Hiking Tips & Commentary

General difficulty

Mile for mile, the SHR is the most demanding 3-season hiking experience I have had. But Buzz and I were physically and mentally prepared for that challenge; we had also adjusted our expectations accordingly beforehand. The challenges of the SHR probably also, mile for mile, make it the most rewarding backcountry experience I have had—it put our backcountry talent to the test. The list of challenges on the SHR is long: high elevation/thin air, relentless sun, aggressive mosquitoes, snow travel on heavily sun-cupped snowfields, Class 3 scrambles, miles of boulder hopping, steep and/or loose headwalls below passes, long cross-country sections, technical navigation, and heavy food loads.

Critical Backcountry Skills

The SHR is not a beginner’s trek. You should be a proficient navigator, and you should be experienced in traveling cross-country. You should be comfortable hiking across steep snowfields, on loose scree, through endless boulder fields, in sub-alpine forests, and up and down Class 3 slopes. (There is no technical rock-climbing on the SHR, unless you get off-route and find yourself on Class 4 or 5 slabs, which is entirely possible in several places.) You should be a lightweight backpacking devotee, assuming you wish to preserve your knee cartilage, enjoy your experience, and maybe even exit alive. There is only one notable river ford, and it is easy.

On-trail and off-trail

About half of the SHR is on-trail and about half is off-trail—Roper says 100 miles of off-trail. The quality of on-trail segments varies: usually the trails are superbly maintained and heavily used, but there are some sections that seem to have been forgotten by both hikers and trail crews. The SHR uses about 30 miles of the John Muir Trail. The nature of off-trail segments varies too: alpine meadows and granite “ramps” are really nice, boulder fields and sun-cupped snowfields not so much; most of the scrambling occurs near the passes.

Efficient cross-country travel

There are two parts to traveling efficiently off trail. First, you need to know where you are going. Second, you need to determine the fastest way to get you there. Knowing where you are going…Ultimately, a SHR thru-hiker is heading towards either Mono Village or Road’s End, but shorter-term goals must be established: a pass, lake, trail crossing, etc. Buzz and I often planned our route for the next few hours when we reached the top of the passes—”Okay, our next pass is that V-shaped notch in the ridge across the basin. The most direct route from here crosses the snowfield just below us, skirts the right shoreline of Blue Lake, which is that one over there, and then ascends along the south bank of Quiet Creek, the headwaters of which are just below the pass.” Finding the fastest way there…Your forward progress can be slowed by climbs, steep descents, technical footing, and non-straight lines. Therefore, try to avoid these things: climb and descend only when you have to, detour around technical-looking sections, and always remember that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. These are often conflicting goals—e.g. the shortest route may involve the most climbing/descending and the most technical footing—so you need to react to each landscape differently. With practice you will increasingly chose the most efficient routes.

Passes

Roper routed the SHR over countless passes, which was not done on purpose but which was a result of keeping the route in sub-alpine and alpine terrain. Some of these passes are easy—Muir Pass, for example, is climbed via the John Muir Trail. But others are more technical—Stanton Pass, for example, involves about 200 vertical feet of Class 3 scrambling on each side; and Frozen Lake Pass features a steep north side that is coated in ball bearing-like pebbles. Unless you get off route, there is no technical rock climbing on the SHR, i.e. Class 4 or 5. Class 3 terrain requires both feet and probably both hands, but the likelihood of and consequences from falling are minimal. If you have rock climbing experience you will probably feel more natural during these scrambles. If scrambling is a foreign activity, you will undoubtedly be more natural by the end than when you began. Buzz and I both had rock climbing experience, but Buzz was definitely the stronger scrambler between us, and I therefore had to avoid the temptation to match Buzz’ pace and instead keep within my own comfort zone. It’s better to go slow than to hurt yourself, because then you are going reallyslow.

Terrain Types

Granite slabs

A notable portion of the cross-country sections are across granite slabs, which sometimes makes it seem like you are on a sidewalk. Of course, it’s usually not that easy, but the slabs do offer consistent grades and good traction.

Boulder fields

There are seemingly endless miles of boulder fields on the SHR. They usually begin below the headwalls of the passes—after all, these boulders at one point were the headwall, but eroded off chunk by chunk—and end somewhere further down, where grass and soil finally take over. Some of the boulders are as big as F350’s while others are beach-ball sized. Thankfully the boulders in the High Sierra are usually very stable—it’s rare that they move when you put pressure on them—and those that are can usually be easily identified and avoided.

Scree fields

Several scree fields must be crossed, climbed, or descended, but they are rare. Granite is a very erosion-resistant rock and it does not break down into scree like other rock types, e.g. limestone or basalt.

Snowfields

The amount of snow that must be crossed depends primarily on the preceding winter’s snowfall and time of year. Regardless of these exact factors, I think it’s probably inevitable that a SHR hiker will walk on snow at some point during their trip, especially since some of the snowfields are permanent, i.e. they melt but never fully disappear during the summer months, and then they are given new life again during the winter. Alpine snowfields in the Sierra get heavily pocketed with “sun cups” as the season progresses, and this slows travel greatly. The cups start as small depressions but then enlarge as solar rays bounce around inside the depression, hollowing it out; and the melted snow drips into the bottom, making it deeper.

