High Trips
Encyclopedia
The High Trips were large wilderness excursions organized and led by the Sierra Club
beginning in 1901. Club secretary William Colby
initiated the High Trips, which usually traveled to the High Sierra, and led them from 1901 to 1929. Colby wrote, "It was from John Muir
, President of the Club, that I received the warmest encouragement. He was highly enthusiastic, and told me that he had long been trying to get the Club to undertake just such outings." Edward T. Parsons, a former member of The Mazamas
, an Oregon mountaineering club, was also involved with the early logistics, as that club had conducted similar trips. Early outings lasted four full weeks, but eventually the trips were separated into two segments of two weeks each so that those with less time to spare could participate.
Francis Farquhar wrote that the purpose of the High Trips was far more than to provide an enjoyable vacation to the participants, but also to "lead them to know and appreciate the beauty and inspiration of the mountains, and to educate them to become defenders of the wilderness."
The first High Trip in July, 1901 attracted 96 club members to Yosemite National Park
. On the eve of the start of the trip, club co-founder and University of California, Berkeley
geology professor Joseph LeConte
died of a sudden heart attack in Yosemite Valley
at age 78. Other than this sad event, the trip was a success, and the Sierra Club then began a successful fundraising drive to build LeConte Memorial Lodge
in Yosemite Valley in his honor. The High Trip the next and subsequent years doubled in size.
The high trips were complex affairs, with gear for approximately 200 participants packed in by mules, with a staff of up to 50 and elaborate food prepared by professional cooks. It served to establish rituals and folklore that bound the members of the club together. Participants wore bandannas around their necks, used the distinctive metal Sierra Club cup, and sang the same campfire songs year after year. When the Sierra Club was lobbying for the establishment of Kings Canyon National Park
, the High Trips visited that area many times, so that more effective lobbyists for the park could become familiar with its remote beauty.
Atthough most of the High Trips were in the Sierra Nevada, occasionally trips were scheduled to other mountain ranges of western North America, including Mount Rainier
in 1905, Glacier National Park, Yellowstone National Park
, and the Canadian Rockies
in 1928.
The July 1928 trip to the Canadian Rockies was a joint venture with The Mazamas of Oregon, and The Mountaineers of the state of Washington. A train was chartered from Oakland
to Jasper Park Lodge
. During this trip, participants climbed many peaks, including Redoubt Mountain
, Mount Robson
, Mount Edith Cavell
, Mount Geikie, Mount Bastion, Mount Barbican and Drawbridge Mountain. Norman Clyde
served as a mountaineering guide, and Ansel Adams
was the official photographer (on later trips, he would also serve as assistant manager and director of evening entertainment). Adams produced photo portfolios documenting the High Trips of 1928, 1929, 1930 and 1932 (though he did not participate personally in the 1929 High Trip to Yellowstone). These portfolios he sold at cost to High Trip participants.
Mountaineering was a major element of the High Trips from the very beginning, although non-climbers, dubbed "meadoweers," were also welcome. Francis Farquhar wrote that "Greatest of all mountaineers who have participated in Sierra Club outings is Norman Clyde," who led many High Trip climbs from the 1920s to 1941.
David Brower managed the High Trips from 1947 to 1954, and wrote an article for National Geographic in 1954 that brought great publicity to the trips.
Gradually, the large annual High Trip was supplemented by smaller knapsacking and burro trips. Scaled down High Trips continued into the early 1970s.
Eventually, the club concluded that High Trips of over 200 participants had too great an environmental impact on fragile wilderness areas, and the High Trips evolved into the current outings program, consisting of a much larger number of much smaller trips. The Sierra Club now conducts approximately 50 foreign trips each year, as well as several hundred trips throughout the United States through its National Outings program. Local chapers organize thousands of similar trips each year.
Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is the oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States. It was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by the conservationist and preservationist John Muir, who became its first president...
beginning in 1901. Club secretary William Colby
William Edward Colby
right|225pxWilliam Edward Colby was an American lawyer, conservationist, and first Secretary of the Sierra Club.-Early life and education:...
initiated the High Trips, which usually traveled to the High Sierra, and led them from 1901 to 1929. Colby wrote, "It was from John Muir
John Muir
John Muir was a Scottish-born American naturalist, author, and early advocate of preservation of wilderness in the United States. His letters, essays, and books telling of his adventures in nature, especially in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, have been read by millions...
, President of the Club, that I received the warmest encouragement. He was highly enthusiastic, and told me that he had long been trying to get the Club to undertake just such outings." Edward T. Parsons, a former member of The Mazamas
The Mazamas
The Mazamas is a mountaineering club based in Portland, Oregon, United States, founded in 1894.-Name:The name Mazamas means mountain goat, from Nahuatl mazatl, deer. for etymology...
, an Oregon mountaineering club, was also involved with the early logistics, as that club had conducted similar trips. Early outings lasted four full weeks, but eventually the trips were separated into two segments of two weeks each so that those with less time to spare could participate.
Francis Farquhar wrote that the purpose of the High Trips was far more than to provide an enjoyable vacation to the participants, but also to "lead them to know and appreciate the beauty and inspiration of the mountains, and to educate them to become defenders of the wilderness."
The first High Trip in July, 1901 attracted 96 club members to Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park is a United States National Park spanning eastern portions of Tuolumne, Mariposa and Madera counties in east central California, United States. The park covers an area of and reaches across the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain chain...
