Sierra High Route

Eight days off-trail through the range of light, from Kings Canyon north toward Tuolumne. No maintained trail for most of it — just passes, benches, and cross-country routefinding above 10,000 feet.

Day three started cold. Frost on the bivy, and the first hour of climbing was mostly to get blood back into my hands. The route contours a shoulder of talus before dropping into a basin we’d scouted the night before from across the valley.

The pass itself is unnamed on the topo — just a low point between two peaks that happens to go. Class 2 on the north side, a little exposed near the top, then a long scree descent that ate the rest of the morning.

Camp that night was above 10,500 feet, tucked behind a moraine out of the wind. Worth the extra mile to get there before dark.