In August of 2025, for our final gear shakeout in preparation for our Sierra High Route (SHR) attempt, we were in search of a short loop for an overnighter that had a good amount of cross-country travel.

Michael ended up finding a Leor Pantilat loop out of McGee Creek that he had dubbed the “Red and White Loop.”

We had attempted a Leor loop back in 2018 in the Trinity Alps and had a pretty rude awakening to how rough the route was, and how quickly Leor had moved through the very burly terrain. On that route, we established that Leor was likely an underground badass similar to a Sam Skrocke (IYKYK). Sure enough, upon Googling him after our trip, that’s basically what we found out. I’d say he’s probably less “underground” now than he was in 2018.

Leor, of course, did this route in a day. And that is very possible, though it would be a long day out.

High Sierra trails are notoriously slow-going, and this route is nearly half cross-country in terms of mileage.

For us, the whole point was spending time carrying our packs fully loaded, getting off-trail to practice that specific movement while weighted down, and continuing to refine our gear list for the SHR.

Our big question mark was still whether we wanted to each sleep in a bug bivy OR both sleep in the Zpacks Duplex. Pluses and minuses to both. I’ve become convinced that packs and tents are like bikes. No single item checks every box all the time.

Because we wanted to do a final sleep-system test, doing this route as an overnighter made the most sense for us.

Some of our trip stats

Day 1

9 hours

14 miles / 6,000 ft

On-trail portion: ~7.25 miles & 2.5 hours

Off-trail portion: ~6.7 miles & 6.5 hours

We camped at Bighorn Lake for a decently long time—12.5 hours.

Day 2

12.5 hours

18 miles / 5,000 ft

Off-trail portion: 6 miles & 7.5 hours

Includes summiting Mt. Izaak Walton & Red Slate

On-trail portion: 12 miles & 5 hours

In terms of the route ~ some things of note:

• Depending on the time of year, crossing McGee Creek can be a thing. There are two spots to cross. The first is just a walk across. The second spot is slightly up the trail, and there is a log going across. I have done both at different times of the year, and for a trip like this, not getting your feet wet this early on would be nice.

• In the GPX file, you’ll notice that we attempted to summit Red & White Peak as well. The route was steep, Class 3, and we decided it would be best done at a different time without packs. I felt too burdened and not stable enough to try to make my way up the red slabs with 18 pounds on my back.

• Hopkins Pass, though rocky, was very straightforward.

• Heading up Grinnell Col was Class 2. Heading down was very, very, very steep, rocky, and sandy. When I select it on TrainingPeaks, I’m getting 41–60% grades.

• Making our way around the east side of Grinnell Lake was Class 2.

• Bighorn Pass was Class 1.

• Walton Col was Class 2, and summiting Mt. Izaak Walton from the west was Class 2.

• Rohn Pass was Class 2.

• Red Slate was Class 1, though steep and a little rocky/loose in a couple of spots.

Water: Ample water on route. It’s the High Sierra :)

Strava link: You can download the GPX file here.