What are you favorite spots in the California Sierra Nevadas?
Janet from the U.K. will be spending 3 months in the Sierras this summer, and she was asking me about hiking groups to join while she’s here. While I was at it, I lobbed in my advice on where she should try to hike and backpack.
Some of my favorites places to hike and backpack in the Sierras…
If she’s really adventurous, perhaps she should try a thru-hike of the John Muir Trail for a couple of weeks of her trip.. 😉
That definitely looks like a really great spot to hike. You should check out some of the adventures New Jersey Campgrounds has to offer.
I enjoyed hiking in Onion Valley up to Kearsarge Pass, looking into the Kings Canyon NP backcountry. Stunning!
Another great tip!
There is no question that the JMT is the crown jewel of the sierra – the only problem is that everyone knows this, and the JMT at peak season (summer) can begin to look more like a freeway and less like a backcountry trail.
For this reason, I’d advise checking out the Desolation Wilderness – the views, while not quite as “epic” as the JMT, are still breathtaking and it has a few other advantages as well. The elevation gains and losses are not as great, compared to the JMT, Desolation is practically flat. Getting on/off trail when/if needed is much easier. Hitching back to the car is easy as it’s part of the local community’s culture. In short DW is my favorite place in the Sierra.
If she’s interested in hiking groups, she should definitely check out the Tahoe Rim Trail Association, they lead hikes every weekend during the summer on the TRT.
http://www.tahoerimtrail.org/index.php?option=com_jcalpro&Itemid=170&extmode=cat&cat_id=1
Thanks for the tip Meg!
My Favorite Group:
http://hiking.meetup.com/411/
The Fresno/Madera Hiking group goes beyond just the counties of F/M. Great hikes year round.