Is the JMT “crowded”?

you will not go an entire day without seeing people.
in the remote areas you could go 4-5 hours without seeing people during the day.
in the more "crowded areas" (Whitney, Red's Meadow, Tuolumne, approaching Yose Valley) you will rarely go 15 minutes without seeing someone … but its not a conga line except for the 3-4 miles from Happy Isles to the Falls and Half Dome turnoff.

if you hate seeing others on your trek, either do the JMT in off season, hike it at night, or try the Sierra High Route.

for me personally, there were only a few "crowded areas" and they didn't last long.
I did not really mind saying hello now and then.
but skip the side trek to Half Dome, That's Crowded.

Thanks for the feedback. I too don't mind saying hello now and then, but I also enjoy solitude in the mountains. I'd be starting it around August 9th. I figure that is still peak season, no?

Is the SHR an actual trail or is it entirely offtrail route finding?

Aug 9 is peak season, yes.

SHR is mostly off trail, but not entirely.
it is a route, not a trail.

You're going to be 30. Hike the JMT now. By the time you are 60 you will look back wistfully on how few people there were on the trail back then.

I look back on hiking it in the 80's and am now amazed that I went days without seeing anyone.

Actually, I've been on it since and often find it interesting to talk to other hikers on the trail… people from all over the world. But I always camp off the trail, often having an entire meadow or lake to myself. You don't have to go very far off the trail to have solitude.

Bill D

I read the same thing in the guide book I just picked up. It basically echoed that sentiment exactly. Walk a 1/4 mile off trail and you have the world to yourself.

I think I'm going to do it!

" but skip the side trek to Half Dome, That's Crowded. "

in some ways, the last little half dome bit, with the cables, is easier to do when it's crowded.

it will seem "gosh, there's a buttload of people here " crowded, but then you do it one day mostly alone, and the exposure, along with nobody to slam into on the way down, is considerably more.

is just a thought …
v.

Half Dome:
to me, I'd rather have the 'exposure' of air beneath my feat without the 'exposure' of incompetents above me that could fall and knock me off.

Last time I was up there somebody 'froze' in fear on the cables. There was a massive traffic jam of people… impatient people. I just ducked under the cables and walked outside them, trusting the friction of my boots.

While crowds may make some feel more 'secure'; they scare me.

Bill D.

ditto what Bill said.
this is a case of the illusion of safety in numbers, the ignorance of the masses, lemmings following lemmings …

if you are nervous going up the cables just rig a double clip in system like on a via ferrata. no body does this on the Half Dome cables, so others may be mad at your slow pace, but at least you won't die when the hoard comes tumbling down.

I think they only allow 50 people to start the JMT each day, and 50 do start each day.
Then you can get about 25-35 people doing loops containing JMT sections coming in from each different trailhead a day.
Then the occasional day hiker in your location.

So you can go all day without seeing a JMT hiker as long as your hiking pace stays between the people in front and in back of you.

I have no idea just how crowded the JMT is. To me it's crammed with people as I have always gone at a quick pace going North Bound.
You see well over 100 people each day, but that's what is more fun than anything, getting to say hi to everyone as you cross paths.

Once you get 1 day out of Reds Mdw, people thin out big time all the way to Woods Creek.

if you find a good camping spot 1/4 mile off trail on an overlook or pretty stream, you will also cut down on the people you see.
Most of what you see every day are from you stopping early or starting late as they walk by your camp.

"So you can go all day without seeing a JMT hiker as long as your hiking pace stays between the people in front and in back of you."

This makes the false assumption that everybody is moving the same direction as you are.

"I have no idea just how crowded the JMT is."

OK, I will agree with you.

–B.G.–

Consider Amy's "Big SEKI Loop" or some variation. There seem to be fewer people on the trails of SEKI, which in many places rival or exceed to JMT.
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=73686

A couple years ago I over ran a bunch of folks coming down off of Forester. It was on the south side, my second day out. Here I was approaching geezerdom and was able to hot foot around them. I was on a 80 mile loop in 7 days, could have done it in 6, but opted to stay out in the woods another day as I still would have plenty of time to unwind at home before resuming work. That was the only day I saw a ton of folks, a few days I saw no one on my loop.
Duane

BSL looks like exactly what I'm looking for. An introduction to the Sierra's with less crowds. THANK YOU!

The crowds are a myth. Will you see people, yes. Crowds? No. And there are things you can do to minimize it. Start hiking at sunrise and you will have the trail to yourself. Hike in the evening and you will pass the same campers in their tents. You will see less people if you hike SoBo rather than NoBo. camp at the last campsite before a pass, such as evolution lake south or Muir and you will hit Muir Pass with very few people.

Bottom line, the crowds are a myth. The only place that was too crowded was coming off of Whitney down to the Portal and the first few miles out of Happy Isles. It a great route and an excellent sampler of the Sierra. I went back on return trips to some of my favorite places such as Evolution Lake and later did the High Route which is an epic trip. Enjoy.

I'm with Hiking Malto on this. Starting early I've gone hours without seeing another person. I get many miles in while passing by tents in the morning and evening. Two years ago in the high snow year, it was like a 'ghost town' on many of the days out there. There are popular camping spots, for sure, but they can usually be avoided if that is your goal.

++1 on the myth regarding crowds. The usual popular areas are populated (Whitney zone, Half Dome, Rae Lakes) but the quota system usually keeps it reasonable. If you can work a mid September hike into your schedule it will be easy to find solitude. I went the second and third weeks in September 2011 and it was a ghost town. I saw the same four of five people about once every day or two but that was it. I was surprised to find large popular camping areas that were completely empty (and clean). Evolution Basin was almost vacant and I saw nobody within miles of Muir Hut. On return trips in July and August it has been a different story but as already stated it's easy to find solitude by camping 1/4 mile off the trail. On the SHR you can go several days without seeing anyone. Have fun. Andy.

Somebody up thread estimated that there are 50 people starting the full JMT on the same day as you, and another 35 doing sections, and that sounds about right. So you are on the trail with 50-85 other people. Is that crowded? Depends on your definition I guess.