Fords

Because the SHR stays near the headwaters of the Sierra’s many rivers, it avoids the difficult river fords that are characteristic of the John Muir Trail. There is just one notable ford, at the outlet of the southern Twin Lakes, but it is easy: the water was high-thigh deep but very sluggish in early-July 2008.

Bears

There are black bears in the High Sierra and the likelihood of seeing one is fairly high, especially when the SHR dips below treeline. Black bears are not interested in you, but they are interested in your food. Partly thanks to irresponsible backcountry users, bears have learned that humans equal food (and good food at that—Snickers, peanut butter, salami, etc.) and for many years they regularly outsmarted the humans who tried to protect their food by hanging it, burying it, and even sleeping next to it. I recommend that you protect your food with a bear canister because otherwise you can be fined if you are caught without one. If a bear approaches your camp or you encounter one on the trail, you can usually chase it away by making noise and throwing objects at it. Black bears are far less aggressive than their northern cousins, the grizzly.

Mileage Planning

Because the SHR is a more challenging hike than a conventional route, mileage goals need to be adjusted. Depending on your skills, experience, and physical fitness, you should plan to hike about 50 to 70 percent of your normal mileage. For context, I normally hike 35-40 miles per day in good conditions; it takes me about 15 hours. Buzz and I comfortably averaged about 23 miles per day on the SHR, hiking about 14 hours a day. If I had been on my own and exerted my usual effort, I would probably average 27 or 28 miles per day, which is about 70 percent. I’m on the high end of the 50-70 range because the SHR’s challenges do not affect me as much as they will affect a person with less experience and a lower skill level, e.g. I’m less likely to make navigation mistakes, I’m more comfortable on technical terrain, I can power up steep climbs, etc.

Solo hiking

I would recommend hiking the SHR solo if: (1) you are comfortable hiking solo in general, and (2) the SHR is within your skills and experience level. But I thought having a hiking partner on the SHR had some particular advantages. First, it’s safer, since Buzz was there to help if something happened to me. This is especially important on the SHR because it’s unlikely that another wandering hiker will find you. (We only saw one group of two hikers while off-trail, and we did see human tracks elsewhere now and then.) And, second, two heads were better than one when it came to navigating—we picked great lines the entire trip and wasted no time climbing to incorrect passes or meandering excessively. If you do go solo, I recommend carrying a SPOT Satellite Messenger on this trip because the odds of something happening are considerable.

15 Comments

  1. Jorge on December 23, 2012 at 5:31 pm

    Hi Andrew,
    Thanks for the website, for sharing information and for inspiring others to explore safely and responsibly.
    For many years I worked (as school teacher) in the depths of the Sierra Sinforosa (Sierra Madre, State of Chihuahua, Mexico) up-river from the Urique and Batopilas rivers. Hopefully you may be able to hike one day on those majestic barrancas.
    Take care!
    Jorge Colmenero

  2. Matt marlow on July 17, 2013 at 8:55 pm

    Andrew, I’m addicted to the SHR and have the privlege of hiking it every 2-3 years sole. This August will be my 4th time. My 2nd was in Sept of 2008…man it was dry that summer. anyway, I agree with every word of your write up.

    This will be the first time not carrying a one person tent…I will go with a tarp. The older I get the less I carry. i am poised to go with the GOLITE tarp tent…just curious on your thoughts on the best tarps you may have tried out.

    • Andrew Skurka on July 18, 2013 at 7:46 am

      For high-intensity solo trips in the High Sierra, my preference is a water-resistant bivy sack with an A-frame tarp. I expect to rarely, maybe never, set up the tarp; but the bivy sack still gives me bug protection and some extra warmth. This saves me ~10-15 minutes in the morning and at night, too.

      If you insist on a tent, I like the Mountain Laurel Designs SoloMid with Innernet and the Six Moon Designs Lunar Solo. I can’t speak to the GoLite shelters.

  3. Mark H on March 22, 2015 at 8:15 am

    Thanks so much for all your information about the SHR. I have your mapset and data and find it extremely useful, although I haven’t hiked the SHR yet, but 2015 might be the year! At least for a section. I’m wondering about the “50-70% of your normal mileage” figure. Is this for the whole trail, averaged out? Or is this for the off-trail sections only? I’m curious, because the trail is roughly half and half, off trail and on, as you know, and I’m trying to figure out what my pace will be in the off-trail sections, on average. Thanks for your help!

    • Andrew Skurka on March 22, 2015 at 8:25 pm

      Buzz and I averaged low to mid 20’s, and if we’d been entirely on-trail we would have been doing 30-35, or 35-40 if we’d been on the Appalachian Trail (where there is way more O2’s).

  4. Steve Jones on May 14, 2015 at 3:05 pm

    Thanks Andrew for all the excellent and well-organized information. I’m planning to solo the SHR for 30 days at a leisurely pace this July 20th 2015, Northbound. The biggest unknown for me is the temperatures up there– what to expect. And with this year being different, it is hard to use the past as a guide. I could be off by +/- 20F I would think, and that could make for uncomfortable sleeping. Any thoughts on how to figure out what temps to expect mid July to mid August this year?

