Guy at REI told me the JMT is 'too crowded to bother' and I think he's dead wrong
He said he's skipped it for 5 seasons because of the permit mess, but crowding is exactly why I want to hike it before it gets worse. What's your cutoff for a trail being too busy to be worth it?
My buddy hiked it last July and said the only real crowd was at the spots everyone talks about, the rest was fine. Trails get "too busy" for me when you can't find a spot to pee without a stranger watching, which honestly never happens out there. Five seasons of waiting just sounds like he built it up too big in his head.