Photo: Bill Flower Peaks of Red and Silver, John Muir Wilderness, California Highlights:
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Trip Number: 09112A Price: $645 Deposit: $100 Capacity: 10 Rating: M Leader:
The Trip  Photo: Bill Flower Early visitors to the Sierra Nevada were dazzled by a striking sawtooth range of 12,000-foot peaks that shined like silver in the brilliant sunlight. Now it's your turn! Prepare for awe-inspiring views of what is now known as the Silver Divide on this seven-day trek in the Sierra high country south of Mammoth Lakes. The purples, crimsons, tans, and browns of neighboring metamorphic peaks combine to make this some of the most colorful country in all of the Sierra Nevada. We'll start high at 9,100 feet and cross the spine of the Sierra on our very first day. We'll journey a day on the Sierra High Route and two days on a beautiful segment of the John Muir Trail, take two layover days to relax or explore, and cross the crest of the Sierra a second time – this time approaching 12,000 feet – before descending alongside McGee Creek to our exit trailhead. We'll camp every night near pristine alpine lakes, all above 10,000 feet. Altogether, we'll hike about 30 miles. Join us if you seek the adventure and wonder of hiking a high, mostly-on-trail route through some truly spectacular scenery.
 Photo: Bill Flower It is highly recommend that you come out at least a day early to acclimate to the altitude. Our hiking schedule is not rigid – how far we get each day and where we camp depends on how we feel, the weather, and other factors outside of our control. The itinerary described here should be taken as a general plan, and the actual camps and schedule may well depart from this plan. Day 1: Our trip officially starts at 5 p.m. on July 19, when we will meet at a campground near Mammoth Lakes, California. We will prepare and serve a group dinner, shuttle a few cars about 20 miles to our exit trailhead, and get ready for the start of our hike. Day 2: We will share a group breakfast and get an early start on our trek, so our major climbing that day is done in the cool of the morning. The first hiking day we plan to hike about 5½ miles and climb nearly 2,100 feet to our camp near Deer Lakes. After a couple hours of climbing, we will cross the crest of the Sierra Nevada, where we are greeted with an expansive view from the Ritter Range and the Minarets all the way South to the Silver Divide. The rest of the day follows the Sierra High Route traversing along the ridge with awesome views until we drop 400 feet into Deer Lakes. We will need to carry extra water, as most of the hike is dry. We will have our heaviest packs of the trip and we won't be fully acclimated to the altitude, so we will take it slow. Day 3: We continue on the Sierra High Route over a low cross-country saddle to Duck Pass. We then descend a short distance to the John Muir Trail and hike southward past Purple Lake to beautiful Virginia Lake, where we plan to make camp. Day 4: Our intent is to take our first layover day near Virginia Lake, though plans may change depending on how we're doing and the interests of the group. Participants may choose to relax around the lake, or hike to a series of remote lakes nestled against the Sierra Crest. Day 5: We will continue on the John Muir Trail 5.5 miles to Tully Hole, where we will depart the Muir Trail and join the McGee Pass Trail. We intend to camp nearby at one of several beautiful alpine lakes located off the trail – perhaps Izaak Walton, Cotton, or Hortense. Day 6: We plan to take our second layover day to explore these lakes or perhaps to scramble up to spectacular Red and White Lake. Ambitious hikers may choose to climb one of two nearby cross-country passes – Grinell or Shout-of-Relief – or climb 13,163-foot Red Slate Mountain. The views are truly awesome! Day 7: We will return to the McGee Pass Trail and climb to McGee Pass, the highest point on our trek. We then descend to Big McGee Lake and our final camp. If we make good time over the 4.5 miles, determined hikers may climb cross-country Hopkins Pass before dinner. Day 8: We descend the peaceful valley leading to the McGee Creek trailhead. Getting There Our hike starts at the Crystal Crag trailhead (elevation 9,200 feet) and finishes at the McGee Creek trailhead (elevation 7,900 feet), both near the town of Mammoth Lakes on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada. Mammoth Lakes is about 160 miles from Reno, 250 miles from San Francisco, and 310 miles from either Las Vegas or Los Angeles. Trip members arriving from other parts of the country should explore the option of flying to one of these major cities and sharing a rental car or arranging a ride. We will send a trip roster to all participants well before the trip in order to help facilitate ride sharing. Specific driving directions will also be sent before departure. You will probably need to arrive in the Sierra a day early to adjust to the altitude. Mammoth Lakes is a great area to acclimate and day hike.
