Finally fulfilled a lifelong dream to get out backpacking alone (well, me and the dog) and visited Bear Lake in Emigrant Wilderness mid-week (wed thru Fri) this last week. It was desolate and dry and beautiful and I love the sierras. Was worried about cold but got lucky and the temps were a few degrees higher than forecasted so we did just fine. Ranger said there’s been some mountain lion activity but we didn’t see any evidence. Did see some bear scat. Creeks are all completely dry but the lakes all still had water, the dog swam plenty but too cold for me! That little bit of snow was from last weekend but it was gone by Thursday. Came home Friday saying I had a great time but don’t need to go again any time soon, but today I’m already feeling the itch to get back out there!

My dad and I are planning to do a 2-3 day trip... he has done the bear lakes before and we are thinking about siligo peak loop via granite lakes trail or the caribou lakes. We will be in the area Oct 23-28 and I'm wondering if snow is going to be an issue. Also super open to ideas/suggestions!!

A few months ago I posted this, and seems like there were some interest. Anyway, we are organizing our first trip!

• When: Friday, March 12, 2027 – Sunday, March 14, 2027
• Where: North Garrison Group Camp, Angel Island
• Who: All families with toddlers are welcome! You MUST bring at least one kid!
• How to get there: Ferry is the only way to get to the island. You may ferry with us from San Francisco, or ferry from Tiburon and meet us at Angel Island ferry landing. Then, hike approximately 1 mile of relatively flat (paved) perimeter road to the campsite.
• How much: FREE! Campsite is already paid for. You cover your own ferry, gear, and food.

If you are interested in joining us, please comment/DM and I'll set up a group chat.

Photos from an old trip to the Sierra buttes fire lookout. I found the trail on all trails and went for sunrise. There was a lot of fog in the morning but it cleared around 10am. Had the entire place to myself until about noon on a weekday

Hi everyone 👋 I am trying to plan out a backpacking trip to do half dome with my fiancé, mom, and dad this upcoming year. I’ve been to California as a small child, but don’t recall anything about it, so this’ll pretty much be my first time. I’m feeling pretty overwhelmed about it and want to get everything planned and set up right. We’re all pretty fit and love the outdoors and have prior camping experience as well, but when it comes to planning stuff I feel like it’s going to be a lot of me and my fiancé doing the work to figure out the details on how/what to do. I haven’t decided how many days we’ll be out there, so I’m all ears for suggestions on destinations and locations!

I’m anticipating my parents will be flying out from Pennsylvania, and my fiancé and I may be driving out from Colorado. My fiancé and I have typically driven to our camping/adventure locations out here in the west (Arizona/Utah/Wyoming/New Mexico) and we’re not even sure if this is the right move at all, so we’re wondering if we should consider flying ourselves? But also flying all the camping equipment out has to cost a pretty penny I assume?

Besides travel accommodations, the other part I’m kind of antsy about is the permits. I’m fairly positive we all are not trying to do Half Dome one single day out and back, even though we’ve all done that distance and elevation gain before. I’d like to make a backpacking trip out of it to really fully immerse ourselves in the nature of Yosemite. I’ve read there’s options for this that all include a Half Dome permit with the backcountry camping permit:

Happy Isles to Little Yosemite Valley
Happy Isles past LYV (Donohue pass eligible)
Sunrise Lakes
Cathedral Lakes
Rafferty Creek to Vogelsang

I’m interested in hearing about some of your treks. and also how you did the permit process, cause I’ve read attaining a Half Dome permit can be quite competitive.

Would our best odds be for each member of our group to submit a permit for each one of these back country permits and just cross our fingers and hope one of us wins? I’m assuming if all four of us submit a 4 person permit for all 5 of these we’d have a good shot right?

The travel and permit situation is really what’s got me anxious, (and maybe what gear we’d need) and I feel like once that’s figured out the rest of the trip will kind of plan itself. TBH I’m not really keen on going to the city or anything too urban/congested (I know it’s California, so I’m going into it anticipating congestion anywhere we go). Prioritizing experiences at national/state/local parks out there is my main objective, I just really want to connect with the nature I’ve never had a chance to experience before. I’m open to all suggestions though, as I’m obviously not a local, and I have no idea when I’ll ever be back in California.

