The Sierra High Route (also called the Roper Route and the High Route) is a cross-country hiking route, long, through the
Sierra Nevada
The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...
. It was scouted by
Steve Roper
Steve Roper is a noted climber and historian of the Sierra Nevada in the United States. He along with Allen Steck are the founding editors of the Sierra Club journal ''Ascent''.
Roper is the winner of the Sierra Club's Francis P. Farquhar M ...
and described by him in his book ''Sierra High Route: Traversing Timberline Country''.
Much of the Sierra High Route runs parallel to the
John Muir Trail
The John Muir Trail (JMT) is a long-distance trail in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada mountain range of California, passing through Yosemite National Park, Yosemite, Kings Canyon National Park, Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Park, Se ...
, staying east of that trail and keeping above the
timberline to higher elevations — between . About a third of the route follows maintained hiking trails (including 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
Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become mounta ...
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 map
In modern mapping, a topographic map or topographic sheet is a type of map characterized by large- scale detail and quantitative representation of relief features, usually using contour lines (connecting points of equal elevation), but historic ...
s, and one or more instruments (e.g.,
compass
A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself with No ...
,
GPS receiver
A satellite navigation (satnav) device or GPS device is a device that uses satellites of the Global Positioning System (GPS) or similar global navigation satellite systems (GNSS).
A satnav device can determine the user's geographic coordinat ...
) 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."
[
Roper divides the route into five segments:
* '']Cirque
A (; from the Latin word ) is an amphitheatre-like valley formed by Glacier#Erosion, glacial erosion. Alternative names for this landform are corrie (from , meaning a pot or cauldron) and ; ). A cirque may also be a similarly shaped landform a ...
Country:'' Cedar Grove to Dusy Basin, traversing the Monarch Divide, Lake ( Cartridge Creek) Basin, Upper Basin, Palisades Basin, Barrett Lakes Basin, and Dusy Basin.
* ''Whitebark Country:'' Dusy Basin to Lake Italy, through LeConte Canyon, Muir Pass, Evolution Basin, the Glacier Divide, Humphrey's Basin, and Bear Lakes Basin.
* ''Lake Country:'' Lake Italy to Devils Postpile
A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in many and various cultures and religious traditions.
Devil or Devils may also refer to:
* Satan
* Devil in Christianity
* Demon
* Folk devil
Art, entertainment, and media
Film and ...
by way of Bear Lakes Basin, Mono Lakes Basin, the Recesses, the Silver Divide, and the Mammoth Crest.
* ''Headwaters Country:'' Devil's Postpile to Tuolumne Meadows
Tuolumne Meadows () is a gentle, dome-studded, sub-alpine meadow area along the Tuolumne River in the eastern section of Yosemite National Park in the United States. Its approximate location is . Its approximate elevation is . The term ''Tuolumn ...
, crossing the Ritter Range and the Cathedral Range. Roper calls this "Headwaters Country" because the route crosses headwaters of the San Joaquin River
The San Joaquin River ( ; ) is the longest river of Central California. The long river starts in the high Sierra Nevada and flows through the rich agricultural region of the northern San Joaquin Valley before reaching Suisun Bay, San Francis ...
.
* ''Canyon Country:'' Tuolumne Meadows to Twin Lakes through Yosemite's north country.
From south to north (the direction Roper recommends hiking it), the Sierra High Route passes through Kings Canyon National Park
Kings Canyon National Park is a national park of the United States in the southern Sierra Nevada, in Fresno and Tulare Counties, California. Originally established in 1890 as General Grant National Park, the park was greatly expanded and ren ...
, the Inyo National Forest
Inyo National Forest is a United States National Forest covering parts of the eastern Sierra Nevada of California and the White Mountains of California and Nevada. The forest hosts several superlatives, including Mount Whitney, the highest p ...
, and Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park ( ) is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States in California. It is bordered on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The p ...
.
In 2006, '' Backpacker'' magazine editor Steve Howe hiked the entire Sierra High Route in one month.
External links
The Sierra High Route: A Journey at Timberline
Steve Roper recounts his discovery of the Sierra High Route
Roper's account of this trail segment
Roper's description of this trail segment
References
{{California hiking trails
Hiking trails in California
Sierra Nevada (United States)
Long-distance trails in the United States