We will plan a diverse and appealing menu to accommodate both vegetarians and non-vegetarians. Responsibility for cooking and cleanup will be shared among the trip members. Our first meal will be a campground dinner on the evening of day one.
 Photo: Bill Flower The overall trip is rated M (moderate), primarily because this trip has two scheduled layover days. Do not be deceived by the word “moderate” – high-altitude backpacking is physically demanding; our moving days are almost all M/S (moderate/strenuous), the next rating higher. A disciplined training and conditioning program will be necessary to achieve the required very good level of fitness. Our days will be relatively short in terms of distance covered, about five to eight miles. However, we will gain significant elevation on all days but one, and we will be at high altitude, which will add to the difficulty of the hike. Our greatest elevation gain will be the first day, when we will ascend nearly 2,100 feet. Elevation gains on all other hiking days but one will be greater than 1,000 feet. The sole exception is the final day, when we will descend 2,600 feet in about six and a half miles. Altogether, we will hike a total of about 30 miles, and the total elevation gain summed over five planned moving days will be about 6000 feet. Except for one brief segment on day 3 or day 4, we will be above 10,000 feet from the morning of the first day until the morning of the final day. The high elevation of the hike also adds to the difficulty. In years with high snowfall, late-melting snow on the high passes may also make hiking more difficult. Participation in this outing requires that you be experienced backpackers, in shape, and have reasonable expectations for the trip. Enjoying the back-country travel is just as important as our destinations, so you owe it to yourself and the other participants to be in very good physical condition. You will be hiking with others who have taken their training very seriously and expect you to have done the same. Regular aerobic exercise at least a half an hour three or four times a week (such as a Stairmaster or treadmill, running, swimming, biking, hiking) during the 3-4 months before the trip is essential. The best physical preparation for a backpack trip is doing serious day hikes with 40 lbs of weight in your pack. Make sure your hiking boots are well broken-in. Include in your conditioning plan an occasional long walk while carrying weight on unstable terrain. You need leg strength as well as endurance. A good measure is to be able to lift yourself and your pack the equivalent of two stairs at a time. Don't procrastinate. Your enjoyment of this trip depends on your level of preparation! Regardless of the rating, every backpacking trip at high elevation is strenuous. Do not expect to fly or drive in from a low elevation and be able to backpack the next day at 10,000 feet, even if you are in great aerobic shape. You will need to come out a day or two early to acclimate to the altitude. Our objectives are to enjoy some spectacular country and to complete the trip safely as a group.
A list of suggested personal equipment will be sent to all participants. (If you would like the list before signing up, let the leader know and he will send you a copy.) Each person should keep the weight of personal gear to less than 25 pounds so that, with the addition of approximately 15 to 20 pounds of commissary equipment and food, total pack weight will be less than 40 to 45 pounds at the start. The leader will have a scale at the trailhead. We will provide all food and cooking equipment, although you must bring your own eating utensils. Some of the group equipment is relatively bulky, particularly pot sets and bear canisters. Your pack should be sufficiently large to carry an item about the size of a full paper grocery bag (alternatively, four or five one-gallon milk jugs) in addition to your personal gear. A couple of additional remarks on shelter and rain gear – although Sierra summers are generally relatively dry, you still must be prepared for rain. For shelter, tents are strongly encouraged, and lightweight waterproof tarps or bivy sacks are the required minimum. Sharing of tents is encouraged, both to reduce pack weight and to reduce environmental impact. Where possible, we will help participants contact other trip members who want to share shelters. For clothing, you should bring a waterproof jacket and rainpants rather than a poncho. The High Sierra is renowned for its excellent summer weather. Extended storms, however, can occur at any time of the year. Expect warm days (65-75 degrees) and cold nights (30-40 degrees). The normal Sierra Nevada climate is very dry, with low humidity, but late-afternoon thunderstorms often occur. Be prepared for rain and the possibility of freezing weather. Being at or above treeline most of the time, we won't find much shade when the sun is shining. Sunscreen, lotion, hats, and sunglasses are required. Boots should be of medium weight and well broken-in. Trekking poles are very useful.