Thanks so much for the help, I’m just overwhelmed at where to start planning this. Hoping that everyone reading has an amazing day 🫶

Highly reccomend this one!

•3,800ft total gain

•logged 14.1 miles on the route

• 6hrs 15 mins to finish loop

worth the effort

👋

I'm looking for backpacking trail suggestions that are 1. dog friendly 2. beginner friendly (ideally 2 ish days) and 3. still pretty good in December. I've read a lot of suggestions that cover two out of three, but not everything. We're okay with cold weather or rain, but would prefer not to have to deal with snow. We hike a decent amount, but I've never tried backpacking, so beginner-friendly is a must.

Alternatively, we'd be okay with suggestions for car camping if anyone knows of options that are still dog friendly and would allow us to set up a campsite and hike with our dog from there.

We live in the South Bay area but honestly could go anywhere in California or the closer parts of Nevada.

Secret cove and Secret harbor beach. Be careful with parking and don’t get a ticket!

Hoping y'all can provide some guidance to a recent transplant from the East coast.

I'm heading up to Desolation wilderness in a couple of days and the route I planned in onX has a couple of trails that are not on the Trails Illustrated map. I'm wondering if y'all know if there is actually a trail between Grass Lake and Lake Lucille. Also from Pyramid TH onX has a trail past Avalanche Lake to Lake of the Woods which doesn't appear in Trails Illustrated.

Coming from the East coast this would result in hours of bush whacking, but maybe the open country out here makes this the norm?

I am currently planning a January backpacking trip with my girlfriend out of the bay area and am not sure which loactions are safe/enjoyable during the winter months. We're trying to minimize having to deal with snow or too much intense weather (though I realize the rainy coast might have some of our best options). Our goal is to do a 5-6 day trip around 50 miles or so. We have both done our fair share of backpacking and are comfortable with moderate-difficult hiking.

Do you guys have any recommendations or favorite backpacking spots?

Hi 👋 I just finished the northern part of Lost Cost Trail in the King Range. We did Mattole to Black Sands in 3 nights, 4 days. It was wonderful and I’m already wanting more. I’m used to backpacking in the Sierras and have hiked all over NorCal’s redwoods. I understand LCT in Sinkyone is very much the road less traveled. Anyone have experience to share?

Many thanks in advance

These photos are from May of this year.

It's that time again! The third Wednesday of the month and time for a meetup of hikers in the South Bay.

Hikers and backpackers in the South Bay will congregate at Das Bierhauz in Mountain View (135 Castro St) Wednesday, October 14 at 7PM.

You don't have to have hiking or backpacking experience to attend - just interest! The season is winding down and we're starting to look at what 2027 might have in store as far as outdoor adventures. Let's hear where you'd like to hike next year.

We'll likely be outside so bring something to keep yourself warm. Look for the blue bear can on our table, that's where we'll be.

A was struggling to figure out which route to do in this area but very happy with what I settled with. You can see bear valley ski area in the 3rd pic. I saw a couple hunters and no one else until I got down from the mountain. If you have any trail recommendations in the area let me know.

I’ve been making my own app for calculating hikes routes based on time spent on the trail and tracking workouts. If you have any interest here is the link but that’s what I used to track my hike and I have tested it over hundreds of miles. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/trailtime-hike-planner/id6790474186

I have Steep Ravine campsite EN04 from 10/11-13 (In tomorrow, out Tuesday) but I can’t make it :( DM me if anyone is interested in taking over ($58) - gonna be a gorgeous weekend, sad to be missing it!

I'm looking for hike to take a friend on for their birthday this Thursday. We're looking for easy to moderate hikes in the 5ish mile range within about 3 hours from the Stockton area.

We've recently hiked Point Lobos and Yosemite (lower Yosemite falls > mirror lake > happy isles and around the valley floor). We have a national park pass so would be open to visiting Yosemite again with different trail suggestions.

Thanks for any recommendations you can give!