R08/R01 TR: Sierra High Route - August 2024

[7empest]

This past August I hiked Roper’s Sierra High Route. I decided to hike southbound from Twin Lakes to Roads End in Kings Canyon. I made a half hearted attempt to recruit a partner but my dates weren’t very flexible. Also, I was a “nonconformist” as Roper puts it and decided to hike southbound. Most of my adventures in the Sierra have been solo endeavors, so I guess it was fitting to hike the SHR alone. While I do enjoy company in the backcountry, I seldom hike with partners or groups. I’ve learned to really enjoy solo hiking because I can hike at whatever pace I feel like on any particular day. Some of the days on the route I pushed the pace, but other days I just meandered around finding nice places for afternoon naps or cool places to take pictures. Some areas were just too beautiful to blow past. That’s the beauty of solo hiking..it’s super easy to come to a consensus on how to spend each day or how far I wanna walk and at what pace. I don’t journal on my hikes, so it makes it hard to put together a quality trip report... So I apologize that this post lacks details and daily observations. Regardless, it was a wonderful experience that I would highly recommend to anyone that feels that magical magnetic pull of the High Sierra within themselves. Without a doubt this was the coolest outdoor experience I’ve ever had (times ten)! I did a ton of star gazing at nights, as the meteor showers were totally awesome while I was out there. I spent a good amount of time on every pass just trying to take everything in. I mostly used my 11”x17” maps I had printed along with a compass for navigation vs. being heavily dependent on Gaia or other map apps. It was super fun to practice my navigation skills (or lack thereof) lol. I made my share of navigational errors and had a couple slips, trips, bumps and bruises, but it wasn’t a big deal because I built in extra time for that very reason. Plus the mental and physical challenge was what made the trip so memorable. I can’t really say what parts of the route I liked the best because most everything I hiked was totally new to me and uniquely spectacular. Every step of the hike was pretty darn cool. I will probably add more to this trip report at some point. I’ve attached a link to a pretty basic slideshow I put together. Keep in mind I’ve never tried to edit a slideshow before, but I decided to take a stab at putting something together that captured some of the cool stuff I experienced. My photos could never fully capture the magical vibes of the High Sierra but here’s what I came up with:

https://youtu.be/QLfC1SGU8YE?feature=shared

[wildhiker]

Nice slide show! What is that intensely blue lake at about 2:40 in your slide show?

[swimjam]

Great images! is that with a phone or "real" camera?
That looks like a fantastic trip.
I'm interested to hear if/how you managed resupply and any other cjallenging logistics (shuttle) that you encountered.

[7empest]

“Nice slide show! What is that intensely blue lake at about 2:40 in your slide show?”


Thanks! That is Marion Lake in Kings Canyon. I was super blown away by the color of the water.

[7empest]

“Great images! is that with a phone or "real" camera?
That looks like a fantastic trip.
I'm interested to hear if/how you managed resupply and any other challenging logistics (shuttle) that you encountered”


Thanks, I used my iPhone to take all the pictures/videos. But when I uploaded this to YouTube the resolution took a major hit. It looks okay on a small screen but looks pretty blurry when blown up. I think it has something to due with the compression or maybe the aspect ratio when I uploaded. My friend said he’d show me how to re-upload the shots with higher resolution.

I resupplied at Tioga Road, Reds Meadow, and Parcher’s Resort out of North Lake in Bishop. I hand delivered the packages on my drive up Hwy 395 to Bridgeport to start the hike. When I finished at Roads End, I hiked out Bubbs Creek over Kearsarge Pass down to Independence and took the Eastern Sierra Transit bus up Hwy 395 back to Bridgeport. A little hitch hiking required, but it’s always super easy to find people to hitch a ride into town with.

[Wandering Daisy]

Just curious how many days for your trip? Did you do layover days? Evidently there are 33 passes on the route; I was wondering which ones you thought were the most difficult? I hated Sky Pilot. Frozen Lake Pass not bad as expected. What I really liked about the N-S start was stashing food at Tuolumne bear boxes so only had to carry 4 days food to start.

I did the route in 2010 in 33 days- 2 layovers for transportation. I also added two side-trips not on the route. I started early August after a high snow year and took a few alternate passes. I flip-flopped: N-S Twin Lakes to Mammoth, S-N North Lake to Mammoth, S-N Cedar Grove to North Lake. Really slowed down the mid-section and fished every day. I had done bits and pieces of the route before doing it in one time block, so already was familiar with route details. I just had to put it all together.

It is a great route. Congratulations for finishing.

[7empest]

My trip was 26 days total; 2 driving days, 2 zero days and 22 hiking days. Plus an unplanned quick trip to Lee Vining when I reached Tioga with a huge rip in my pack. My needle and thread wouldn’t work well with the dyneema and I didn’t want this to be an issue going forward so I hitched to town to buy Aqua Seal which worked super great. Bonus was I got to stop at Mobil’s Whoa Nellie Deli to grab a sandwich and beer. I took another zero in Bishop.

All the passes were all uniquely amazing. I really like Snow Tongue pass and the views south across Evolution Valley. It wasn’t nearly as difficult as I imagined reading the guide book. Maybe because I crossed north to south, it was easier because I didn’t have to stare down at the steep drop on the north side. I struggled a bit with navigation from Twin Island Lake to Glacier Lake Pass (North Glacier Pass on map) but it was so worth it because the terrain was really cool scrambling adjacent to a waterfall. Lake Catherine was particularly scenic. White Bear pass was pretty epic along with that whole Bear Lakes Basin was one of my favorite areas. Grouse Lake Pass was special because I knew I’d actually complete the High Route. I felt a wide range of emotions walking down towards Road’s End under a full moon reflecting back on the adventure.

[Bishop_Bob]

I agree with your impression of Snow-Tongue Pass. Like you, I traveled over this path from north to south, and it didn't intimidate me like I thought it would. I imagine going the other way down that sliding slope would be a different matter.

[Wandering Daisy]

Just be careful on Snow Tongue Pass early season just after snowmelt or any time after a really big rain. The upper slope is unstable when saturated. I went up it in such conditions once and never will again. Even when dry, you could set off a rock-slide. Personally, I do not like that pass. It did not help that shortly before I went up it, a climber was buried and killed on an unstable slope in the Rock Creek area. I used Alpine Col when I did the High Route. Granted a lot of people hate Alpine Col. It has its own difficulties, but I think it is safer. Either pass actually may be easier when snow covered (if you are experienced with snow and have the gear).

[Harlen]

Fantastic achievement 7empest!

We really enjoyed your slideshow--especially the little Bear and the high passes. Loved the music too. Cheers, Ian and Lizzie.

Oh, and which lake is that with the great peak hanging over it, at ____ in the slideshow? Thanks.

*Aha, I went back to check the time on that lake, and then recognized it as Lake Catherine. So instead, I'd love to know who created that haunting music?