Читать книгу The John Muir Trail. Through the Californian Sierra Nevada онлайн

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From Tuolumne a long ascent up the wide and beautiful Lyell Valley leads to the first high pass of the JMT, the 11,056ft Donohue Pass, where the Trail leaves Yosemite National Park to enter the Ansel Adams Wilderness Area in Inyo National Forest. The route then heads south-eastwards across a landscape dotted with a multitude of mountain lakes and tarns – Thousand Island Lake, Emerald Lake, Garnet Lake and Shadow Lake – all beneath the dominating and shapely summits of Mount Ritter and Banner Peak.

A long descent southwards through woodland leads to the Devil’s Postpile National Monument, massive columnar blocks of basalt resembling those found at the Giant’s Causeway in Ireland. Nearby the wilderness walker can enjoy both the hot tubs at the thermal springs and Reds Meadow Resort, which offers the hungry hiker a restaurant/café and a store selling basic foodstuffs.

The trail now climbs through trees that were badly burned in a forest fire in the early 1990s to pass into the huge John Muir Wilderness to reach Deer Creek, before following a trail of volcanic dust along a ridge heading south-eastwards high above Cascade Valley. Duck Lake is by-passed, but the undulating JMT passes Purple Lake and Lake Virginia before dropping steeply down to Tully Hole. Lakes named after the Native American culture (Squaw Lake, Chief Lake, Papoose Lake) are passed on the ascent to the Trail’s second major pass, Silver Pass at 10,900ft. A long descent southwards follows, past Silver Pass Lake and Pocket Meadow to reach Quail Meadows, a short distance east of Edison Lake. Most JMT walkers will then want to take the ferry boat trip across this lake to spend a day or two relaxing at Vermilion Resort, where there is always a special welcome awaiting JMT and PCT Thru-Hikers.