Without more info about you and your experience, it would be very irresponsible to try to give a yes/no on whether you are qualified for the SHR. I estimate that I have walked only about thirty miles of the SHR thus far, used to access summit tops. The SHR is a 195-mile trekking route that runs north-south through the heart of the High Sierra, the crown jewel of the Sierra Nevada Range. High Sierra Camp Lottery Process. But, in that sense, portions of the SHR can easily be integrated into loop hikes. First leg was nine days total, finishing at Twin Lakes/Mono Village. I have planned to do some parts of the SHR, Vogelsang to Red Meadows, Red Meadows to Duck lake, Tully Hole to Darwin Bench and Bishop Pass to palissade Bassin but I need this few days more to be able to do it and also the permits. Supposedly, it is poorly marked or unmarked in many areas. Top-notch map-n-compass plus GPS are said to be a good idea. Keep an eye open for shy gray foxes along the western slope, especially at lower elevations. 2020 © Andrew Skurka. Like all long-distance trails, it receives more traffic from section hikers (and, perhaps in the most accessible portions of the route, day hikers). Pacific Crest Trail: Best Month - High Sierra, CA Every hiker's life list should include the 270 miles between Mt. Before you lock into your 3.5-day itinerary, I would run through the numbers to make sure it’s viable. If you are able to make reservations at the Bearpaw Meadow High Sierra Camp (11 miles up the trail from Crescent Meadow), you could spend a couple of days there to allow even more time to adjust to the elevation. Yes, the SHR is much less traveled than JMT but more and more people every year are on the SHR. The info on this site has really made planning digestible. My son and 2 friends are planning on doing a 100 mile section of the SHR. Virginia Peak Falls at Virginia Lakes, Yosemite National Park, Hoover Wilderness, , including pictures, maps, directions, description, hiking trail routes - CA waterfalls by waterfallswest.com Length 45.8 miElevation gain 7956 ftRoute type Loop We are planning on 3 nights, 3.5 days to complete so we can take our time and move slowly. The trail offers a number of activity options and is best used from April until September. High Sierra Trail to Hamilton Lakes is a 32.2 mile lightly trafficked out and back trail located near Sequoia National Park, California that features a lake and is rated as difficult. I learned about the SHR approximately ten years ago while on an annual pilgrimage to the Sierra, but became truly fascinated with the idea of a ‘threw-hike’ when I met a hiker on route back in ’07. The High Sierra Trail is wide, well-maintained, and mostly flat. Hey Andrew ! The northern terminus is at Mono Village, at Twin Lakes, just outside of the northwest boundary of Yosemite National Park, about 13 miles southwest of Bridgeport. – we got stuck on one map edge…) Of course, once leaving the SHR, didn’t really need such detailed maps (though we still found some diversions on the way south, Cardinal Lake, Striped Mtn, Sixty Lakes Basin, Kern Circuit Trail, Army Pass). First pass: Kaweah Gap 10,700 feet Lottery entries can be submitted between October 1, 2020 and October 31, 2020. I am trying to put together a hike. This famous hike crosses some of the most rugged country in the Sierra, following the Middle Fork of the Kaweah River to its headwaters at Kaweah Gap and then dropping into the Kern River Canyon before swinging east again toward Mt. I’m set to start on July 19th.. do you have a recommendation for the most reliable online information about snow for this year ? Post Corral Lakes (September 2013, 4 days, 35 miles, 1 pass / 11 photos, 1480 words, map) It is not a continuous footpath—about half of its length is off-trail. Same question for Road’s end or Lodgepole? And, as he says, if one was attempting to piece together and purchase all of the maps needed to cover the route it could not only be time consuming but also substantially more expensive than what he charges for his SHR mapset. I would highy recommend using Andrew”s SHR mapset on a SHR thru-hike. Thank you, really appreciate your work, impact, and your materials! Whitney. Our members are highly experienced in backpacking, hiking, peak bagging, bouldering, mountaineering, photography and fishing in and around the John Muir Trail (JMT), Sierra High … Yes and no. The SHR and JMT are of similar distance (195 for SHR, 218 for JMT) and both go north-south through the High Sierra. Do they connect