It's a small group of bighorn rams. This is a rugged area, packed with talus, with many steep cliffs to block forward progress. A waning moon paints a shimmering silver path across the black water. The middle cross-country section traverses four passes 12,000 feet and higher, as we travel from basin to basin. Better go to Alaska. The U.S. Forest Service map of the John Muir Wilderness also covers the entire route. We will explore Humphreys Basin on our way to Puppet Pass, our first cross-country pass. Check on-line for current information. Pioneered by Dave Beck in 1975, this ski tour became an instant classic. Our trip officially begins at 7 p.m. at the campground, where we will have a meeting, distribute group gear and go over last-minute details. Earlier, pre-shipped resupply is also available at Mono Creek (mile 113) via a 10-mile hike west from the SHR to Vermilion Valley Resort on Lake Edison ($15/package; 25-lb. The impact of its graceful aesthetic on visitors like John Muir almost singlehandedly created the modern environmental movement. Sierra High Route & Southern Sierra High Route Southbound Itinerary ENTER at Horse Creek Trailhead in Mono Village on September 4,, 2019. (tomharrisonmaps.com), Guidebook Sierra High Route: Traversing Timberline Country, by Steve Roper ($17, The Mountaineers, mountaineers.org). For shelter, tents are strongly encouraged, and lightweight waterproof tarps are the required minimum. First, we will visit Humphreys Basin, in the shadows of massive Mount Humphreys and the Glacier Divide. Steve Roper, the father of the SHR, is a throwback to that era, and to the early days of the '70s backpacking boom. We will send a trip roster to all participants well before the trip in order to help facilitate ridesharing. Minutes later, I claw back to ridgeline, my mind made up: I'm going around. So, having a strong start is essential. I cross Mine Shaft Pass on a geologic contact zone, my left foot on gray Sierra granite, my right on brick red schist. I hiked the Sierra High Route with 2 friends as an alternate to the John Muir Trail while hiking the Pacific Crest Trail Southbound in 2017. First of all, it’s not a trail—it’s a route. Section 3 Mammoth Lakes to Twin Lakes Distance 77 miles; 8 to 10 days. This is something I have wanted to do for decades (I did about a third of it in 1976), and I am working on an itinerary maybe for next summer. In two days, I'll be at South Lake, one of the Sierra's busiest locales. The High Route; Sierra Ski Tour Itinerary: We offer two variation starts to this wonderful route: • The classic and original route starts from the sagebrush and pines west of Independence and ascends Symmes Creek spending the first night at Anvil Camp. The nonstop views and rampant wildlife are distractingly spectacular. We’ll likely have the afternoon to relax or explore our surroundings. The next morning, I cross Cirque Pass on monster granite ramps, then Potluck Pass via a 40-foot rock climb. Each person should keep the weight of personal gear, including water, below 25 pounds so that, with the addition of approximately 15 pounds of commissary equipment and food, total pack weight will be less than 40 pounds at the start. Four months later we were haggling over wilderness permits. A summit climb is on the agenda. Permits Free if you start from Onion Valley. of sheep horns colliding. This is some big, bad wilderness. Steep, rocky, and often hazardous, it's thru-hiked only half a dozen times each year and requires more self-reliance and routefinding skill than the average trail hiker possesses. There is surprisingly little written up on SP about trans-Sierra traverse via the High Sierra Trail. Jeff and Nancy finally arrive, and we punch northward into the jagged Ritter Range, with its dark, twisted Minaret Spires. Whitney.From the grandeur of Hamilton Lakes Basin and Precipice Lake, to the awe inspiring Big Arroyo and Kern River Valley, the High Sierra Trail is some of the best that Sequoia National Park has to offer. Heading up to the Pass, we divert into the Fourth Recess, where we will be able to explore and examine its unique geology before heading back to civilization. The map says this is Marion Lake, at mile 23. Dropping into Bear Lakes Basin, I stumble upon the most evocative country I've encountered. A "frustrating" descent means hellishly loose leg-breaker talus that seems to go on forever. On the ascent, I run into the first person I've seen off-trail in 100 miles of hiking. Think again. That night, camped on a granite slab next to an unnamed tarn, surrounded by the immense, parabolic ridgelines of the Cirque Crest, my solo tent looks awfully tiny. Travel Oct 29 - Nov 03. Overview. John Miles is a young painting contractor on an eight-day solo. And if there's a Shangri-La in the Sierra, the lake I'm crawling out of might get my vote. We hope to not only discuss the problems conservationists face but also to suggest specific actions that we can take to help solve or prevent them from becoming worse. The photos were beautiful, and Joffrey had considered a big High Sierra adventure, but didn’t know much beyond the existence of the John Muir Trail (JMT) and High Sierra Trails (HST, not SHR! The chill drives me inside, where I shiver until dawn, sleeping in full Gore-Tex. Low clouds hover above, creating an apocalyptic sky washed in deep blue. More than a dozen Forest Service and BLM campgrounds are in and around Mammoth Lakes (760-924-5500 info; 877-444-6777 reservations). Watching them skirt the lake, I suddenly feel tiny, vulnerable, and intimidated by the huge ridgeline I must cross westward. Inyo National Forest: (760) 873-2485, (760) 873-2483 for reservations; fs.fed.us/r5/inyo. 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