In July 2014 and July 2015, I solo-hiked the Sierra High Route. I fell in love with it, a remote, beautiful, and demanding trek, for the large part trail-less. The route was envisioned by Steve Roper, a prominent California climber. Over twenty-three days and two hundred miles, I learned to trust Roper. So many times -- beyond count -- my soul erupted with sheer joy over a breathtaking view, or a hidden valley, or a tiny wildflower nook that he had led me to. Heart-pounding fear of a steep descent or a sky-scraping pass would change to smug delight as a way through revealed itself. But mostly, I learned to decipher Roper's terse route descriptions. For example, Roper writes, “Proceed upstream, passing soulful lakes… Turn east almost anywhere and stroll upward.” This describes hours of sweating up glacier-scoured valley terrain, including a steep eastward ascent (stroll?) up broken slab with hand-over-head climbs up short cliffs to an 11,700 foot pass.
I came to see his route and its description as a type of haiku. Stark, poetic, beautiful... minimalist. To honor Roper and his route, I also wrote my trip report in haiku.
I came to see his route and its description as a type of haiku. Stark, poetic, beautiful... minimalist. To honor Roper and his route, I also wrote my trip report in haiku.
I hiked the route from south to north in two one-hundred-mile (or so) segments: the first segment July 20-29, 2014; the second segment July 12-24, 2015.
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200 miles of haiku...
2014
Day 1: Road's End trailhead - Grouse Lake
Day 1: Road's End trailhead - Grouse Lake
Day 2. Grouse Lake – Goat Saddle – Glacier Lakes – State Lakes – Horseshoe Lakes
Day 3. Horseshoe Lakes – Windy Ridge – Gray Pass – White Pass – Red Pass – Marion Lake
Day 4. Marion Lake – Lakes Basin – Frozen Lake Pass – Upper Basin
Day 5. Upper Basin – PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) – Mather Pass – Palisade Lakes – Cirque Pass
Day 6. Cirque Col – Potluck Pass - Palisade Basin – Knapsack Pass – Dusy Basin – Bishop Creek Trail – PCT – LeConte Ranger Station – Big Pete Meadow
Day 7. Big Pete Meadow – PCT – Muir Pass – Sapphire Lake – Evolution Lake – traverse off-trail to Frances Lake
Day 8. Frances Lake – Snowtongue Pass – Humphreys Basin – Wahoo Lakes – Mesa Lake
Day 9. Mesa Lake – Puppet Pass – Puppet Lake – Lake Elba – French Canyon – Merriam Lake – below LaSalle Lake
Day 10. Below LaSalle Lake – Seven Gables Pass – Seven Gables Lakes – PCT – Bear Ridge Trail – trailhead
2015
Day 1: North Lake Trailhead – Hutchinson Meadow
Day 1: North Lake Trailhead – Hutchinson Meadow
Day 2: Merriam Lake – Feather Pass – Bear Lake Basin – Black Bear Lake
Day 3: White Bear Pass – Lake Italy – Gabbott Pass – Mono Creek
Day 4: Laurel Creek – Shout of Relief Pass – Cotton Lake Basin
Day 5: Tully Hole – Lake Virginia – Purple Lake – Duck Pass – Deer Lake
Day 6: Mammoth Crest – Red’s Meadow – Devil’s Postpile – Superior Lake
Day 7: Nancy Pass – Minarets – Whitebark Pass – Thousand Island Lake
Day 8: North Glacier Pass – Lake Catherine – Twin Island Lakes – Bench Canyon
Day 9: Blue Lake – Foerster Pass – Isberg Pass – Lyell Fork
Day 10: Lewis Creek – Vogelsang – Tuolumne Meadows
Day 11: Granite Lakes – Great Sierra Mine – Fantail Lake
Day 12: Mt. Conness – Cascade Lake – Sky Pilot Col – Gray Butte – Soldier Lake
Day 13: Gray Butte Pass – Virginia Peak Pass – Matterhorn Pass – Horse Creek – Twin Lakes trailhead
