High Sierra Topix

I'm not a fan of that type of itinerary but understand there are fair numbers of Sierra hikers including some well experienced ones on this board that enjoy packing light putting in lots of mileage, moving through zones quickly, hiking all day. Especially trail running enthusiasts.

So a number of long days that will tend to leave people weary at the end of each day with little time or energy to spend at each of what some would consider very interesting destinations with much to explore. You are basically rushing through 4 praised zones (Humphreys, French Canyon, Granite Park, East Bear Creek, many could spend several days at each getting to know the areas.

David

I did a loop through many of the same areas last summer and with similar time constraints. I like your mix of trail and cross country and although I agree that each of the areas deserves several days to fully appreciate, for me that amount of daily mileage makes sense when I have a little window of time and I want to see a lot. There is a use trail from the top of Piute Pass that leads over toward Mesa Lake. It might be difficult to find, but just start scrambling north once at the top of the pass and there are a few places to join it. Day 2 over Puppet, to Pine Creek Pass and into Granite Park should be fun, it's all trail after Puppet. Granite Park is unreal. It's only a two hour boulder scramble from Italy Pass to the entry to Bear Lake Basin, leaving plenty of time to explore. The basin leading down to Merriam Lake is amazing, possibly a good place to spend that extra day? In my experience a UL pack and trail runners would be essential to making this itinerary enjoyable.


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