High Sierra Topix

Hi all,
Just wanted to let you know that i have completed and posted the final episode of the historical YouTube documentary "Following the Footsteps of William Brewer" This covers an expedition Elvis and I did in 2022 to follow the path took by William Brewer and his team as the first explorers into Kings Canyon and Sequoia as part of the Whitney Survey of 1860 to 1864.This ultimately led to the discovery of Mt Whitney and the recognition of it being the highest peak in the continental USA.
It is based on the journals of William Brewer called Up and Down California which I came across a few years ago and have been fascinated with ever since. Our goal was to follow their route as best we could climb the same peaks while retelling their story. While everyone knows about John Muir and his major contributions, the Whitney team, led by William Brewer preceded John Muir by many years and are much less known. My goal was to raise the visibility of these first explorers to the level they deserve.

Episode 1: https://youtu.be/DLh856AkARs?si=d5KUHHq4_ovMDbnr

For those who have watched the earlier episodes, firstly a big thanks and also an apology for talking so long to get the last one published. I got diverted into some overseas hiking projects last year including Everest Base Camp and the Camino Santiago in Spain which consumed a lot of my time.

Episode 5: https://youtu.be/CHFkhF3N-Xo?si=35OoD23yiRfMKm0o


A big thanks to Tehipite Tom who compiled a detailed map of their camps and modern day photos of many of the sites along the way in 2013. his earlier work was a huge help in our own trip planning.

We are planning a second trip this summer to continue the story and cover Clarence King and Dick Cotter's cross country hike from Mt Brewer over the Kings Kern Divide over to Mt Tyndall which was part of an attempt to be the first to climb Mt Whitney.

Rally nice. Thanks for sharing. Looks like you had a grand adventure. I look forward to the next installment, Clarence King's writings on the Sierra are great fun!

Richard -
Thank you to you (and Elvis) for doing this … very cool to see your version alongside the historical route of the Brewer expedition. The maps were great, as was the inclusion of some of the party’s journal entries. I’m looking forward to your next project !

What an incredible undertaking. I just read about some of Brewer's importance in the Switchbacks across the Sierra book.

I loved that book! I will have to watch the you tubes. Thank you for letting us know.

Great work, I look forward to watching through the five episodes.

And I agree, the work by @tehiptetom is an excellent resource. Here's his blog on the Brewer survey:

https://upanddowncalifornia.wordpress.c ... francisco/

I am also fascinated by their journey. I just finished reading Up and Down California for the 2nd time, I love that book. When I re-read it I was reminded that their trip up Mt Brewer occurred on the 4th of July. My 1st visit to Big Brewer Lake just happened to be on the 4th of July, 2022! I had climbed Mt Brewer years earlier but hadn’t been down to the lake. We also have a copy of King’s writings on his trip with Cotter; it will be fun to follow your trip. I’ve also had some fun driving around back roads in other parts of the state, most recently the Pacheco area, and imagining what it must have been like back then.