Disclosure: The DVD distributor for the Muir Project produced documentary “Mile…Mile and a Half” contacted me to watch this film at no cost to myself. My only responsibility was an agreement to complete a review. I was not pressured in any way to make a positive endorsement.

A group of artists leave their daily lives behind to hike the John Muir Trail and bring back their experiences and inspiration. From Yosemite Valley to the highest point in the contiguous US – Mt. Whitney. 219 miles in 25 days.

In an epic snow year in the High Sierras, they leave their daily lives behind in search of new adventures. They seek the thrill of the trail, the challenge of the miles, and the ability to capture the beauty and wonder of the journey itself.

Along the way, they are joined by musicians, painters, teachers and other adventure-seekers. In the midst of the grandeur and daily grind, they discover what matters most is the opportunity to seek adventure wherever and whenever you can.

What began as an adventure to see if this small band of friends could complete the trail, became the need to capture the experience in order to share the trail with others. Their hope is that you will be so inspired by this film, that you take that first step towards your own adventure. Mile…Mile & A Half is the feature-length documentary of that story. Come see how life on the trail shapes the lives of artists and individuals.

A Merry Band of Adventurers

Happiness! After watching Mile…Mile and a Half I was left with an overwhelming sense of happiness. The friends who took on this daunting task of hiking the 211-mile John Muir Trail and filming a documentary of it to boot, were simply happy people. They were happy before they started. They were happy along the way. And they managed to share that sense of happiness with me as I watched their adventure unfold.

Not always easy to pull off, the sense of togetherness and friendship exhibited by the compatriots who challenged the JMT was genuine and heartfelt. These good friends truly enjoyed being in each others’ company, and sharing the awesomeness of the California wilderness together. It wasn’t forced. It was comfortable and relaxing.

But what makes Mile…Mile and a Half more than just another hiking flick is the professional quality film and sound effort put into the journey. In addition to the stamina required to carry food and other supplies for a 25 day backpack, the filmmakers also carried dozens of pounds of top notch camera and sound equipment to show the gorgeous peaks and valleys, lakes and streams, and emotion of the John Muir Trail.

The JMT Isn’t for Everyone

You will learn in the first 20 minutes that hiking the John Muir Trail isn’t for everyone. It is hard. It’s more than 50,000 feet of elevation change while carrying 50 pounds or more on your back. And the elevation is high; nearly the entire trail is over 7,000 feet, with most of it above 10,000. It will test your legs and lungs, and test your will. In fact, the crew was reduced by one after only five days because of the exertion required.

It’s nearly a month of living in the wilderness and fending for yourself. If you want a shower at the end of the day forget it. Sure you can jump in a pure alpine lake, but it is cold; darn cold. You will cross roaring torrents that may knock even the strongest among us down, or worse. The snow on the high mountain passes is frigid and slick and endless, and your next step may be your last.

A four-week backpacking trip will test your ability to plan and prepare. There are four resupply points along the 211-mile length of the JMT where you can get more food, or first aid, or climbing accessories. You must make your miles to reach your resupply before you run out. Shoot, before you even start you have to plan what is going to be in the resupply buckets when. It is a logistical challenge.

No, the John Muir Trail isn’t for everyone, but if you are up to the challenge the rewards are immeasurable.

The John Muir Trail

The film follows a crew of five great friends from their start at Happy Isles in Yosemite Valley to the top of Mt. Whitney, at 14,505 feet the highest point in the lower 48 states. Along the way they pass through Yosemite National Park, Ansel Adams Wilderness, Devils Postpile National Monument, John Muir Wilderness and Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Parks. The cadre of hikers ebbs and flows as they lose one, gain two, then more… all artists in their own way contributing to the goal of sharing the John Muir Trail with us.

The scenery is simply stunning. The photographers had the dedication to do it right. For the most part the weather cooperated. Of the 25 days spent hiking the trail, only two were truly bad weather days when filming wasn’t possible. On the flip side, they encountered a 200% snow year, so crossing the mountain passes was even more daunting than usual because of the snow pack that remained even in July. The snow, however, contributed to the perspective of the photography.