    • Andrew Skurka on May 15, 2015 at 9:17 am

      The Western Regional Climate Center has useful data: http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/coopmap/. Find NOAA sites near the route, and adjust based on elevation (3 degrees per 1000 feet).

      In planning for trips that are still weeks or months away, I assume average conditions, but still familiarize myself with the extreme range and put aside gear for that instance. A few days out, I adjust based on the near-term forecast, although in your case you will need to be prepared for the extreme range since your trip is longer than an accurate forecast.

      In my experience the High Sierra has very stable weather. With possibly a few exceptions, the average daytime highs and average nighttime lows will be within 15-20 degrees. During those exceptions, just grin and bear it — things will revert to the average soon enough.

  5. Nate on June 18, 2016 at 12:38 am

    Andrew,

    I’m trying to finalize my gear for a two week trek on the SHR starting August 1st this year but I can’t decide on whether or not to bring my ice axe. I have a Camp Corsa, essentially the lightest available at ~11oz, and I carry a base weight of ~10lb including the axe. I’m worried about the north facing snowfields especially after a good snow year in the sierras this year (the most snow in five years, though it’s actually average snow when looking over 30 year period). It’s a solo hike and I want to be cautious, though most information I’ve seen from other hikers never mention carrying an axe on this route.

    I just don’t want to carry something I won’t use. Of course, I will not make the decision based solely on your input, but I do value your opinion on the matter.

    Is there any merit in having a lightweight axe for self arrest on the SHR?

    Was the year you hiked it particularly heavy or light snow? If it was a heavier year than it was, would you have considered carrying an ice axe or does the terrain not warrant it at all?

    Thanks!

    • Andrew Skurka on June 18, 2016 at 10:29 am

      Leave it at home. Yes, the Sierra had more snow this winter than in the last 5, but it was still below long term averages, and it melted off early due to a warm spring. I have spent a lot of time on the SHR and similar terrain July-September after similar winters. Never have needed an axe. If you do carry one, you will probably feel foolish for having done so.

  6. Aditya on August 16, 2017 at 8:46 pm

    Hi Andrew,

    I’ve long been a beneficiary of the information and resources you provide on your website, and used the SHR mapset for an attempt, which ended with me and my friend turning back after 2 days because we felt our pace was much slower than feasible. the effects of altitude notwithstanding, we were getting nowhere even though we were constantly moving.

    I’ve already found quite a number of mistakes with our preparation (most significantly, underestimating how challenging off-trail travel can be). But, I wanted to ask how I can get better at navigating. While we understood the big picture stuff like the general direction of the next waypoint, we always messed up the details and ended up in the wrong place.
    Could you provide some insight into how you would approach navigating, say, the next 5 miles, involving several different features like a valley, a pass, a lake, etc.?

    • Andrew Skurka on August 19, 2017 at 11:05 am

      Those who are new to off-trail and high routes struggle with two things.

      First, the vertical per distance. On most high routes, it’s about 2x a normal hiking trail. This means much lower mileage. The distance you will cover each day is much more strongly correlated with the vertical you will cover, e.g. I can sustainably climb 6-8k vertical feet per day, and it doesn’t matter if that happens over 10 miles or 20.

      Second, route-finding. Knowing where you need to go is not the same as identifying correctly the path of least resistance to get there. That path is a function of vertical change, vegetation, footing, etc. For example, Is it better to drop 200 vertical feet to the bottom of a valley and then climb up the other side, or contour around the valley without losing any vertical?

      Classes could help some with this, like teaching you how to read a map or use a compass. But field experience is the best teacher.

      For newbies, I strongly recommend doing section-hikes of high routes before taking on the whole thing. Section-hikes have simpler logistics and more flexibility. No, they’re not as good as the full thing, but they’re better than bailing out after 2 days because you realize the full thing is over your head given your current skill set.

  7. Schwenn on August 14, 2018 at 1:13 pm

    Andrew,

    I am contemplating a thru hike of the SHR next summer and have done section hikes over Feather pass and over Gabbot pass. I am curious if the cross country travel over and to these passes is representative of the High Route as a whole, or if they are particularly easy sections of the route.

    • Andrew Skurka on August 14, 2018 at 2:31 pm

      If I recall those sections correctly, they are fairly representative of the route.

  8. Carmen Blackwood on August 7, 2023 at 3:43 pm

    Do you know of anyone who has hiked the SHR in 2023? We’re set to go on a section starting at Kearsarge and entering the SHR at the first possible entry and heading out at Red’s. We assume Snow Tongue Pass will probably be the most challenging in this section and are wondering about current conditions on the north side. (we’ll bring crampons and ice axe)

    • Andrew Skurka on August 8, 2023 at 9:35 am

      Like you, I think everyone has been waiting.

      Personally, I’d plan skip Snow Tongue and use one of the easier passes like Alpine Col, unless I’m observing that similar slope angles/aspects look promising.

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