The Sierra High Route

STORY TIME.

This is one of my favorite trips I’ve taken to date and it’s one I constantly look back on for inspiration. Hopefully, you enjoy this story.

DAY 1.

Our group of 5 left Tuolumne Meadows and headed towards the Great Sierra Mine. I hadn’t been backpacking in almost ten years. My friend’s younger brother, Daniel, joined. His girlfriend, Giselle, who was new to backpacking came along. Then there was him and his dad who peak bag almost every weekend and have been mountaineering for years, so this trip was bound to be interesting. We had our mandatory stops like bathroom breaks, refilling water, and lunch. Getting adjusted to the altitude was tough and carrying a 40lb pack doesn't help considering we were only going to increase in elevation throughout the day. Nothing too crazy happened though and we finished off day 1 with about 10 miles in the bag, tired legs, and enjoyed the sunset.

DAY 2.

You ever waking up thinking to yourself "Uggghhhhh"? I try and make it point to wake up for sunrise every morning whenever I'm somewhere new because I never know when I'll be back. This morning was particularly rough, I hadn't got much sleep that night and sore legs didn't make getting up any easier, but we reluctantly muscled through and watched the sunrise. Eventually we headed out and made it to the peak we wanted to climb while we in the area, Mt. Conness. I should have prefaced this by saying that to most extreme backpackers, this trip isn't too insane, but considering the eclectic crew we had, it was almost comical. Anyway we made it up the summit and back in time to make dinner and find a place to sleep. Meanwhile I'm thinking to myself that I glad to be alive because what we just did was insane!

DAY 3.

Legs didn't feel any better and now my back was starting to hurt from carrying a pack that didn't fit right. Also I should have mentioned that this whole time we're constantly fighting mosquitoes. My friend Giselle had got bitten on the eye and it completely closed. I couldn't help but laugh at her, but what was she going to do she can barely see. We left camp and headed to our next destination which was Shepherd lake. I'll keep this part short because I could go on and on about the trek we had to take to get there, it was ridiculous. There were several times I thought to myself “if I fall or slip, I’m for sure dead.” All I can say is that I learned a lot about myself and I would happily do it again!! Arriving at Shepherd lake we got to experience the best sunset I've seen to date. There was no one around and there was this sort of overwhelming sense of peace that came over.

DAY 4.

Everyone slept SUPER good that night, so good that I didn't realize my face was wet from the rain that happened. I thought I was just sweating, but then everyone else had water on there face so I was in the clear. Giselle's eye was still swollen so I had a great laugh to start the morning. We headed to our camping spot and on the way there we embraced about a million mosquitoes, intense humidity, and an afternoon thunderstorm. Again I'll keep this part short because I could go on and on, but let's just say I was purposefully ducking lower than everyone in my group because I was not about to be the one struck by lightning. We got through the final pass and looked for a place to sleep. At this point it's completely dark and all I want to do is eat. I've never experienced true exhaustion until this point and it was one of the scariest things I've ever had happen to me. My body couldn't warm itself up anymore because I had no energy left and I thought I was going to have a heart attack, so not a good way to end the day. I got food and water in me and my body started to settle.

DAY 5.

I wake up feeling relieved that I'm not dead and that the rest of the way it's all downhill. We took the morning really slow and with only 5 miles left we headed down the mountains. I don't have any photos from this day because all I could think about was getting to eat real food again and sleep in a proper bed. This was definitely one of the best trips of my life, not because it was a very unique place, but because I grew closer with my friends and had a kick-ass time in the mountains.

END

I hope you enjoyed this short story and please let me know if you want to hear more!

IG: @chrismeugniot