One Hundred Years in Yosemite: The Story of a Great Park and Its Friends

by Carl Parcher Russell

The John Muir Trail

A fitting climax to the High Sierra trails in Yosemite National Park is found in that portion of the trail system which has been designated the John Muir Trail. Beginning at the LeConte Lodge in Yosemite Valley, this route follows the Merced River Trail to Little Yosemite, thence along the ancient Indian route over Cathedral Pass to Tuolumne Meadows, up the Lyell Fork of the Tuolumne to Donohue Pass (where the trail leaves the national park), along the east slope to Island Pass, then back to the headwaters of westward-flowing streams to Devils Postpile and Reds Meadow on the San Joaquin, south to Mono Creek and other tributaries of the South Fork of the San Joaquin, into Kings Canyon National Park at Evolution Valley, over Muir Pass to the headwaters of the Middle Fork of the Kings, over Mather Pass in the South Fork of the Kings, over Pinchot Pass, Glen Pass, and into Sequoia National Park at Foresters Pass, thence south to Mount Whitney. At Whitney Pass the route descends the east slope until it connects with a spur of the El Camino Sierra at Whitney Portal above the town of Lone Pine. Along the route are 148 peaks more than 13,000 feet in height. The Sierra crest, itself, is more than 13,000 feet above the sea for eight and one-half miles adjacent to Mount Whitney. The trail traverses one of the most extensive areas yet remaining practically free from automobile roads.

In Sequoia National Park, the High Sierra Trail from Giant Forest to Mount Whitney enters the John Muir Trail on Wallace Creek, a tributary of the Kern. Thus does the John Muir Trail connect the national parks of the Sierra, traversing in some 260 miles most of the grandest regions of the High Sierra.

The National Park Service, the Forest Service, and the State of California have coöperated in making the John Muir Trail a reality. The phenomenal route had its inception during the 1914 Sierra Club Outing, when it was suggested to officers of the club that the State of California might well appropriate funds with which to develop trails in the High Sierra. Upon the death of John Muir, president of the club, appropriation bills were introduced for the purpose of creating a memorial trail. The first appropriation of $10,000 enabled the state engineer, Wilbur F. McClure, to explore a practical route along the crest of the Sierra from Yosemite to Mount Whitney. McClure made two trips into the Sierra and then conferred with the Sierra Club and officers of the U. S. Forest Service before designating the route. During the next twenty years several state appropriations were forthcoming, and the federal agencies most concerned, the Forest Service and the National Park Service, entered into the program of locating and building the trail. The earlier explorations of Muir, Solomons, LeConte, and numerous state and federal survey parties contributed to the success of the undertaking. The maps of the Geological Survey greatly facilitated the work.

While Stephen T. Mather was still Assistant Secretary of the Interior and before the National Park Service was created, the “Mather Mountain Party of 1916” assembled in Yosemite Valley preparatory to an inspection of the John Muir Trail. This expedition received the support of the Geological Survey. Frank B. Ewing, at that time an employee of the Geological Survey, was chief guide and general manager. As an employee of the National Park Service, he has remained in Yosemite National Park ever since that early march along the John Muir Trail and has been a principal party to the National Park Service trail developments previously described. The section of the John Muir Trail in Yosemite National Park was born and has matured under Ewing’s personal supervision. Mr. Mather’s expedition of 1916 helped to crystallize ideas regarding the Muir Trail and established it in the official minds and master plans of the new National Park Service and the U. S. Forest Service. Robert Sterling Yard, a member of the Mather party and later editor for the new bureau, wrote a sparkling account of the expedition (Yard, 1918). The route at that time was the same within Yosemite National Park as it is today, but the physical condition of the trail has improved mightily. The Mather party traveled the John Muir Trail to Evolution Valley, beyond which the trail was described as impassable to horses. From there the party moved westward to the North Fork of the Kings, then south to the Tehipite Valley, Kanawyers on the South Fork, and yet further southward to the Giant Forest. Today the Giant Forest is more accessible from the John Muir Trail via the High Sierra Trail.

In promoting the development of the John Muir Trail and in fostering the use of High Sierra trails, generally, the Sierra Club has ever been preëminent among the advocates of mountaineering. Among its members are many individuals who have contributed to the shaping of National Park Service policies. This club, which was organized about the same time that Yosemite National Park was created, defined its purposes: “To explore, enjoy, and render accessible the mountain regions of the Pacific Coast; to publish authentic information concerning them; to enlist the support and coöperation of the people and the Government in preserving the forests and other natural features of the Sierra Nevada.” For nearly half a century the Sierra Club has centered its attention upon the security and well-being of the natural attributes of Yosemite and has worked to make those attributes known and appreciated. The national parks, national forests, and state parks, generally, have benefited greatly by the continuous interest of the club, and the trail and road systems of Yosemite National Park, especially, have received its study.