A Trans-California Ramble:

Re-walking John Muir's 1868 trip from San Francisco to Yosemite

The guide book for this hike is available. Click here for info.

This web site was developed to document our 2006 walk following the route of John Muir's first trip to Yosemite. Since that time we have re-walked the trip in sections in preparation for publishing a guide book for the route.

On March 27, 1868, John Muir arrived from New York, by steamer, to California. He was thirty, had recently completed walking from Indiana to Florida, and wanted to see Yosemite. From San Francisco, the typical traveler took a ferry to Stockton and then completed the trip by stage and horse. John Muir chose to walk. Muir took the ferry to Oakland and walked via the Santa Clara Valley, over the Pacheco Pass, across the San Joaquin Valley to Snelling, and then up the foothills through Coulterville to arrive in Yosemite Valley around May 22.

After finding that no Muir scholar or enthusiast had ever done this before, Peter and Donna Thomas set out to re-walk Muir's 1868 walk. The first step was to determine Muir's route. Much of this work was done in 2005-6. The second step was to plot their own route. The Thomases found that most of the roads Muir walked are now major highways. But, they also found that there were urban trails, parks and pathways running parallel to Muir's route, so they took as their challenge to link these together into a SF - Yosemite walking route that went as much as possible through nature and off the main roads. Their walk across California in Muir's footsteps was about 300 miles, and they successfully completed the 33 day trip in April - May of 2006.

While on this trip they were inspired to create a guide book. They wanted others to follow Muir's footsteps using this route they had pioneered on the Trans-California Ramble. Realizing that most people would not be able to take 30 days to follow the complete route, and because there were some places where the only option for travel was to use very busy (and not very safe for walking) roads, they divided the trip into 7 sections, each a trip that could be done over a long weekend. In the spring of 2007-8 they traveled the complete route again, verifying the directions and logistics, and composing the guide book.

The guide book is now complete, a 186 page 9 by 6 inch paperback book, titled, "The Muir Ramble Route: San Francisco to Yosemite in the Footsteps of John Muir". The price is $17.00. Click here to order.

Here is a review from Amazon's book site:

This labor of love is the culmination of years of research on how to retrace John Muir's 1868 "ramble" from San Francisco to Yosemite. The challenge for the authors was how to contend with all the "civilization" of the 21st century Bay Area and San Joaquin Valley and still make someone consider, attempt and relish the effort of this 300 mile journey themselves.

The book is broken down into seven trip sections starting with taking the ferry from San Francico and ending at Sierra Club's Le Conte Memorial Lodge in Yosemite Valley. Since John Muir did not keep a specific journal of this, his first trip to Yosemite, the Thomases have seamlessly woven together in Muir's own words from other writings, the route of his trip, how he did it, and what he saw along the way. Then they did it themselves.

Peter and Donna obviously did a tremendous amount of research but this book does not feel ponderous, overly scholarly or environmentally preachy. Rather, they ask themselves throughout: are we traveling in the literal footsteps of John Muir--difficult to do when contending with a major highway; are we traveling in the spirit of Muir--continually enthralled by the beauty of this traverse of the state. And they succeed for themselves and for the memory of Muir and for the rest of us who might want to try this journey of both body and spirit.

This guidebook leaves little out but the effort and focus and optimism a user should be prepared to expend to meet it halfway. The directions are meticulously detailed with any number of options in how to negotiate this combination of urban, suburban, exurban, agricultural and finally, pristinely wild habitat that the Ramble entails.

It may seem strange to discuss ferry schedules, Bay Area Rapid Transit, Bay Area hotels and restaurants, taxi companies, light rail and carpooling in a book that deals with Yosemite, but all that information is truly needed in this instance. Each section, in addition to careful mileage outlines, Donna's lovely maps, and Peter's own journal entries, has a Resources section that includes transportation, accommodation options, side trips, map sources, books, and particularly contacts for planning a particular leg of the trip. And all legs can be done in any or no particular order though late spring is the best time of year.

The authors' hope is obviously that their Muir Ramble Route becomes, if not some "official" trail, at least increasingly more available to the hiker wanting to walk in the steps of this John Muir adventure. They fully realize we cannot turn back the clock but they challenge all to see the potential in finding the glory of the outdoors everywhere, starting even as this trip does in the densest jungles of civilization. The Thomases are to be commended for their efforts. And we, who like to hike, bird, botanize, look at Bridal Veil Falls, and long to find beauty wherever we are, with a little effort on our own, will benefit from this unique guide.

Further information about the TCR and the MRR:

Peter and Donna Thomas have also made a limited edition hard cover book with over 100 photographs taken while walking the Muir Ramble Route. Click here for more information.

June 5 , 2010
The First Annual John Muir Highway Festival:
We will be on hand in Coulterville for the ribbon cutting dedication of the newly named John Muir Highway. For more information see Johnmuirhighway.net

April 2, 2009
Exciting new news:
Alex McInturff, a Stanford Graduate student, is walking from San Francisco to Yosemite following Muir's footsteps and much of our Muir Ramble Route. Alex came up with the idea of following John Muir's footsteps earlier this year, found our website and contacted us. We gave him the manuscript for our book, with the directions for following Muir's route across California, and he will be the first person to walk our Muir Ramble Route. You can follow his trip on his web site:
http://muirwalk.blogspot.com
You can also read about Alex McInturff and his bon-voyage in an article from the San Jose Mercury News:
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_12074370?source=email

Newspaper articles about Peter and Donna Thomas's walks across California:

Article in the Union Democrat, Monday February 7. 2008

Front Page Article in the SF Chronicle, June 4, 2007

Article in the Santa Cruz Sentinel, March 30, 2006

Article in the San Francisco Chronicle, April 2, 2006

The Chronicle article with more photos

Article in the Oakland Tribune, April 7, 2006

Article in the The Delhi Express, April, 2006

Article in the Modesto Bee, April 27, 2006

Article in the San Francisco Chronicle, Sunday May 14, 2006

Article in the Gilroy Dispatch, April 21, 2007

Article in the San Francisco Chronicle, Monday June 4, 2007