Trip Report: Yosemite High Route (August & September, 2019)

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Satchel Buddah
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Re: Trip Report: Yosemite High Route (August & September, 2019)

Post by Satchel Buddah »

thank you for sharing this gorgeous report Iain. Looks like a wondrous hike. Your photography is fabulous as well!
Peeking at your gear picture I see you are lugging a FF sony with a single lens? Could not recognize it what are you packing on these trips lens wise?
Last edited by Satchel Buddah on Sun Mar 29, 2020 9:48 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Trip Report: Yosemite High Route (August & September, 2019)

Post by oldranger »

Really enjoyed your trip as it rekindled memories of trips taken the past 60 years. Been to many places on your route and just off route and agree with Phil and Daisy that you missed some significantly fine places just minutes off your route. I was also impressed with your milage though even It is not my style, even when younger. For me the best strategy is to hike not more than 6 hours, make camp and either fish or explore my surroundings in a more intimate fashion. But that is my preference and good for you following your own whims.

I do find it disturbing that people are creating and naming routes. Seems to draw people to more remote areas. Thankfully a few of my favorites remain off such routes.
Mike

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Re: Trip Report: Yosemite High Route (August & September, 2019)

Post by notis »

Truly wonderful. Nice discussion here, too. Thanks, Iain!
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Re: Trip Report: Yosemite High Route (August & September, 2019)

Post by Harlen »

Wandering Daisy wrote:
I did Roper's High Route as one continuous (however not contiguous) route... Halfway through any thru-route, I bail out because I want to spend more time at each specific location. Ropers High Route is the only one I have ever completed, and then I flip-flopped for logistical reasons.
Hey Nancy, How did you do the Roper High Route? I wonder which sections you strung together, and did you do it all in one summer? What was the "flip-flop" you did? I have the southern section still to do, and am really looking forward to Lakes Basin. I did once think to do it all in one pack (plus starving at the end), but not like the high-speed commonloon. I'd like to know how you did it, and if there's a trip report for it. Thanks, Ian.
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Re: Trip Report: Yosemite High Route (August & September, 2019)

Post by Wandering Daisy »

I did the route 8/3/2010 to 9/5/2010. A few side-trips along the way added 2-3 days. My husband joined me from North Lake to Mammoth; we did it that direction because of limited water sources the first day out of Mammoth requires a long day and my husband was not acclimated. This was a "fishing" section where we only went about 4 mi/d (11 days). Then purely due to his work schedule, after we finished in Mammoth, we took my car to North Lake and then spent 2 days to drive to Roads End, where I then went back to North Lake. Roper does not consider resupply or transportation logistics; you have to just figure these out yourself. My "flip-flop" was not the most efficient, but it worked for us.

I never wanted to start from Roads End because of the brutal first day. But that after 3 weeks of being out, it was no problem; I made it all the way up to just under Goat Crest the first day, and camped in Lakes Basin 3rd night. I could never have done that if I had initially started at Roads End. By the way, I started at 4AM, slightly illegal, because I picked up my permit day before but delayed going in until the next. It was just too bloody hot to start up that hill at 3PM. Did it in 8 days, very short last day. Since I had already been over Snow Tongue Pass, instead I went over Alpine Col. The only part of the route I did not do was the short section between Golden Lake (Humphreys Basin) and the lake (forgot the name) below Mesa Lake.

I liked the north start because you can do the first part, Twin Lakes to Tuolumne, in 4 days with a light pack. But I did have to do a few minor "illegal" things to make it work. I wrote a trip report (in Sept 2010) but the photos are all gone because I quit using Photobucket. But you can still get the gist of the route. The section you are interested in is the third report. If I were just to do this section, I would go north-to-south to avoid that brutal first day.
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Harlen
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Re: Trip Report: Yosemite High Route (August & September, 2019)

Post by Harlen »

Thanks Nancy for the good advice. Must have been nice to do the whole route in the same summer.

