Tom Stienstra explores how trail blazers crossed the 70-mile Sierra Nevadas from east to west from the perspective of early pioneers and explorers. Share the long trek that starts from the flank of Mount Whitney at 14,497 feet—the highest point in the lower 48. Find the path that goes over the Sierra Crest, down 5,000 feet into Kern Canyon, up to a notch in the Great Western Divide to Sequoia National Park at the foot of the western Sierra. Walk in the footsteps of trailblazers, explorers and pioneers across a pristine landscape that looks much like it did 5,000 years ago. Marvel at the beauty, the challenges and courage of the people who settled the land and the explorers who joined them.