Ran into an old guide on the John Muir Trail last month

He said the section near Evolution Valley has changed more in 5 years than in the previous 20... more downed trees and the creek crossings are way different now. Made me wonder how much of my old route notes are still valid for next season. Anyone else notice trails shifting faster than they used to?

2 comments

2 Comments

cameron68425d ago

Yeah, that bit about Evolution Valley changing more in 5 years than the previous 20 really hits home. I did that stretch back in 2019 and again last summer, and the difference is wild. The creek crossing near the lower end used to be a simple hop over some rocks, now it's this braided mess that's waist deep in spots with new channels cut through the bank. And the downed trees... I swear I spent an extra hour scrambling over blowdowns on the high route above the valley, all these big pines that fell in the last few years. You're gonna want to double check any notes for water sources especially, because the snowmelt timing is all over the place now and some seasonal streams are running way later than they used to.

nathan54525d ago

Hold on, maybe the creek is actually better now for filtering out casual hikers who can't handle a little route finding. All those downed trees just mean more people skip the high route and stay in the valley where they belong.