The trail marker math that finally clicked on the JMT

I was planning a Sierra section hike last spring and kept seeing mileages on my map that didn't match the signs. After like three days of confusion, I found this old ranger blog that broke down how the JMT markers are based on the original 1930s survey, not the actual current trail. Turns out the real trail is about 4 miles longer than the official 211 mile figure because of reroutes around washouts and fallen trees. That little fact saved me from a bad resupply plan near Red's Meadow. Has anyone else run into outdated trail mileage on a route they were scouting?

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the_taylor18d ago

...and that reminds me of the time I tried to follow an old map on the AT in Vermont and ended up walking straight into a beaver pond that wasn't there in 1987. The trail had been rerouted like half a mile east but the sign still pointed the old way, so I just kept going until my boots squelched. I had to backtrack soaked and grumpy, and my buddy who was ahead of me thought it was the funniest thing he'd ever seen. He still brings it up every time we plan a trip, which is annoying but fair lol. So yeah, outdated maps are basically a rite of passage at this point, but at least the JMT one sounds like it would've wrecked my whole week if I didn't catch it.