Elizabeth Wenk - Sierra South

Going High to Get High

Note for the 9th Edition

This is the first edition of Sierra South that Wilderness Presss founder, Tom Winnett, will not see go to press. We hope he would be pleased with the latest edition. The authors have tried to merge in modern guidebook expectations, including GPS coordinates, while keeping true to Toms pledge to make this a series that accurately portrayed the trail, campsites, landscape, and natural history, providing readers with enticing trips. About 15 years ago Tom wrote:

By Thomas Winnett (19222011), Wilderness Press Founder

As I write this, it is nearly 40 years since we at Wilderness Press held a celebration to promote the first edition of Sierra North and the upcoming Sierra South, one-of-a-kind books Karl Schwenke and I wrote to recommend 100 of the best backpacking trips into the northern Sierra and 100 into the southern Sierra.

It was the summer of 1967, and we celebrated in the backcountry with a high-altitude cocktail party. We invited everyone we thought would help get the word out about the book: people from the Sierra Club, outdoor writers, and friends. We held the celebration in August, in Dusy Basin, in the eastern Sierra, 8 miles from the nearest car. The hike went over a 12,000-foot pass, so we were delighted when 15 people showed up. It was a real party. We used snow to make our martinis, ate hors doeuvres, and spent the night. In a mention of the event, San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen wondered, How high can you get to get high?

It was a spectacular occasion, not only because we were launching the book but also because we were starting a new company, Wilderness Press. Karl and I had been complaining about how hard it was to get accurate information about the out-of-doors. At the time, there were only one or two guidebooks to the Sierraour favorite placeso we decided to write our own. We planned to create prepackaged trips that specified which trails to take and where to stop each night.