Please plan on bringing your own map and compass. Not only is this a matter of safety, but also you will have a better appreciation of where we are going and where we have been. Suitable maps include the map of the John Muir Wilderness put out by the US Forest Service or the combination of the Mono Divide High Country and the Mammoth High Country maps published by Tom Harrison Maps (www.tomharrisonmaps.com). If you prefer 7.5-minute maps, four of the standard USGS 7.5-minute quadrangles are required to cover the entire route: Bloody Mountain, Graveyard Peak, Mt. Abbot, and Convict Lake. In this case you may find it easier to print your own map either using personal computer software such as Topo! or by using map-printing facilities that can be found at outdoor stores such as, for example, REI. Secor, R.J., The High Sierra: Peaks, Passes, and Trails (published by The Mountaineers), is an excellent general reference to climbing routes, cross-country routes, and trails in the Sierra Nevada. Conservation Sierra Club Outings has the motto, "Safe, Happy, Inspired," as an indicator of a perfect trip. The first two are obvious and the third point is the original reason that Sierra Club started an outings program over a hundred years ago. It is hoped that if you can just get people out into the wilderness to see its beauty, then it will be easy for them to become inspired to act toward the preservation of these special places. On our trip, after dinner is a good time to gather together to hear the history of Sierra Club and to discuss the challenges that face environmentalists today. Even after a place is set aside, the demands of an ever increasing number of users threaten to damage the very places we intended to protect. Therefore, it becomes very important that all visitors practice the principles of Leave No Trace, which we will discuss and implement. The Wilderness Act of 1964 defines “wilderness” as “an area where the earth and its community are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor.” This important act first established the National Wilderness Preservation System, originally protecting nine million acres of national forest lands. Today some 106 million acres are encompassed by the system, including the John Muir Wilderness, where we will be “visitors” for most of our nine-day trip. "If future generations are to remember us with gratitude rather than contempt, we must leave them something more than the miracles of technology. We must leave them a glimpse of the world as it was in the beginning, not just after we got through with it." --President Lyndon B. Johnson, on the signing of the Wilderness Act of 1964 This outing is an excellent opportunity to consider the impact our own visits have on the wilderness and to compare this with the ideal that we would like to achieve.
See the How to Apply for an Outing section for more details on registering for this trip and details about our Reservation and Cancellation Policy. The payment of a deposit does not confirm you as a member on the trip. Participants must be approved by the trip leader. After signing up for this trip, you will be sent a confirmation packet containing approval materials (Participant Approval Questionnaire, Medical Form, Liability Release Form). Each applicant (including those on the waitlist) must fill out these forms and promptly mail them to the trip leader. The leader will review the approval materials and notify you of your acceptance in a timely manner.
Leader:
Assistant Leader: General Notes About Sierra Club Trips
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Paul Scudder is a college professor and Sierra Club life-time member. He lives in Florida but is most at home in California's Sierra Nevada. He fell in love with backpacking as a boy at Philmont Scout Ranch in northern New Mexico and has spent many summers since hiking in the Sierra, leading trips for friends and participating on Sierra Club national outings. He has also backpacked in Alaska, the Pacific Northwest, the Rockies, the Appalachians, and the Grand Canyon. His interests include photography, orienteering, minimum-impact backpacking, kayaking, and helping others discover, as John Muir did, that "going to the mountains is going home."
Shlomo Waser has been backpacking in the Sierras for over 30 years. He loves nature and wilderness and is active in other outdoor activities such as mountain climbing, trekking, trail running and back country skiing. He is also a docent in the Sempervirens Fund which protects the Redwood Trees. He loves to share his enthusiasm for the mountains and their beauty with other participants and enjoys meeting new people on these backpacking trips.
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