The JMT also passes bowl after bowl of high alpine lakes, each more beautiful than the previous. Most of their overnight campsites were on the bank of a lake, a truly remarkable joy to wake up to. Whether for an after-hike swim or a crisp refreshing drink for a tired and weary hiker, there isn’t much more revitalizing than an alpine lake.

Morning by an Alpine Lake

Did I Tell You This Was Fun?

Much of the film is comedy gold. This is a bunch of really funny guys, and they know how to have a good time. From the self-effacing commentary, their encounter with a hungry marmot, to the sheer child-like joy they experienced glissading down the snow pack, these friends are relaxed with each other and in their environment.

They put you at ease immediately. Mile…Mile and a Half is a feel good film. Yes, ultimately the film is documenting the John Muir Trail, but it is also about the people. Great friends, and then eventually even strangers, all bond together in a common goal of experiencing the natural wonder that is the High Sierra. I’m not sure the film works as well as it does if the core group were not already so comfortable together.

As someone who is interested in the how part of getting things done, I enjoyed the occasional brief vignettes where they would show how they setup their equipment. The sounds of frogs chirping in the evening, or a babbling mountain stream were recorded to help me feel like I was there as well. Carrying a time-lapse rail all that way certainly was a burden, but definitely added to the quality of the end result.

Sometimes It Is About the Journey

Truly Mile…Mile and a Half is. Yes, it’s a journey on the JMT, but it is also a journey of discovery, and camaraderie. It is a journey that tests your will and your limits, and of taking care of one another, and a journey that offers ample time for quiet reflection and profound awe. The John Muir Trail is surrounded by some of the most beautiful scenery found anywhere in the world, and the filmmakers have done an admirable job of displaying that.

I thoroughly enjoyed the film. Like the hikers, I was somewhat sad when they reached their goal at Mt. Whitney, but happy in having shared their experience. I learned what it can be like to hike the John Muir Trail. If I ever decide to tackle the adventure myself, I am better prepared for what to expect. Oh, and I would love to have a copy of that illustrated journal seen in the film. It rocks!

The crew did a nice job of paying respects to John Muir the man, and I am grateful to all involved in the production of Mile…Mile and a Half for helping us to become stewards of his legacy.

Mile…Mile and a Half is available for download or purchase on BluRay or DVD from the Muir Project website, for download on Amazon, or by contacting the distributor Passion River Films. Why not treat yourself with some of that holiday loot you collected?

Here’s one of several trailers you can view on the Muir Project website:

Disclosure: The DVD distributor for the Muir Project produced documentary “Mile…Mile and a Half” contacted me to watch this film at no cost to myself. My only responsibility was an agreement to complete a review. I was not pressured in any way to make a positive endorsement.

This post was created by Jeff Clark. Please feel free to use the sharing icons below, or add your thoughts to the comments. Pack it in, pack it out. Preserve the past. Respect other hikers. Let nature prevail. Leave no trace.

It’s all about the importance of giving back and passing forward…

So says the masthead at Summit Stones & Adventure Musings, a fount of wisdom and inspiration that dares to take us to the “wild places,” the summits, canyons and waters of our imagined and realized adventures.

True to his aspirations, DSD as he is known, has blessed me with an assortment of Summit Stones to deposit in my favorite secret places… to pass forward. Wilderness trails and ethereal peaks in the Blue Ridge and Smokies will become home to these beautiful and spiritual cobblestones that have tasted the elements of DSD’s brush. It is an honor for me to be chosen as an ambassador of smiles.

DSD says he’s, “simply another average adventurer you might meet out on the trail, see wandering across the backcountry, maybe say hi to as we paddle towards each other, or share a few jokes at a common belay station.” DSD encourages us to, “reflect on your own experiences, ponder about what things mean to you, muse again over why you are out in the wilderness and what the natural world has added to your life. Maybe, even consider what part of your… life might involve giving something back to that natural world of adventure.”

DSD and I share an admiration of the environmentalist Edward Abbey, author of Desert Solitaire. We share Abbey’s quest to experience nature in its purest form — the silence, the struggle, the overwhelming beauty. I turn to Abbey frequently for encouragement and an infusion of adventure. He motivates me to find my own adventure.

