Sierra High Route

Sierra High Route

Twin Lakes

Tuolumne Meadows

Mammoth.Crest

Dusy.Basin

Cedar Grove

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Sierra High Route points

Not to be confused with High Sierra Trail.

The Sierra High Route (also called the Roper Route) is a cross-country hiking route, 195 miles (314 km) long, through the Sierra Nevada. It was scouted by Steve Roper 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, staying east of that trail and keeping above the timberline to higher elevations—between 9,000 and 11,500 feet (2,700 and 3,500 m). About a third of the route follows maintained hiking trails (including 28 miles (45 km) 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 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 maps, and one or more instruments (e.g., compass, GPS receiver) to navigate: "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".

Very few people have hiked the entire Sierra High Route in one trip. Roper divides the route into five segments:

• Cirque 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, crossing the Ritter Range and the Cathedral Range. Roper calls this "Headwaters Country" because the route crosses headwaters of the San Joaquin River.
• Canyon Country: Tuolumne Meadows to Twin Lakes through Yosemite's north country.

More details about the route can be found in the "List of coordinates" section, below.

From south to north (the direction Roper recommends hiking it), the Sierra High Route passes through Kings Canyon National Park, the Inyo National Forest, and Yosemite National Park.

In 2006, Backpacker magazine editor Steve Howe hiked the entire Sierra High Route in one month.

List of coordinates

Sierra High Route, north-to-south

Mile	Point	Elevation	Coordinates	Comments
195.0	Twin Lakes Road		38°08′49″N 119°22′39″W	Yosemite National Park
193.6	Sierra Crest	10,700 ft (3,300 m)	38°05′19″N 119°22′17″W	Crosses Sierra CrestEast of Matterhorn Peak
	Gaylor Lakes
	Tuolumne Meadows Lodge
	Lyell Fork (Tuolumne River)
	John Muir Trail			3/4 mile section
	Tuolumne Pass	10,000 ft (3,000 m)
	Vogelsang High Sierra Camp			(commercial cabins)
	Vogelsang Lake
	Vogelsang Pass
	Border			[near Foerster Peak]. Yosemite NP & Inyo NFs
	Sierra Crest		37°44′09″N 119°11′42″W	S of Waugh Lake
	Thousand Island Lake	9,833 ft (2,997 m)	37°43′15″N 119°10′56″W	(also on Pacific Crest Trail)
	San Joaquin River, Middle F		37°42′40″N 119°12′10″W	source (headwaters flow NE)
	Glacier Lake Pass	11,158 ft (3,401 m)	37°42′05″N 119°12′23″W	NNE side of Lake Catherine
	San Joaquin River, North F		37°41′30″N 119°13′58″W	Ford, S end of "northern Twin Island Lake"
	Pine Grove	9,900 ft (3,000 m)
	waterfall brink	10,650 ft (3,250 m)
	Iceberg Lake
	Cecile Lake
	Blue Lake Pass	11,237 ft (3,425 m)	37°42′5″N 119°12′26″W	Yosemite NP, E border
	Blue Lake		37°40′48″N 119°16′57″W
	Bench Canyon	10,100 ft (3,100 m)	37°40′05″N 119°14′29″W
	Reds Meadow			[1]
	Minaret Lake	9,800 ft (3,000 m)	37°39′35″N 119°09′29″W	Ritter Range
	Exit point to community			Near Devil's Postpile NM and Rainbow Fall
	Mammoth Crest		37°34′02″N 118°59′08″W	crosses Sierra Crest
	Duck Lake
	Silver Divide		37°28′27″N 119°01′13″W
				Mono Recesses
				Mono Lakes Basin
	Lake Italy		37°21′20″N 118°48′06″W	Bear Lakes Basin
	Humphreys Basin		37°15′55″N 118°42′25″W	Sierra National Forest
	Snow-Tongue Pass	12,200 ft (3,700 m)	37°13′21″N 118°44′46″W	Glacier Divide
	Evolution Basin		37°08′08″N 118°41′49″W
	Muir Pass	11,955 ft (3,644 m)	37°06′42″N 118°40′14″W	28 miles (45 km) John Muir Trail section
	LeConte Canyon		37°03′07″N 118°34′52″W
	Dusy Basin		37°05′52″N 118°33′33″W	1st northbound "feasible exit point"
	Knapsack Pass
	Barrett Lakes		37°05′08″N 118°32′02″W
	Cirque Pass
	Lower Palisade Lake		37°03′09″N 118°28′30″W	Palisades Basin
	Mather Pass	12,067 ft (3,678 m)	37°1′55″N 118°27′36″W
	Frozen Lake Pass	12,320 ft (3,760 m)	37°00′22″N 118°28′58″W
				Upper Basin
				Lake Basin (Cartridge Cr)
	Marion Lake Red Pass White Pass (Monarch Divide Gray Pass
	Horseshoe Lakes
0	Cedar Grove (CA 180)		36°47′44″N 118°35′4″W	Kings Canyon NP

External image
Google Maps: Glacier Divide, Humphreys Basin, Lake Italy, Mather Pass, Silver Divide