There is no lack of awesome hiking and backpacking trips you can do! This is especially true when you live in California! (Colorado is also good!)
Exceptionally great places to go backpacking in California:
- Desolation Wilderness — Great for casual, short backpacking trips! Aloha lake is gorgeous. You will need to get permits for overnight trips, which will require planning within the quota system
- Yosemite National Park — I strongly encourage getting out of the Valley. trips out of Tuolumne looping back into the valley can be rewarding. Otherwise near Mariposa Grove there are a number of under-used phenomenal hikes. Alder Creek Falls is strongly recommended. (Bear can required)
- Eastern Sierra — out of Mammoth is fantastic. If you’re down for longer trips, starting near Red’s Meadow and heading south into SEKI is strongly encouraged! Once over Glen’s Pass, it’s a quick hike over Kearsarge Pass, where you can hitchhike back from Bishop to Mammoth. (Bear can recommended, likely required depending on camping locations)
- Lassen National Park — Show up, it’s low key. The park is fairly small, so some short long-weekend trips are encouraged (Bear can required)
Below is a small collection of trips that I’ve found to be memorable, and that I’ve conveniently written some things about. The vast majority of hiking and backpacking that I do has not been documented. Sorry!
3 days of bushwhacking across lost trails during an Atmospheric River
tl;dr: The wettest I’ve ever been. I didn’t avoid the poison oak (scratching as I write this), and I need […]
Trinity High Route: Type 2 Fun (At Best)
Modified Trinity Alps High Route, or why CCF can’t replace a Neoair Xlite
Santa Lucia Wilderness
Using the Backpacking Trip Generator to great effect. Reasonable hiking!