EISPIRATEN

RJ Soria (_kick_rocks_) is attempting the Sierra High Route. Anyone heard of it? Anyone tried it? I had never heard of it, but it does sound like one of the hardest challenges around. Follow his progress on Facebook.

On June 27th, I will begin my second and final attempt at completing the Sierra High Route (at least in one single push).

The Sierra High Route is not to be confused with the more widely known High Sierra Trail. While the High Sierra Trail is a great accomplishment for any outdoor enthusiast, the Sierra High Route is one of the most difficult known backpacking routes in all of North America. The biggest difference is in the name. One is a cross country route and one is a trail.

The version of the Sierra High Route I am attempting crosses 42 high passes and hundreds of alpine lakes, creeks, and tarns. The route includes 270 miles and 70,000 feet of vertical gain. It closely follows the Sierra Crest from Horseshoe Meadow (Inyo National Forest) to Twin Lakes (Toiyabe National Forest)...

I've heard of it! A few years ago we biked the short version of the Tour de Los Padres (140 hard miles instead of 280 hard miles). Riders for both routes started together, and the routes finished in the same place also: the longer route went off in the middle to do lots of stuff, before rejoining later. We weren't setting any speed records, but doing OK, we thought. Well, towards the end somebody riding the longer route passed us. We kinda wanted to chat with him, but he was on a mission, and just sped off ahead. I found out later that this person (Brian Lucido) has won that year's Tour Divide race, which made me feel OK about this whole thing. A year or two before that, he hiked the Sierra High Route, finishing in a not-record-breaking, but still ludicrously-fast time. Detailed trip report:

https://www.brianlucido.com/ropers-sierra-high-route/

I haven't heard of anybody hiking it other than Brian. Good luck to RJ!

Leor had the FKT through 2020. He was the fastest hiker/climber I have ever seen in his heyday.

https://pantilat.wordpress.com/2016/08/ ... igh-route/

I've heard of it. It's really difficult - the need to carry a lot of food plus do extreme mileage and elevation on sketchy trails means a real adventure.