Backpacked the Sierra High Route and then the JMT last year. No comparison.

The JMT is great for what it is. Well marked, lots of people, resupply points everywhere. But the High Route was something else. Off trail navigation, no one around for days, had to figure out water crossings myself. I hit Piute Pass and just stood there for a minute. Felt like I earned every step. Has anyone else gone from a popular trail to a more obscure route and felt that difference?

3 comments

3 Comments

reesel5026d ago

Wait, the SHR follows actual Native American trade routes? @logan_ellis that's wild.

logan_ellis26d ago

Read somewhere that the SHR actually follows a lot of ancient Native American trade routes, which kinda blew my mind. Always wondered how those first people figured out the best way through all that jagged rock without a map or GPS. Can't imagine doing it with a 50 pound pack of modern gear either, let alone barefoot with just a woven basket. That sense of earning it you're talking about, I get it. There's something way different about following a faded cairn from the 1800s versus a well signed trail that everyone knows.

kellyjones26d ago

Fair point, but I gotta push back a little. Following a faded cairn isn't really "earning it" more than a well signed trail. It's just a different kind of luck. Those first people didn't have maps and still got where they were going, but they also died from falls and getting lost all the time. A well signed trail just means fewer people have to take those risks. Most of those old trade routes were figured out by trial and error over generations with plenty of wrong turns.