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

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Navigation along the John Muir Trail is generally easy, far more so than a route across the Scottish Highlands, for example, and more straightforward than many long-distance routes in Europe. With use of the Tom Harrison maps and this guidebook the trail of the JMT should never be in doubt.

Equipment

The importance of packing light for the John Muir Trail cannot be over-stressed. The experienced and inexperienced backpacker can usually be differentiated by the much lighter load carried by the former. The inexperienced tends not to know which items of kit are essential and which can be omitted without compromising either safety or comfort.

Assemble the gear that you think you need for the trip and then try to be ruthless in discarding items that are not really necessary, or replace them with lighter alternatives. Limit yourself to a very small number of luxury (non-essential) items. The American guru of ultra-lightweight wilderness backpacking is Ray Jardine, a man who has probably walked the Pacific Crest Trail more times than anyone else. His philosophy and tips for load lightening can be found in The Pacific Crest Trail Hiker’s Handbook (see Appendix 7 – Bibliography).