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Having Middle Palisade and Mt. Russell on our minds we looked for a backpacking route to link them up. While we were at it we threw in the mountaineers route of Mt. Whitney and exiting through Whitney Portal. This made hitchhiking logistics a little easier.
After completing the Sierra High Route in the previous year we figured we give parts of the Southern Sierra High Route (by Alan Dixon and Don Wilson) a shot as it runs from near Middle Palisade right by Mt. Russell.
The trip turned out to be a major success. We had scheduled in enough time to acclimatize before climbing Middle Palisade but we charged up there already on our first full day. That meant we finished the trip in 8 days although we had planned for 10.
In terms of thru hiking, Southfork Pass was definitely the crux and we both agreed that we do not need to do that one again. Check out the Facts Page for more info. Middle Palisade and Mt. Russell both have a good amount of class 3 climbing. The actual climbing on Middle Palisade was more difficult and sustained while Mt. Russell’s exposure added a bit of a challenge of a different kind.
The part of the Southern Sierra High Route (SoSHR) we did was fun but I wasn’t as impressed by it as I was from Steve Roper’s actual Sierra High Route (SHR). The part of the SoSHR that we did utilizes a lot of well worn trail sections except for the variation over Mt. Baxter (which we really enjoyed). We also liked the route between Wallace Lake and how it connects the Mt. Whitney Trail with the Miter Basin (we hiked the last part on a different trip).
On a personal note; If you are thinking about combining the SHR with the SoSHR then I wouldn’t cut the SHR short and miss the excellent sections through Lake Basin and along the Cirque Crest for the sake of switching over to the SoSHR. The SoSHR pretty much takes you along the JMT until and past Vidette Meadows. If you really want to combine them, then I would rather connect the two routes by leaving the SoSHR at Lower Vidette Meadow and hike through Bubbs Creek until Road’s End where you get to the starting point of the SHR.
- Middle Pal. to Mt. Whitney – Keypoints : Get the facts and data for this trip
