So you crave iconic Sierra Nevada scenery? Judging from the crowds on the Pacific Crest and John Muir Trails, you're not alone. Buy you very could be in Sequoia National Park's often-empty backcountry on the rugged 71-mile High Sierra Trail (not to be confused with the equally desolate 195-mile Sierra High Route from Kings Canyon to Twin Lakes).
Starting at 6,700 ft. on the southern fringe of the Giant Forest, you'll hike through heaven-kissing groves of giant sequoias. A week of climbing through scoured domes and fins reminiscent Yosemite's Cathedral Range later, you'll stand atop the hike's 14,495-foot exclamation point: Mt. Whitney.
The Route Head out from Crescent Meadow (near the park's Lodgepole Visitor Center) through dense stands of sequoia and sugar pine, whose football-size cones litter the path. Savor this stretch, since it's the only one on the HST where these massive conifers flourish. Later, you'll reach Eagle View, a lookout over a 1,000-foot gorge cradling the Middle Fork Kaweah River. After traversing seven major creeks coursing down the granite ledges of Alta Bluffs, make camp among the pines at Bearpaw Meadow.
Over the next few days, you'll whack through chest-high bracken ferns, grind up the Precipice Bench to the snow-ringed rock gardens of Kaweah Gap (10,700 feet), cross the Great Western Divide, climb the Chagoopa Plateau, and drop into the deep, U-shaped trough of Kern Canyon. Around day 5, you'll join the JMT for the ascent to Guitar Lake and campsites below Whitney. Get a predawn start for the summit march. You'll rejoin the masses atop Whitney, but the vantage from the rooftop of the Southern Sierra deserves an awestruck assembly.
Season Late summer, from the last week in July to early September, is idyllic. Afternoon thunderstorms aren't as likely, and temperatures stay between 40 and 70-degree F. Want to see flaming red Indian paintbrush or bright pink shooting star wildflowers? Go in early July, when blooms carpet the entire meadow in the Big Arroyo.
Logistics Slot a week for the one-way trip, or two for a 142-mile yo-yo. The closest airport with car rentals is in Fresno. Wilder House Shuttle (wilderhouse.com) will you up at Whitney Portal and drive you anywhere for @1 per mile. Book at least a month in advance.
Gear Bearproof canisters are a must. Get the bomber BearVault (it won our 2004 Editors' Choice award), or rent others at the Lodgepole or Foothills Visitors Centers. For creek crossings, pack water shoes and trekking poles. No matter what, don't forget bug dope: Skeeters can be heinous in the dank confines of Kern Canyon.
Permits Reserve $15 permits through the park's wilderness office (nps.gov/seki/planyourvisit/wilderness.htm) no later than 2 weeks before your trip.
Signs of Life California mule deer and yellow-bellied marmots abound. Around Whitney, spot rosy finches and purple sky pilots.
Homework Don't hit the trail without Tom Harrison's Mt. Whitney High County map or without consulting the interactive trip planner at backpacker.com/hikes.
-Andrew Matranga
TO TRAILHEAD: TO TRAILHEAD: Go E on Highway 198 to park entrance. Head to Lodgepole Visitor Center for backcountry permit, then backtrack to Crescent Meadows to begin.
Position Format:
Datum:
Tracks
HST01
Distance: 50.97 mi
Points: 1454
Calories: none
Total Time: none
Speed: 0.0 mph
Pace: 0:00 / mi
Active Time: none
Speed: 0.0 mph
Pace: 0:00 / mi
High Sierra Trail
Points of Interest
HST001
Location: 36.554699, -118.748848
Crescent Meadows Trailhead leaves from the southeast fringe of the Giant Forest and winds through shady, well-watered terrain covered with dense forests of red and white fir, sugar pines, and occasional giant sequoias.
HST002
Location: 36.553432, -118.748047
R onto High Sierra Trail
HST003
Location: 36.554298, -118.741951
R @ 3-way; wrap around a south-facing slope at Eagle View and scope Moro Rock to the W and down the Middle Fork of the Kaweah River; scanning E, the glaciated spires, domes and peaks of the Great Western Divide and Kaweah Gap stand ahead
HST004
Location: 36.570465, -118.721619
R @ Y, continue ENE along the steep slopes and bluffs of the south side of Alta Meadow and Alta Peak.
HST005
Location: 36.572399, -118.684120
Two-tent campsite and bear locker along the streaming waterfalls of Mehrten Creek
HST006
Location: 36.569633, -118.679382
Keep R @ Y to Bearpaw Meadow; pass two forks of Nine Mile Creek and descend to Buck Canyon, well-known for floods, avalanches and rockslides. The Buck Creek crossing may be hazardous early in the summer. Check on conditions when you pick up your permit.