Like rock and sunlight and wind and wilderness — out there is a different world, older and greater and deeper by far than ours, a world which surrounds and sustains the little world of men as sea and sky surround and sustain a ship. The shock of the real. For a little while we are again able to see, as the child sees, a world of marvels. — Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire

The Summit Stones themselves are small cobblestones that DSD has collected at his “wild places.” Perhaps they were on a summit in the Canadian Rockies or a canyon in the driest desert. Maybe they washed up on a hidden beach reachable only by sea kayak. Each cobblestone is unique and each has special elements “mixed in” with the paints.

“Very small amounts of silt or earth, tiny particles of desert or coastal sand, maybe bits of crumbled leaves, possibly ash or charcoal from old campfires, even pure rain or ocean waters, or the strands of some wild ones’ fur — among other unique elements, are gathered from chosen wild places, and other power places.”

“There were deep canyons where I collected the seeping moisture of desert tears and sand crystals never likely touched before. There was also the elemental waters from snow fields, some glaciers too, from last years sun and wind dried alpine flowers, and the aged old pine needles and leaves found near our northern lakes.”

Once DSD has collected his cobblestones and mixings it’s time for further mystery and magic:

“In front of me are quite a number of small Nalgene containers. Each has one of these gathered up elements within it. I know every one well, for the precious gifts they are, from such far away wondrous wild places. I will spend endless hours this winter, learning and practicing how to mix these in with the paints utilized on these Summit Stones — the techniques, the swirling in, the composition, and how this then will dry — it all intrigues me greatly. Some selected stones absorb them well, while others need to be coaxed along.”

With each painted cobblestone DSD also includes An Adventure Muse, a little guide book of inspiration. It is filled with quotes and ruminations from philosophers and environmentalists, explorers and native wise men. In the forward DSD tells us, “We all have our own mountains to climb and our own ‘summits’ to achieve. Our quest for these ‘summits’ is as important as attaining them.”

DSD has been placing his painted cobblestones at his favorite places for years. The comments on his journal from those who have been fortunate to discover one of his Summit Stones are priceless. The comments are filled with awe and joy, respect and admiration. DSD has also invited a handful of others to spread the Summit Stone love in their little neck of the woods.

Do you understand why I am so honored and pleased to be invited to participate in the passing forward of Summit Stones? It is truly humbling. Click on the image up top to see the beautiful stones DSD sent to me. The stones are little treasures to be found and enjoyed. They represent love of the wilderness. They bring smiles to the faces of those who stumble upon one. The wild places where I deliver a Summit Stone will have special meaning to me — the grandest mountain, that glorious overlook, the swirling chroma of a red rock canyon.

These are the places that have led me to reflect. Sitting on an outcrop peering at seemingly endless blue ridges or touching the cool sandstone serenaded by the morning’s aubade. It seems silent, but it isn’t. The wilderness communicates with me. It may be the whispering of the breeze in the pines or the “kronk” of the raven riding the currents. The aromas are unmistakable and the water from a mountain stream pure and refreshing. The dust of the trail and the soreness from the climb are invigorating. I yearn for knowledge. What is that plant, that bird, that daydream? Now, I will also carry smiles with me.

There is more to DSD than love and goodness. His musings on adventure are a poetry of the wilderness. His journal is a place for him to reflect on adventures past and look forward to adventures yet to be. His experience with Outward Bound was a launch of discovery and a commitment to the wilderness. He raises awareness for the many wonderful efforts of those linked under the “Giving Back & Passing Forward” section of his website.

My sincerest thanks go out to DSD for sharing his idea and visions with me. I intend to represent the Summit Stones tradition with respect. Perhaps you will think just a little bit more about the beauty of the wilderness when you are there. Perhaps you will think just a little bit more about the grandeur that surrounds us and the legacy we can leave for those who haven’t yet set foot on this earth. Perhaps you will look just a little bit closer inside that hollow log or among the stones on that cairn. Perhaps you will share some love and give some smiles along the trail. Perhaps you will give back and pass forward. I know I will.

This post was created by Jeff Clark. Please feel free to use the sharing icons below, or add your thoughts to the comments. Pack it in, pack it out. Preserve the past. Respect other hikers. Let nature prevail. Leave no trace.