John Muir Trail | Books and my backpack

The year 2021 brought new focus to thru-hiking’s Triple Crown. Sammy Potter and Jackson Parell, a pair of Stanford college students, walked more than 7,000 miles on the Appalachian Trail, the Continental Divide Trail, and the Pacific Crest Trail in spectacular fashion–within a calendar year.

And three women, the Wander Women, all retirees in their 60s, completed the Pacific Crest Trail, achieving their Triple Crown, one thru-hike a year for three years.

Jim Rahtz’s book presents three thru-hikes for those who don’t have the many months or inclination to walk so far: Backpacking’s Triple Crown: The Junior Version.

Don’t let the “junior” in the title fool you into thinking these are casual adventures. Each is a section of the longer trails, and Rahtz argues they cover perhaps the most beautiful sections.

The John Muir Trail runs 220 miles from Happy Isle in Yosemite National Park to the summit of Mount Whitney. Many PCT walkers say it is their favorite part of the longer trail and maybe even the most difficult.

The Colorado Trail begins near Denver and ends near Durango. At 486 miles, it is the longest “junior” trail, nearly duplicating the length of Spain’s Camino de Santiago.

The Long Trail is 273 miles and winds the length of Vermont. The first 100 miles or so is also the Appalachian Trail.

Rahtz has walked all three and his stories make it clear these shorter versions are more approachable, but not to be taken lightly.

Which of the three is hardest? Most beautiful? Easiest?

Sue and I walked the John Muir Trail (with mules packing most of our stuff) in August 2021 and can’t imagine that any mountain trek could be more beautiful. But we yearn for further adventures. While Rahtz’ book makes it clear the other two could be even more difficult than the JMT, it tempts me to add a Triple Crown to our other trekking accomplishments. Are we up for the challenges? Could we carry everything we need?

You can call ’em a bunch of old fogeys, if you dare. But when is the last time you hoisted a backpack onto your shoulders and walked nearly 8,000 miles, completing the Triple Crown of long-distance trekking? That’s what the Wander Women did, joining a growing group of people who view their older years as a time to get outside and find adventure.

Click on the underlined words above to read their stories.

(The journalist should have used ”Crest,” not ”Coast” for the PCT.)

Sue and I fall short of the Wander Women’s accomplishments, but, since we stopped working when I turned 60, we have walked more than 1,400 miles on six famed trails in seven countries, including our recent backpacking adventure on California’s John Muir Trail. But CNN didn’t write about us. Ah, well.

However, we have teamed up to write and illustrate two books about our adventures. You can pick up your copies on Amazon: Camino Sunrise: Walking With My Shadows and Trippin’ Through My 60s: When Adventure Calls, the Trails of Europe Answer.