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The original was posted on /r/Ultralight by /u/Open_Novel_2575 on 2024-11-01 03:27:34+00:00.
This past August I hiked Roper’s Sierra High Route. I decided to hike southbound from Twin Lakes to Roads End in Kings Canyon. I made a half hearted attempt to recruit a partner but my dates weren’t very flexible. Also, I was a “nonconformist” as Roper puts it and decided to hike southbound. Most of my adventures in the Sierra have been solo endeavors, so I guess it was fitting to hike the SHR alone. While I do enjoy company in the backcountry, I seldom hike with partners or groups. I’ve learned to really enjoy solo hiking because I can hike at whatever pace I feel like on any particular day. Some of the days on the route I pushed the pace, but other days I just meandered around finding nice places for afternoon naps or cool places to take pictures. Some areas were just too beautiful to blow past. That’s the beauty of solo hiking..it’s super easy to come to a consensus on how to spend each day or how far I wanna walk and at what pace. I don’t journal on my hikes, so it makes it hard to put together a quality trip report... So I apologize that this post lacks details and daily observations. Regardless, it was a wonderful experience that I would highly recommend to anyone that feels that magical magnetic pull of the High Sierra within themselves. Without a doubt this was the coolest outdoor experience I’ve ever had (times ten)! I did a ton of star gazing at nights, as the meteor showers were totally awesome while I was out there. I spent a good amount of time on every pass just trying to take everything in. I mostly used my 11”x17” maps I had printed along with a compass for navigation vs. being heavily dependent on Gaia or other map apps. It was super fun to practice my navigation skills (or lack thereof) lol. I made my share of navigational errors and had a couple slips, trips, bumps and bruises, but it wasn’t a big deal because I built in extra time for that very reason. Plus the mental and physical challenge was what made the trip so memorable. I can’t really say what parts of the route I liked the best because most everything I hiked was totally new to me and uniquely spectacular. Every step of the hike was pretty darn cool. I will probably add more to this trip report at some point. I’ve attached a link to a pretty basic slideshow I put together. Keep in mind I’ve never tried to edit a slideshow before, but I decided to take a stab at putting something together that captured some of the cool stuff I experienced. My photos could never fully capture the magical vibes of the High Sierra but here’s what I came up with: