High Sierra Trail

The High Sierra Trail is a hiking trail in Sequoia National Park, California. The trail crosses the Sierra Nevada from west to east. According to the Yosemite Decimal System, the HST is a Class 1/Class 2 trail, which means simple scrambling, with the possibility of occasional use of the hands for balance.From the plateau of the Giant Forest at Crescent Meadow the trail travels high on the northern wall of the canyon of the Middle Fork of the Kaweah River to Bearpaw Meadow. This first 11.4mi of the trail is a popular though strenuous two-day round trip hike. The Bearpaw Meadow High Sierra Camp located here dates back to 1934.Leaving the meadow, the trail climbs through the Hamilton Lakes Basin to Kaweah Gap which, at, is one of the lowest passes over the Great Western Divide within the park. From this pass, the route descends into Big Arroyo and then climbs to the Chagoopa Plateau, only to drop again to 6700ft in the Kern River Canyon. After following along the Kern River, it turns east and climbs parallel to Wallace Creek to the junction with the John Muir Trail and Pacific Crest Trail 48.9mi from Crescent Meadow. This is the end of the High Sierra Trail. Hikers may continue on the John Muir Trail 12.6mi to the summit of Mount Whitney.