The gear required for a hike of the Sierra High Route (SHR) needs to strike a balance of functional and lightweight. Typically, I am happy to tell people that "if you're happy carrying it, then carry it", but since the SHR calls for a lot of scrambling up loose talus and/or boulder fields, it's nice
The Sierra High Route (+ the Southern SHR)
I've spent a lot of time in California's Sierra Nevada Mountains - hiking through them twice on the Pacific Crest Trail (in both snow-free and snow-covered conditions) and making countless other (shorter) trips in via both the eastern and western slopes. The 400 mi / 640 km long range is home to