Hey all -

If anyone is interested in hiking the Sierra High Route next summer -- a trip that gets my full endorsement -- you may find some of the content I posted on my website useful: Sierra High Route.

There is a major lack of good information about the SHR, so I'm trying to help fill the gaps.

Edited by askurka on 09/11/2008 16:48:58 MDT.

Good stuff Andrew. I like the post-hike comment section on the gear list.

Great info Andy. Thanks for taking the time to put together such valuable info on the SHR.

I've been kicking around the idea of the SHR for the last year or so. Maybe not in 2009, but soon! Thanks for posting.

Andrew,

That is a great story. I would love to hike this. Maybe 2010 since next summer I'll be hiking the JMT for the first time with my wife and 2 kids. Thanks for the report.

dangit andy!

one of the things i thought was the coolest about the SHR when i was planning for it in 2006 was that there was precious LITTLE info available on the internet about it. i mean, there was the roper book, some webshots albums, and a few web pages about it, but not too much. since there is that cross-sierra ski-route called the "sierra high route" also, it all seemed a bit obfuscated and low-profile. i had to do a lot of searching, looking, reading, thinking, checking out maps, plotting routes with the book and Topo!, etc.

once backpacker magazine did their thing on it, i knew it was definitely more mainstream. dangit!

and now it's all been skurka-fied in an easy to digest web site! dangit!

oh well, it's not an easy route, so it'll weed out the tourists and the crowds anyway i guess.

oh, and... what a difference two years makes... in 2006 it was a big and late snow year, and this year the snow went POOF!

near seven gables in 2006:

Edited by DaveT on 09/18/2008 17:54:11 MDT.

I just watched the video and "WOW" I liked the Iceland one lots - that topped it and more.

A lack of good info meant adventure. oh well.

I personally enjoy reading and writing trip reports. There is no shortage of amazing places to visit that have little to no information about them for the adventurer.

Andy, I enjoyed your High Route report (well, all except the fact that your beer of choice was Coors). The video was entertaining and the bit where Buzz is glissading is just stellar. The note about hating the bear canister in the gear list was funny as well.

Another SHR trip report I've enjoyed perusing for a couple years can be found here:

Lost and Found: The Sierra High Route, July 2006

* edit - I just noticed that you gave Chris' "Lost and Found" page I noted above credit in your report as well, Andy. Cheers.

Edited by sharalds on 09/19/2008 10:33:14 MDT.

I finally received permission from TOPO! to distribute a Sierra High Route map set. For anybody considering doing the entire SHR or incorporating it into another Sierra trip, these maps are invaluable and will save you a lot of time compared to putting your own together.

Information about the maps and ordering instructions are available on my website: http://www.andrewskurka.com/SHR08/mapsforsale.php.

Thanks for doing all your hard work to put the SHR info together for us.

Looks like a pretty good bargain.

Edited by gmatthews on 12/18/2008 17:43:46 MST.

Andrew,

Could you describe your menu? The Bearikade Weekender is not that big. Did you consider their larger canister v. having a resupply?

Thanks, and I ordered your CD.

My diet on the SHR was very similar to the one I followed on my Great Western Loop: http://www.andrewskurka.com/GWL/diet.php.

We took the smaller canister because we didn't want to carry one at all and at least having "a" canister would be better than not carrying one, even though on the first day, maybe first two days, all of our food did not fit inside them. Much easier to explain to a ranger...

Moreover, I'm not sure the bigger canister would actually fit in the Jam2 -- the weekender marginally fits as is.

Seeing as how the SHR took us right past Red's and Tuolumne, it would seem foolish to *not* resupply -- Why bother carrying the extra weight?

Edited by askurka on 12/21/2008 15:11:20 MST.

Seeing as how the SHR took us right past Red's and Tuolumne, it would seem foolish to *not* resupply -- Why bother carrying the extra weight?

Did you develop this concept in your early formative "years" - hiking the AT? : )

My belief is: if you are close enough to smell the coffee, then seek its source.

No one ever got an award for walking right past a bar & grill while in a tired and hungry condition. Look at these things as gifts from the gods.

On the AT I stopped at a lot of places that I would never nowadays.

My general rules of thumb are: if it's on the trail, use it; if it's just off the trail, AND if I have not resupplied in a while, use it; if it's really far off the trail, skip it and carry more food.

On the Great Western Loop the average distance between resupply points was about 140 miles apart. Longest was 380 miles, along the MT-ID border from Anaconda, MT, to Macks Inn, ID.

average distance between resupply points was about 140 miles apart

For you, about 4 days on average on the GWL (33 mi/day?).

On the SHR, weren't you guys in low 20 mpd? What would be your guess of average miles per day for an average SHR hiker?

Yes, about every 4 days. I would happily have gone longer without resupplying but, like I said, if I'm walking right past a PO, hiker hostel/lodge/motel that will take packages, etc. it'd be foolish and contrived to not use the service.

I address the mileage question, in addition to a lot of other questions prospective SHR hikers may have, at the bottom of this page: http://www.andrewskurka.com/SHR08/hiking.php.

Andrew,

The Sierra High Route Map Set


SHR Map Set


Fantastic! Don't know if I will hike all of it, but I plan to at least do parts of the SHR this summer. I really like the way you show "the way" versus a red line.

I'm sure you expended quite a bit of effort on the SHR map set. Great work! Really professional quality.

Plus - your web site info on the SHR is very informative.

Thanks!