HST007
Location: 36.567883, -118.628220
Begin stiff ascent up switchbacks
HST008
Location: 36.566982, -118.624214
L @ Y to Bearpaw Meadow High Sierra Camp
HST009
Location: 36.565533, -118.621063
Take R to tent camping
HST010
Location: 36.564800, -118.623680
Backpacker's campsites at Bearpaw Meadow. Bear boxes at each site. Fire ring. Watch for fearless mule deer. Will rifle through an open pack and lick salt from the backpanel
HST011
Location: 36.565384, -118.620949
Descend on High Sierra Trail from A-frame Ranger Station; sweet overlook of Valhalla near High Sierra Lodge
HST012
Location: 36.572235, -118.598930
Cross bridge and go R @ T
HST013
Location: 36.565681, -118.586884
Wet crossing of Hamilton River just above lower Hamilton Falls; climb switchbacks past Lower Hamilton Lake
HST014
Location: 36.564152, -118.578102
Hamilton Lake below stream-laced Precipice Bench and beneath the Angel Wings, a sheer granite wall to N; good camping, pit toilet, bear lockers, no fires; to continue to Kaweah Gap, cross stream and head up switchbacks
HST017
Location: 36.552116, -118.560799
Upper Precipice Lake tucked below the glacier-laden north wall of Eagle Scout Peak; trail enters alpine zone of snowfields, ponds and meadows and might be faint or snowed over.
HST018
Location: 36.557468, -118.551231
Kaweah Gap (10,700 ft.) on the Great Western Divide; Mt. Stewart, named after founder of Sequoia NP, to N; to continue descend in to Nine Lakes Basin of the Big Arroyo
HST019
Location: 36.533501, -118.541817
Knee-deep crossing of Arroyo Creek
HST020
Location: 36.519966, -118.531631
L @ Y; Big Arroyo Junction campsites and bear locker; sustained ridgeline climb through lodgepoles and towering mountain hemlocks
HST021
Location: 36.493416, -118.471970
R @ Y for more scenic, south High Sierra Trail section along the lip of the Chagoopa Plateau; left-hand trail follows a more direct route across the Chagoopa Plateau, rejoining the Moraine Lake Trail at Sky Parlor Meadow
HST022
Location: 36.481133, -118.465019
(pictures) Grand overlook of the Big Arroyo and Chagoopa Plateau, spot Moraine Lake perched below on the plateau's edge.
HST023
Location: 36.462757, -118.454552
Moraine Lake: bear locker and fire rings. About six different campsites to choose from
HST025
Location: 36.463917, -118.436081
R @ T
HST028
Location: 36.456299, -118.413300
L @ T to Kern Hot Springs through marshy forest of Jeffrey pine and incense-cedar
HST030
Location: 36.480068, -118.405220
Small campsite along Kern River with bear locker
HST032
Location: 36.577232, -118.413666
Large campsite at Junction Meadow. Bear locker and multiple fire rings
HST033
Location: 36.578617, -118.414116
R @ 3-way and ascend Wallace Creek to JMT and Mt. Whitney
HST034
Location: 36.592018, -118.416664
R @ T to Mt. Whitney up Wallace Creek; leave Jeffrey pine stands and cross a steep, rocky slope covered with manzanita and currant. The climb out of the Kern Trench offers impressive views of the canyon to the S and W to the Kaweah Peaks.
HST035
Location: 36.594284, -118.371231
R @ T toward Crabtree; cross creek
HST036
Location: 36.593800, -118.370796
Wallace Creek Campsite, bear locker
HST037
Location: 36.558998, -118.361870
L @ 3-way
HST038
Location: 36.564732, -118.350601
Take R to camp at Crabtree, or continue L toward Whitney Zone; pack out human waste in WAG chemical bags, provided in box at trail junction
HST039
Location: 36.564400, -118.348015
Bear locker near Ranger Station
HST040
Location: 36.567333, -118.331070
Timberline Lake, no camping or stock
HST041
Location: 36.571949, -118.312653
Guitar Lake: no fires. Bear can required by law. Watch for wily marmots. If camped over, head to Hitchcock Lakes, stocked with Golden Trout. Last water source before the summit, so top off bladders for the climb.
HST042
Location: 36.560585, -118.293137
Reach Trail Crest and drop packs for the final push to The Big Hill; pass Mt. Muir and "windows" that drop for thousands of feet and give big views E toward the Owens Valley; spot purple sky pilots that cling to the rocky soil and eek out an existence at 14,000 feet.
HST043
Location: 36.578602, -118.292030
Mount Whitney (14,505 ft): highest point in the Lower 48. See the Pacific Crest, Great Western Divide, and the Panamints and Death Valley across the Owens Valley. Sign the summit register and either head down to Whitney Portal or retrace route to Giant Forest
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