James S. Hutchinson

James Sather Hutchinson
James S. Hutchinson in 1894.
Born	1867 San Francisco, California
Died	1959
Occupation	attorney
Known for	Exploration and mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada

James Sather Hutchinson (1867–1959) was a lawyer in San Francisco, California, a mountaineer and an environmentalist. He was most noted for being an explorer of the Sierra Nevada.

Born in San Francisco, Hutchinson attended the University of California, Berkeley and then transferred to Harvard University where he received an A.B. degree in 1897. He attended the Hastings College of Law and received his LL.B. in 1899.

Along with Joseph N. LeConte and Duncan McDuffie, he pioneered a high mountain route in 1908 from Yosemite National Park to Kings Canyon, roughly along the route of the modern John Muir Trail. In 28 days, they completed a trip of 228 miles through the high mountains, including several previously unexplored sections. In 1920, he led an expedition from the Giant Forest to the Roaring River country, including the first trip over Colby Pass.

His first ascents included Mount Sill and North Palisade in 1903, Mount Humphreys in 1904, Mount Mills and Mount Abbot in 1908 and Black Kaweah in 1920. Of remote Black Kaweah on the Great Western Divide which he climbed at age 52, Stephenson wrote, "The way those ragged rocks were broken, splintered, massed and piled together, helter-skelter, would have rejoiced the heart of a cubist artist. Again and again, I was reminded of The Nude Descending the Stairs."