Getting lost on the old John Muir Trail section near Thousand Island Lake

A few years back, I was hiking that part of the JMT and a big storm washed out the main trail markers. I spent about four hours just bushwhacking in circles trying to find the right path again. The map was no help because the landscape had changed so much. I finally found the route by spotting a specific rock cairn a ranger had mentioned once. Has anyone else had the trail just disappear on them like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

victor65120d ago

Actually, that rock cairn near Thousand Island Lake was rebuilt by volunteers last summer.

dianawilson20d ago

My buddy Mark got turned around in the White Mountains last fall. He was on a marked trail that just faded into a boulder field after some bad rains. His phone map showed the trail going straight through solid rock. He wandered for maybe two hours before he saw a faded orange ribbon tied to a tree branch way off to his left. That tiny bit of old survey tape saved him a cold night out there.

thompson.julia20d ago

That bit about the phone map showing the trail going through solid rock is a classic GPS error. The digital line is just a guess over old data and doesn't know about boulders. You always have to trust what's on the ground more than the screen.