Hot take: The John Muir Trail is overrated for thru-hikers

I did the first half last summer and it was amazing views but also wall-to-wall people. The second half near Whitney felt like a highway. Am I crazy for thinking the Wind River High Route gives you more solitude and better technical challenge for your time?

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gray_schmidt84mo ago

The JMT is just the Yosemite Valley of thru-hikes at this point. All the famous views but you're basically in a conga line with 50 other hikers. Wind River High Route will actually make you work for it and question your life choices instead of just following a crowd. People act like the permit system makes it exclusive but it really doesn't filter out the volume. Have you done the Sierra High Route for a proper challenge?

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lee7334mo ago

Man, you're really making me want to ditch my JMT plans and look harder at the Winds next summer. @gray_schmidt8 I've only done parts of the Sierra High Route, but you're right that it filters out the casual weekend crowd way better than the permit system does. Might have to tough it out there instead of fighting for a JMT spot and dealing with all that foot traffic.

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