or overlap? Every effort is made to provide accurate and up to date information, but we cannot be responsible The use of bear canisters and bear boxes has greatly reduced the problem of bears invading campsites in search of food. Hello and thanks! I know it varies on each trail but this is one thing that is a head scratcher to me. Any professional experienced guidance would be helpful. In almost perfect contrast, the John Muir Trail is an official trail; it is labeled on maps and there is signage on the ground; lots of people know about it and hike it; and it’s a continuous footpath. Are you the French trail runner/Montreal student we met on the JMT last summer and later shared the bus from Mammoth to the Valley? Wonder how you are doing and what your plans are for this summer. It gives SHR hikers the option of coming up with their own exact Sierra High Routes which increases the sense of adventure and exploration. You finish at Whitney Portal. Sunrise. Facing east, Sunrise Camp is famous for its unimaginably beautiful sunrises—as the sun … If you are new to off-trail, my recommendation is to simply do a loop rather than a point-to-point. Learn to research conditions, select gear, plan meals, make maps, and more. Any help you or anyone else could give me would be great. We saw maybe 10 other people in the route sections of our hike, and the scenery every moment was spectacular. Camps vary in … I think you guys will be okay. Length: 5.1 miles. Hiking Distance: 71 miles The SHR jumps the boundary via Horse Creek Pass and descends to Twin Lakes/Mono Village, while the YHR continues north into the remote northern canyons. The High Sierra Trail is a strenuous trip, worthy of thorough preparation. I’d recommend following the YHR to Tuolumne Meadows, not the SHR — the route is multitudes better. Every hiker's life list should include the 270 miles between Mt. In fact, I’d say it may be the ugliest part of it — industrial backcountry tourism. A circumnavigation of the remote upper headwaters of the Tuolumne…, The Ultimate Hiker's Gear Guide (Second Edition): Tools & Techniques to Hit the Trail, Free download: My 12 go-to breakfasts & dinners, https://andrewskurka.com/adventures/sierra-high-route/logistical-considerations/, https://andrewskurka.com/backpacking-topographical-maps-types-sources-formats/, http://www.little-package.com/blog/2015/09/sierra-high-route-reds-meadow-tuolumne-meadow, https://andrewskurka.com/adventures/yosemite-high-route/links-pct-jmt-shr/. The thought of a JMT threw-hike just never struck a fancy. Respect your neighbors. Long story short, I am a typical peak bagger, that fell in love with the beautiful Sierra Nevada as a young man. Whitney and Whitney Portal on the eastern slope. I hope to be clear enough 😉 I’m a climber and a runner and love 3rd and 4th class exposed fun. Michael. It was a tedious and somewhat expenisve task accumulating all the maps. It’s a gray area. Whitney. It’s a lot like the Wolverton Cutoff loop, but with more and better high country scenery. Expect cold temperatures on Mt. Each of these last two saved us two days hiking out and back, including walking up 1000m with newly full packs. Stretching approximately 195 miles (314 km) north to south through the Sierra Nevada, it is a largely off-trail affair that stays between 9,000 ft (2,743 m) and 12,000 ft … Whitney. A less popular trail head that might link up? Walk-up. My route was more ambitious than the norm: I was scouting the Yosemite High Route, which has monstrous vertical change and extensive off-trail and alpine travel.I tried to avoid popular trails like the John Muir Trail/Pacific Crest Trail and the High Sierra Camp Loop… Elizabeth Pass Loop (August 2014, 5 days, 33 miles, 4 passes / 20 photos, 1400 words, map) cross country on the Tableland to Lonely Lake and Elizabeth Pass and a return via the High Sierra Trail . The mapset is very well organized and designed, which is what I would expect from someone who has been as innovative as Andrew in creating new routes and connecting segments of different trails. Two friends and myself are planning on doing a hybrid sections of the SHR starting at Devil’s Postpile and going to Thousand Island Lake (on the SHR) and then looping back via the JMT. Wow, the hike seems amazing! Still beautiful and amazing, but disappointing to miss out on solitude. Our next was refilling back in Mammoth before heading south for a longer stretch. With so much vert, your daily mileage will be limited by how much you can climb and descend in a