Lurkers Please Introduce Yourself =)

[maverick]

Hi LeifC302,

Welcome to HST! Yes, the Sierra Nevada Range is addictive.

[Hiker Damion]

Hello All,
I grew up in Groveland, CA, near Yosemite. I spent a lot of my formative years exploring Yosemite and the eastern Sierra. Now I reside down in Tehachapi, CA and have been enjoying exploring the lower half of the eastern Sierra that has eluded me during my younger years. I feel so lucky to have lived my entire life in and around the Sierra Nevada mountains full of world-class backpacking that people travel from all over the world to experience! I can't imagine ever living anywhere else.

This site seems like such a great resource for us hikers of the high Sierra. It's full of knowledgeable, friendly folks who give exactly the kind of details most of us seem to be seeking. The trip reports, bug reports, snow reports, road and trail conditions, advice, recommendations... it's all great. I hope to be an active part of this community going forward.

[maverick]

Hi Hiker Damion,

Welcome to HST! Nice to have lived with the Sierra in your backyard. Such quick and easy access.

[Horscht]

Dear High Sierra Experts,

long time lurker here with a long-held dream of hiking the High Sierra that is about to come true. Since I will seek advice from you professionals very soon, let me introduce myself first.

I am a reasonably fit fifty year old german with decades of hiking experience, mainly in the alps, Scandinavia and the Himalayas. I have wanted to hike the Sierra High Route since I read about it in a hiking magazine some 20 years ago, and after a longer stay abroad in India (hence the Himalayan experience) a sabbatical was to make this dream come true. Unfortunately, life in the form of Covid intervened and, well, you know what happened.
Next time dreams got shattered by a job offer I couldn't refuse, and now, it seems, life wanted to interfere again by dumping tons of snow on the Sierra. But third time is the charm, so screw it, I’m coming…

Since I have never hiked in the US before, let alone in the Sierra, and don’t really know what to expect, please let me describe my hiking experience in a little more detail.

Most of my trips were self-planned and self-sustained backpacking trips without access to any kind of infrastructure, just like hiking in the Sierra only with more rain. Longest trip was 14 days without resupply in Greenland, so I know what to bring and how to use it. Greenland also has wide, cold and raging rivers (same is true for Scandinavia), so I think I know what can be managed and when it’s better to turn around. Same goes for snow travel. I have never used an ice axe, but have crossed numerous steep snow fields in early summer conditions, some with microspikes and some by kicking steps. I have hiked in high altitude several times, twice starting at 11.000 feet. I know this doesn’t mean that I won’t suffer from altitude sickness next time, but I know what to expect and will adjust accordingly. I also started climbing, albeit only on via ferratas in the alps (climbing routes with chains and loops already firmly attached to the rock). Class 3 scrambles should still be fine if not too exposed.

Cross-country-wise I have done two longer trips, one in Greenland (3 days) and one in Patagonia/Tierra del Fuego (4 days). Both were completely off-trail with some short but steep passes and no gps-support (only map and compass). Other times I have deviated from the hiking route and once I had to walk on snow most of the time. On that trip I had to navigate just by contour lines on the map since my compass was safely stored at home. I won’t say that I was on the trail all the time but I made it home safely.

While those were the trips I enjoyed the most, I don’t really know if I can handle the challenges of the Sierra High Route, being alone, being buried under snow (the SHR, not me), being inaccessible (Copper Creek TH) and being a newb to the High Sierra (that’s me, now). So this is where I need your support for which I say thank you very much!

Best regards from Germany,
Horscht

[Harlen]

Hello and Willkommen Horscht,

I envy your time in Greenland! To gleen route information, you can create a new post in the Backpacking/Hiking/Camping section, and describe your ideal trip.

[maverick]

Hi Horscht,

Welcome to HST!
As Harlen mentioned, please, post any questions pertaining to route information in the Backpacking/Hiking/Camping section as a separate post.
We also appreciate any trip reports, with lots of pictures , to places outside of the US, especially Greenland, which can be posted in our Beyond The Sierra Nevada section. Thank you.

[KT5519]

Hi! Guilty as charged for lurking for a couple of years. I didn't discover backpacking until college on the east coast and moved to the Sierra for a summer job after graduation but loved it so much that I just never left. I can't even remember the first time I heard about this site; it was back before the hacking incident. When I finally joined a couple of years ago it was because I wanted to research some off trail routes that I was interested in. I've been backpacking for 30 years in the Sierra, mostly in SEKI, but only recently started spending more time venturing off trail. I'm currently taking mixed on trail/off trail trips and it has opened up entire new worlds for me. This site is an amazing resource for nearly anything I can think to want to learn about, and I hope to return the favor!

[OldMomHiker]

Hi all,

I don't live anywhere near the Sierra (or other mountains, really). I've been enamored of them since I worked at the Yosemite High Camps long ago. Life and geography do their best to get in the way, but I try to get to the Sierra every year for some alone time.

I'm comfortable with XC trips but I am not so great at climbing. Think scrambling up a drainage to reach a great lake rather than doing a class 3 exposed move when I'm cliffed out.

This year I'll be in the Sierra in September, hoping to avoid the full-coverage snow, super-hard crossings, and mosquitos. See you out there!

Cheers,
Mom

PS: I'm not actually thaaaaat old. Yet.

[ethawilliams]

Hi all,

A couple of my fondest childhood memories are of very chill (think: hike a few miles to a lake) family backpacking trips to the sierra. After that, I went to college & grad school in the midwest and northeast and didn't have a lot of opportunities to get back up to the Sierra. Happily, about 3 years ago I moved back to California (Joshua Tree area) and have been excited to rediscover the Sierra as an adult.

I spend most of my time recreating closer to home in the desert and am at 11/95 peaks on the Desert Peaks Section list. I also love exploring off- and on-trail in Joshua Tree NP and have a dream of completing a large loop trail around the park (so far I've section-hiked about half of it: Pine City - Queen Mountain - Warren Point - Eureka Peak - Quail Mountain - Mt Minerva Hoyt - Inspiration Peak - Little Berdoo - Bernard - Cottonwood Campground, plus a section from Highway 177 - Spectre Peak - Highway 62 to test viability). I used to be an avid rock climber, but have found myself much more drawn to hiking/scrambling lately.

Most of my experience in the Sierra has been on-trail; particularly memorable trips include Cottonwood Pass - Whitney summit - Whitney Portal and a trip along the Rae Lakes Loop with a side trip into the 60 Lakes Basin via Basin Notch. I'm now looking forward to getting more familiar with xc travel and peakbagging in this beautiful place! Not sure how well the desert scrambling experience will translate to the high mountains, but we'll see

[eversonrosed]

Hello,

I guess I should say something here before I go around asking for beta. I live in the Midwest and just got into backpacking this summer. Reading Stan Robinson's The High Sierra made me fall hard for this range -- I'll be taking my first trip there Labor Day weekend, a 3-day "lollipop" entering at Bear Ridge and doing a loop via Lake Italy/Gabbot Pass and Mono Creek.

I found this forum through the book and then again when doing research for my trip. I promise to post a TR after getting back

Cheers,
Davis