenage son walking the John Muir Trail together might interest other would-be adventurers like it would have interested me. Beginning at 4,000 feet in Yosemite Valley, the John Muir Trail travels the Sierra crest for 220 miles over eleven mountain passes culminating at the summit of 14,494-foot Mt. Whitney, the highest point in the lower 48 states. People considering such an adventure might wonder: What is it like to backpack for three weeks? When I take a four or five-day trip, I am always anxious to return. Can I walk all day every day for three weeks - at altitude? If I do it with my child, will we grow together or will we just bicker? Perhaps our experience will give you an idea of what to expect.
I hope you will find this to be an entertaining and lively journal with some nice photos to light the way. If you are contemplating such a trip, I encourage you to go. If you do, along the trail, you will surely wonder what the hell possessed you to go. Hopefully, the stunning beauty will see you through, because no matter how full your life might be with great memories, this trip will be among the sweetest.
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