day, not how many miles you can cover. Completely depends on your fitness and will. Very few people know about it, and even fewer hike it. The High Sierra Loop with its five camps spaced six to ten miles apart are clearly intended to ease one’s journey so that it is as comfortable as it is memorable. You can make your own with SHR (for example: South Lakes to LeConte to Palisade Lakes, then SHR back to Bishop Pass Tr), or you can use guidebooks for the Kings Canyon High Basin Route and Yosemite High Route, both of which included recommended section-hikes. The 71-mile High Sierra Trail traverses the Sierra Nevada from Crescent Meadow in Sequoia National Park to Mt. Some of these trails are limited access as you need a permit to travel through and stay overnight in many of these areas, … Carry plenty of water from the Guitar Lake area. Having visited the Himalaya five times (Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan), plus Kilimanjaro, Patagonia, NZ and lots of Tasmania, I can happily hand on heart say the Sierra Nevada for 31 days was the highlight of my hiking life! Beyond Helen Lake, the KCHBR turns south into Ionian Basin, while the SHR continues on the JMT. Mosquitoes are annoying in early summer and gradually taper off through August. Would you recommend nobo or sobo? Thanks for subscribing! Some hikers make an early morning start on their last day in order to experience sunrise on Mt. Bummed out yet again by forestry regulations not allowing us to hike, I was doing some research for an alternate hike and came across this site! Thru-hikes and high routes, plus related guides, gear lists, and how-to information. 1. Three heads are better than one. Plus, loops allow you to shorten or extend your itinerary without consequence based on how you’re doing, whereas with a point-to-point you’re committed to that distance. The on-trail portions will go about as fast as you normally hike on-trail (in the Sierra). Have fun! The exact resupply options vary by route. Highest point: Mt. Here is an official ove… I would break the route up into two categories: on trail and off-trail. I wanted to share some of the images and video I created while on the route, take a look! I knew immediately that he was doing the SHR! High Sierra Trail 5/28 - Many scattered snow fields above Hamilton on approach to Gap, possibly avoidable. Alain. I am currently looking at combining the KCHBR with the High Sierra trail. I used it on my SHR thru-hikes in 2007 and 2009. Location: Sequoia National Park See our Bear Canister Reviews to find the best canister for your trip. Cheers, Whitney and Sonora Pass. 2. Met you at Tanner beach in GC, hope you remember, my buddy asked you if you were “cool”. I can’t see carrying 14 days of food… I don’t even think my pack would fit it! Appreciate you ! As with all Sierra thru-hikes, the first challenge is figuring out transportation. However, if doing side trips off the route or hiking in shoulder seasons when snow may cover parts of the route or risk of snow is high or simply because one feels more comfortable viewing the “larger” picture I would supplement with additional maps covering larger areas. Whitney and Sonora Pass. My second question is: I’ve done 100’s of sierra miles on trail, and a few shorter 2 day trips XC in lower country, but this will be my first trip which requires this much navigating and if i can’t get permits for the area mentioned above i’m open to others.. are there any sections of the SHR you particularly recommend that might be good intros to this level of navigation? Is there any alternative that you’re familiar with, that will get me to the Route considering the section i want to do? I was just on the SHR last week from Humphrey’s Basin-Merriam Lake-Italy Lake and came across several groups each day. I went on a section hike of it last summer with a few friends and it was the most incredible experience I’ve had in the backcountry so far. The side compression straps are adjustable to secure your items down and the adjustable bottom webbing straps are perfect for carrying items like a sleeping bag or tent. Officially this is an off-trail route, but there’s a use trail all the way to Nelson Lake. After running up the bottom of the Kern Canyon, it turns east, climbing parallel to Wallace Creek up to the junction with the John Muir Trail, 49 miles (79 km) from the starting point. I come from france starting from Yosemite valley, tuolume medows and then the shr. Stay on the SHR. 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