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 primarily ...
. 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 Mou ...
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) (Northern Paiute language, Paiute: Nüümü Poyo, ''N-ue-mue Poh-yo'') is a long-distance trail in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada mountain range of California, passing through Yosemite National Park, Yosemite, ...
, 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 or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, a ...
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 ...
,
GPS receiver
A satellite navigation device (satnav device) is a user equipment that uses one or more of several global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) to calculate the device's geographical position and provide navigational advice.
Depending on the s ...
) 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 glacial erosion. Alternative names for this landform are corrie (from Scottish Gaelic , meaning a pot or cauldron) and (; ). A cirque may also be a similarly shaped landform ...
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 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, granitic dome, 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 ter ...
, crossing the Ritter Range
The Ritter Range is a small mountain range within California's Sierra Nevada. Most of the mountain range lies within the Ansel Adams Wilderness.
The John Muir Trail passes by many lakes within the Ritter Range. The most prominent peaks of the Rit ...
and the Cathedral Range
The Cathedral Range is a mountain range immediately to the south of Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite National Park. The range is an offshoot of the Sierra Nevada. The range is named after Cathedral Peak, which resembles a cathedral spire.
Geograp ...
. Roper calls this "Headwaters Country" because the route crosses headwaters of the San Joaquin River
The San Joaquin River (; es, Río San Joaquín) 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 Suis ...
.
* ''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 an American national park 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 renamed to Kings ...
, 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 poi ...
, and Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park ( ) is an American national park in California, surrounded on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service and covers an ar ...
.
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
{{Sierra Nevada, state=collapsed
Hiking trails in California
Sierra Nevada (United States)
Long-distance trails in the United States