John Muir Wilderness

Template:Short description Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox protected area The John Muir Wilderness is a wilderness area that extends along the crest of the Sierra Nevada of California for Template:Convert, in the Inyo and Sierra National Forests.<ref name="usfs">Template:Cite web</ref> Established in 1964 by the Wilderness Act and named for naturalist John Muir, it encompasses Template:Convert.<ref name=wildnet/> The wilderness lies along the eastern escarpment of the Sierra from near Mammoth Lakes and Devils Postpile National Monument in the north, to Cottonwood Pass near Mount Whitney in the south.<ref name=Adkinson>Template:Cite book</ref> The wilderness area also spans the Sierra crest north of Kings Canyon National Park, and extends on the west side of the park down to the Monarch Wilderness.

Geography and geology

The wilderness contains some of the most spectacular and highest peaks of the Sierra Nevada, with 57 peaks over Template:Convert in elevation.<ref name=Adkinson/> The peaks are typically made of granite from the Sierra Nevada Batholith, and are dramatically shaped by glacial action. The southernmost glacier in the United States, the Palisade Glacier, is contained within the wilderness area.<ref name="usfs"/> Notable east-side glaciated canyons are drained by Rock, McGee and Bishop Creeks.<ref name=Adkinson/>

The Palisade Crest, a major rock-climbing area

Mount Williamson and Mount Tyndall in the John Muir Wilderness from near Independence Airport

The eastern escarpment in the wilderness rises from Template:Convert from base to peak, in Template:Convert.<ref name=Adkinson/> The Sierra crest contains peaks from Template:Convert in elevation, including Mount Whitney, the highest peak in the continental United States. Other notable mountains in the wilderness area include the Palisades and Mount Humphreys. Mount Muir is located 2 miles south of Mount Whitney. Mount Williamson is the second-highest peak in the wilderness, at Template:Convert: it rises in one continuous sweep of granite from the floor of the Owens Valley to a peak just east of the main range.

Ecology

Template:Main The John Muir Wilderness contains the largest contiguous area above Template:Convert in the continental United States. It contains large areas of subalpine meadows and fellfields above Template:Convert, containing stands of whitebark and foxtail pine.<ref name=Adkinson/> From Template:Convert to Template:Convert, the wilderness is dominated by lodgepole pines. Below the lodgepole forest is forest dominated by Jeffrey pine.<ref name="schoenherr">Template:Cite book</ref>

Common animals in the wilderness include yellow-bellied marmots, pikas, golden-mantled ground squirrels, Clark's nutcrackers, golden trout, and black bears.<ref name=Adkinson/> The wilderness area also includes California bighorn sheep zoological areas, which are set aside for the protection of the species.

Recreation

Sabrina Basin in the John Muir Wilderness. Winter conditions linger until June in many years.

The wilderness contains Template:Convert of hiking trails,<ref name=Adkinson/> including the John Muir Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail, which run through the wilderness from north to south. The John Muir Wilderness is the second most-visited wilderness in the United States, and quotas for overnight use have been implemented on virtually all trailheads.<ref name=Adkinson/> Template:Clear left

Lakes

Blue Lake in the Sabrina Basin

• Dingleberry Lake
• Disappointment Lake
• Hell for Sure Lake
• Loch Leven
• Lake of the Lone Indian
• Mills Lake
• Nüümü Hu Hupi
• Pee Wee Lake
• Lake Virginia

See also

• Bibliography of the Sierra Nevada, for further reading

External links

• Wilderness.net
• TopoQuest map