The Sierra High Route is a 195-mile traverse of the range; all of it above 9,000 feet, passing hundreds of lakes and skirting 14,000 feet peaks, favoring cross-country travel over the humdrum of maintained trails. I Just finished guiding a section of the Sierra High Route for California Alpine Guides. It was a guest and myself. We chose to trek from Tuolumne Meadows to Twin Lakes by means of cross-country travel. We decided to do a variation of Steve Ropers, Sierra High Route. The variation is described here. Starting at the Dog Lake Trailhead, we began walking on the trail to Young Lakes in dumping snow. We set up camp in winter like conditions, had a great meal, got warm and enjoyed the freshly fallen snow. The next morning under sunny skies we started our cross country to Roosevelt Lake, skirting the incredible Mount Conness and North Peak. We traveled up and over Don’t Be A Smart Pass down into Upper McCabe Lake and made camp for our second night on the shores of McCabe Lake. The next morning, instead of heading up toward Secret Pass and into Shepard Lake, we decided to contour around the West side of Shepard’s Crest to a small notch leading to a 40 degree North Facing Couloir with about 10 inches of snow. (Yes, need to come back and shred this coulie!) Route finding was the key to this descent. After a short break of drying out the socks, we made our way down the massive bottom of Virginia Canyon. With little time left in the day, we made camp at the head of Virginia Canyon for night three. Day four was amazing as we climbed out of the canyon and up into Soldier Lake, we were greeted by views of the distant peaks of Yosemite and Tioga Pass. Climbing up still, we reached Sky Pilot Col and the base of Stanton Pass. Stanton Pass is located between Virginia Peak and Stanton Peak. This Pass proved to be the crux of the tour. We made our way up via Class 2 and 3 scrambling with heavy packs, to be welcomed only by the new snow and ice covering the rocks on the North side of the Pass. A small notch was found near the upper ridge of Stanton and the descent down into Spiller Canyon was completed. We made camp here for the fourth night beneath the impressive Whorl Mountain and South face of Matterhorn Peak. Day five came with a chill in the air that morning, after the sun finally made its presence we packed up and heading towards our final Pass, Horse Creek Pass. This Pass once again proved to be tricky traveling with the new snow covering the talus and rocks that make up this beautiful section. Progress was made and we treated ourselves to a delicious lunch of tuna, avocados, cheese, chocolate and the awe inspiring views of the Sawtooth Range. Continuing our descent down Horse Creek Pass, we intersected the Horse Creek Trail, which eventually led us down to Twin Lakes completing this epic thirty-mile journey. Much of the Sierra High Route runs parallel to the John Muir Trail, staying east of that trail and keeping above the timberline to higher elevations—between 9,000 and 11,500 feet (2,700 and 3,500 m). About a third of the route follows maintained hiking trails (including 28 miles (45 km) of the John Muir Trail); the rest of the route traverses off-trail meadowlands, granite slabs, and, at high elevations, difficult loose-talus terrain. Hiking the route does not require advanced mountaineering skills, but the hiker occasionally encounters class-3 rock faces in which footholds and handholds must be carefully chosen and tested. The route requires the use of route descriptions, topographical maps, and one or more instruments (e.g., compass, GPS receiver) to navigate. Writes Roper in Sierra High Route, High Route adventurers will not be put off by the lack of an actual trail, since much of the singular joy of cross-country travel lies in wandering through the timberline country as the pioneers did--wondering what the next turn will reveal.
Posted on: Fri, 03 Oct 2014 22:27:56 +0000
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