Customer Reviews

Starr's Guide to the John Muir Trail and the High Sierra Region

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There's no doubt that Robinson's guide is one of the great books written about the JMT, no one disputes this. It's nicely written, informative and gives background on the trail not found in other guides. However (and this is a huge "but"), this book is *not* useful for planning a present-day thru hike of the John Muir Trail. It was written in the mid 1930's and so much has changed in the intervening 70 years. Locations to trailheads, water sources and resupplying points and all drastically changed since 1936.

Most people who thru hike the JMT want all books every published about it, to remind ourselves of our accomplishment. This book definitely deserves a hallowed spot on your bookshelf, it just doesn't belong in your pack in these modern times.

Having grown up in the John Muir Wilderness as a Boy Scout, I can attest to the greatness of the guide. Its size and intricate, step ny step trial guidance is second-to-none. An absolute must-read for anyone even remotely contemplating a trek between Mount Whitney and Yosemite. Despite the fact that the information in the guide originates in the 1930's, it is still relevant today and provides a very sound planning tool for Scouters and "civilians" alike. I recommend it highly for another reason: It fits in the outer pocket of my backpack!

The problem with this guide is it was written in the 30's and the trailhead info is not totally reliable. For hardcore JMT fans this is a must-read.

My dad and I hiked the length of the JMT many years ago. At that time Starr's Guide was invaluable. In terms of its accuracy, we encountered only one minor hiccup and it was probably our own fault. We didn't recognize Senger Creek when we passed it and we kept looking for it for a few miles when it was actually behind us. Hiking a few extra miles at the end of the day was hard but it all worked out as we took a layover day for some fishing on the middle fork of the San Joaquin River.

For more information on "Pete" Starr, check out William Alsup's book, "Missing in the Minarets: The Search for Walter A. Starr Jr."

Several of the reviews here complain about the descriptions in Starr's Guide being dated, but in reality this is a trivial point. Realistically, you are probably going to be covering a small section of the area described in this book on any given trip, and you will want a topo map of that area to complement this (or any) book. A larger scale map will correct any minor discrepancies such as trailhead parking having been moved a half mile, and your wilderness permit will tell you where you are now forbidden to camp or build a fire. Meanwhile, for basic functionality, Starr's Guide is unsurpassed. The routes are still essentially what they were 80 years ago, so age hardly matters.

To understand the concept of the book, look at the section titled Advice to Travelers, where Starr says "While it is possible to travel from one end of the Muir Trail to the other in a single trip, I consider it a far better plan to explore the region traversed by the trail in sections, taking a different one each trip... Each year one can look forward to enjoying a new part of the High Sierra." Exactly. If you're only going to hike once or twice in your life, e.g. marching with the masses to the summit of Mt. Whitney, you don't need Starr's Guide. But if you want to get to KNOW the Sierras, and think of hiking there as an ongoing expedition spanning many summers, then no other guide I know of will make it nearly as easy to identify the various regions you want to see, figure out which trailheads make the most sense as entry and exit points, and "fill in the blanks" as you explore. The convenient organization in terms of eastern and western "laterals" for each latitudinal slice of the Muir Trail makes it easy to plan in-and-out routes on either side of the mountains, figure out different ways of getting to favorite places, or put together grand trans-Sierra routes. And it's all laid out in a simple, clear way.

Starr's descriptions are lean, but suggestive and at times poetic. For the hiker, more lengthy accounts make for a bulky, heavy addition to your pack, but add little to your ability to get there and see for yourself. Less is more. A classic.

I bought this book in the 60s before backpacking was the big thing it is now. But i still check it when i want to plan a trip from scratch. I've used it for way more than only JMT trips. I found wonderful wkend and longer loops off Florence Lake and Courtright Res and have seen things i never wd have seen basing my trips from other more "routine" books.

If you are serious about backpacking and want to do your own planning, get this book.

I wasn't expecting this to be an up-to-date guide for planning a trip on the JMT today -- I bought it because it would have an interesting historical take on the trail. But even allowing for my limited expectations, I was disappointed. The core of the book, written by Starr in 1934, is basically no more than a list of trail junctions and mileage between them, with a few comments here and there about where you can see a good view.In addition to Starr's write-up, this edition has some some material in the front and back that was written in 1970, which is neither old enough to be historically intriguing nor new enough to be of utilitarian value. What's missing is any description of the natural history, as found in the standard modern guidebook by Wenk. There is almost no mention of any specific flower, tree, or animal species, or for example any description of the volcanic geology of the area south of Reds Meadow. Of course there was some motivation for keeping the book to the bare minimum, since it was meant to be a small, lightweight book that you could stick in a pocket while hiking the trail. But nobody nowadays would actually choose this book as the one to take on the trail, so you get all the disadvantages of compactness without any of the advantages. The one thing I really liked about the book was the fold-out map in the back, which gives an attractive overview of the whole region (while, of course, not being adequate for actually navigating one's way on the trail).