. On the eve of the start of the trip, club co-founder and University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
geology professor Joseph LeConte
Joseph LeConte
Joseph Le Conte was an American geologist and professor at the University of California, Berkeley.-Biography:...
died of a sudden heart attack in Yosemite Valley
Yosemite Valley
Yosemite Valley is a glacial valley in Yosemite National Park in the western Sierra Nevada mountains of California, carved out by the Merced River. The valley is about long and up to a mile deep, surrounded by high granite summits such as Half Dome and El Capitan, and densely forested with pines...
at age 78. Other than this sad event, the trip was a success, and the Sierra Club then began a successful fundraising drive to build LeConte Memorial Lodge
LeConte Memorial Lodge
The LeConte Memorial Lodge is a structure in Yosemite National Park in California, United States. LeConte is spelled variously as Le Conte or as Leconte. The lodge was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987.-History:...
in Yosemite Valley in his honor. The High Trip the next and subsequent years doubled in size.
The high trips were complex affairs, with gear for approximately 200 participants packed in by mules, with a staff of up to 50 and elaborate food prepared by professional cooks. It served to establish rituals and folklore that bound the members of the club together. Participants wore bandannas around their necks, used the distinctive metal Sierra Club cup, and sang the same campfire songs year after year. When the Sierra Club was lobbying for the establishment of Kings Canyon National Park
Kings Canyon National Park
Kings Canyon National Park is a National Park in the southern Sierra Nevada, east of Fresno, California. The park was established in 1940 and covers...
, the High Trips visited that area many times, so that more effective lobbyists for the park could become familiar with its remote beauty.
Atthough most of the High Trips were in the Sierra Nevada, occasionally trips were scheduled to other mountain ranges of western North America, including Mount Rainier
Mount Rainier
Mount Rainier is a massive stratovolcano located southeast of Seattle in the state of Washington, United States. It is the most topographically prominent mountain in the contiguous United States and the Cascade Volcanic Arc, with a summit elevation of . Mt. Rainier is considered one of the most...
in 1905, Glacier National Park, Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park, established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872, is a national park located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, although it also extends into Montana and Idaho...
, and the Canadian Rockies
Canadian Rockies
The Canadian Rockies comprise the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains range. They are the eastern part of the Canadian Cordillera, extending from the Interior Plains of Alberta to the Rocky Mountain Trench of British Columbia. The southern end borders Idaho and Montana of the USA...
in 1928.
The July 1928 trip to the Canadian Rockies was a joint venture with The Mazamas of Oregon, and The Mountaineers of the state of Washington. A train was chartered from Oakland
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
to Jasper Park Lodge
Jasper Park Lodge
The Jasper Park Lodge opened in 1922 in Jasper, Alberta, Canada to challenge the CPR's Banff Springs Hotel.The lodge had first been established in 1915 as a "Tent City," in association with the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, but by the 1920s the property was under the management of Canadian National...
. During this trip, participants climbed many peaks, including Redoubt Mountain
Redoubt Mountain
Redoubt Mountain is a mountain located in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. It forms the southern buttress of Boulder Pass....
, Mount Robson
Mount Robson
Mount Robson is the most prominent mountain in North America's Rocky Mountain range; it is also the highest point in the Canadian Rockies. The mountain is located entirely within Mount Robson Provincial Park of British Columbia, and is part of the Rainbow Range. It is commonly thought to be the...
, Mount Edith Cavell
Mount Edith Cavell
Mount Edith Cavell is a mountain located in the Athabasca River and Astoria River valleys of Jasper National Park, Canada. The mountain was named in 1916 for Edith Cavell, an English nurse and spy executed by the Germans during World War I for having helped allied soldiers escape from occupied...
, Mount Geikie, Mount Bastion, Mount Barbican and Drawbridge Mountain. Norman Clyde
Norman Clyde
Norman Clyde was a mountaineer, mountain guide, freelance writer, nature photographer, and self trained naturalist. He is well-known for achieving over 130 first ascents, many in California's Sierra Nevada and Montana's Glacier National Park...
served as a mountaineering guide, and Ansel Adams
Ansel Adams
Ansel Easton Adams was an American photographer and environmentalist, best known for his black-and-white photographs of the American West, especially in Yosemite National Park....
was the official photographer (on later trips, he would also serve as assistant manager and director of evening entertainment). Adams produced photo portfolios documenting the High Trips of 1928, 1929, 1930 and 1932 (though he did not participate personally in the 1929 High Trip to Yellowstone). These portfolios he sold at cost to High Trip participants.
Mountaineering was a major element of the High Trips from the very beginning, although non-climbers, dubbed "meadoweers," were also welcome. Francis Farquhar wrote that "Greatest of all mountaineers who have participated in Sierra Club outings is Norman Clyde," who led many High Trip climbs from the 1920s to 1941.
David Brower managed the High Trips from 1947 to 1954, and wrote an article for National Geographic in 1954 that brought great publicity to the trips.
Gradually, the large annual High Trip was supplemented by smaller knapsacking and burro trips. Scaled down High Trips continued into the early 1970s.
Eventually, the club concluded that High Trips of over 200 participants had too great an environmental impact on fragile wilderness areas, and the High Trips evolved into the current outings program, consisting of a much larger number of much smaller trips. The Sierra Club now conducts approximately 50 foreign trips each year, as well as several hundred trips throughout the United States through its National Outings program. Local chapers organize thousands of similar trips each year.
External links
- Sierra Club 1928 High Trip Photo Album - photos of the Canadian Rockies by Ansel Adams and Cedric Wright
- Dawson, Glen, 1931 High Trip: Mountain Climbing on the 1931 Outing, with extensive photos, republished from The Sierra Club Bulletin, San Francisco, 1932
- National Sierra Club Outings, Sierra Club, San Francisco