I certainly don't want to derail discussion of your great route and trip report Iain. I just went back to it, to revisit some of my favorite parts. My thoughts the second time through are that you must have been stoked when you approached the area around Rock Island Lake and Pass. The images you created of that lake are really fine. I imagine that your camp by Rock Island Lake was one of the highlights to that point. Here's a caption of yours:
Rock Island Lake from the pass. The daylight was fading, so I figured this would be a good spot to stop for the night.
The photos before and after that caption are some of my favorites. Then there is the shot as you are descending from Matterhorn Pass looking toward Virginia and Stanton Pass, that I reckon is another framer! (BTW, we once went up Matterhorn Pass (from the south) with two small boys-- one in a backpack and one on a short rope.) Yours are the first photos I have seen from that nice bc pass- so thanks for the memories Iain.

Finally, though I could drone on with praise for longer, I want to congratulate you on the route you ended up making through from the Cathedral Range to Foerster Pass; isn't that area great Iain? What a long [great] trip its been. Thanks for the TR. Ian.
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Re: Trip Report: Yosemite High Route (August & September, 2019)

Post by Lumbergh21 »

Wow! I'm afraid I'll have to give up my planned loop through southern Yosemite this summer. I'm glad that you shared your bigger adventure from last summer/fall. Very impressive scenery and way more miles than my old legs could ever do, least of all now. I'm hoping to sample some of what you did in the future, but in small sips instead of one big gulp. Thanks!
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Re: Trip Report: Yosemite High Route (August & September, 2019)

Post by robertseeburger »

I am a little bit slow in replying to this. Truth is I read the trip report earlier and was fascinated by it and now finally spent an hour reading it in detail, topo maps in hand going back and forth. This is a great trip report! The photography ( especially the wildflowers with mountains in the background!) , and the brief narrative go together very well. I haven't done much in Yosemite in last several years and this absolutely makes me want to do some parts of your route. I hope to do a portion of the southern section this summer. Some specifics..

First time I have ever seen lake 9774 (just south of Stubblefield Canyon) on a TR. I know there are a couple of people on the forum that do what I do..just circle a lake on a map and say I gotta get there someday. I really liked seeing this lake.. and I gotta get there someday.

I went over what you call Matterhorn pass in the 70's and I remember coming down on the east side without any class 4. I actually remember angling to the south, and finding a ledge system. So I cant actually describe it as it was 4 decades ago, but I would have remembered class 4 with a backpack.
Perhaps it would be good if you wrote this one up for others and added to the passes section? Most of the ones with made up names dont need this, but perhaps this one should get a start.

Roosevelt lake used to have a really nice rainbow population. (sigh)

On the route itself, I would add a couple of comments. On the negative side, I dont think the idea of "Pate Valley" and "High Route" go together.
Pate Valley is a nice place but the route makes you scratch your head. And I have done the next day's route from Pate Valley to Wilmer Lake, and it is, well, boring. It makes me think of bear ridge on the JMT and why Roper wrote the Sierra High Route in the first place to escape low routes like this. I had a similar dialogue last year near Arrow Peak with a couple of hikers doing Skurka's Kings Canyon Route. They were going to follow Arrow Creek all the way down to its confluence below, which was a very low route and in my estimation not that scenic either after you drop from Arrow Creek headwaters. Not sure what the thinking is here. But 90% of the route is great. Neither one of the groups I met had even heard of Roper or Secor. So there seems to be a need for , internet only, mostly rugged, self guided or guided tours. The new "high routes" seem to be fulfilling that need.
Having said that, while you mention you didnt like the north portion as much, I was very intrigued by the Grace meadow to Tuolumne Meadow portion.
I have done some of this, but your TR makes me want to do all of this. It looks like a great route! The views are fantastic. To other's comments, exploring the canyons is great as well. And the southern portion looks like a great route as well. There are large parts I haven't done, and your report makes me want to do them.

Like others, I dont want to make any comments on the route detract from the overall trip report. It was a really fun read. I am going to look for your Wind River High Route report as well.
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