Hiking the John Muir trail is at the center of the NO&YO outdoor lifestyle. As part of our commitment to enjoy the outdoors and part of our Outdoor Adventure Bucket list – we have done some reconnaissance on what is and what it takes to hike the John Muir Trail in California. To start, what is the John Muir Trail?  In part the John Muir trail is a long distance trail in the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California, passing Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks. In other words, the John Muir Trail has it all – mountains, lakes, wilderness, and most importantly a place to get lost on purpose. It is said that hiking the John Muir Trail allows one to be in touch with nature and all that is beautiful of being in such state of nature. So, what takes to hike the Jon Muir Trail? In researching this question we start with some awesome resources. Our favorite is the John Muir Trail organization – www.johnmuirtrail.org.  This is probably one of the most complete sources for finding information on what it takes to hike the trail.  Here you will find literally everything you need in preparing for the trip. Another great source is the National Park Service – www.nps.gov. The NPS is a must since a Wilderness Permit is a requirement prior to starting on your journey. For us, we learned that depending on your physical condition and the approach you take in hiking, the trail it can take close to 28 days to do it. What you must remember is that there are no convenience stores nearby or for that matter any type of modern civilization where one could head for a rest. (Sorry no local bars nearby). Thus, preparation is key. What about food you ask. Well hikers like you and other organizations mentioned above have come up with ways to deal with that problem. And yes, having no food can become a problem. There is a system where you prepare small containers full of food and prior to your departure ship them to certain destinations along the trail. In essence, you will plan your stops along the trail to coincide with where to pick up your food. Isn’t that neat!!! Already done for you. Outside of the logistics, mental preparation is important. No one living the outdoor lifestyle said it was easy.  So going up peaks or simply walking hours to get to your next destination can take a toll on your body, but the sense of accomplishment when you are done is more than any pain you may have incurred along the way. So here we are - ready to continue our preparation. Soon we will be heading up the wilderness of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Most importantly we will be ready to continue to enjoy the outdoor lifestyle.  For the mean time, we’ll explore other resources for our preparation, which we hope to share with you guys. For now, we hope you have enjoyed a little insight into what’s brewing for NO&YO. How about you? What is on your Outdoor Adventure bucket list? Tell us a little about it and let us know how much you enjoy the outdoor lifestyle? Want to learn a little more about John Muir himself check out this article on Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Muir.