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Inyo National Forest - North Lake to Pine Creek - July 10-14, 2019

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Trip Logistics July 10 - 14, 2019 August 25 - 31, 2019 Inyo National Forest - North Lake to Pine Creek Total mileage - Approximately 27 miles not including day hikes July Photos August Photos Route 2019 was a banner snow year and it resulted in lots of late season snowpack and a late backpacking season…sort of. I was leading a Sierra Club trip in August of 2019 and I wanted to scout the route before I took the group out.  I had done South Lake to North Lake a number of years before so I knew the Hopkins Basin area.  This route would be going from North Lake to Pine Creek…Pine Creek trailhead was an area I had no familiarity with.   In 2019 I ended up doing this route twice once in mid-July and again at the end of August as well as a short overnight to Muriel Lake from North Lake.  These were the only backpacking trips I did the summer of 2019 because of the snowpack and other commitments. Instead of writing separate reports for all of these trips I have just written one with the primar
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Sierra National Forest - Blackcap Basin - July 17 - 24, 2020

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Trip Logistics July 17-24, 2020 Sierra National Forest - Blackcap Basin - Red Mountain Basin and Bench Valley Total Mileage - 30ish - Lots of cross country on this trip Photos Originally Planned Route  - This wasn't the exactly route as originally planned but a version.  There were some deviations that ended up occurring on the trip. In the April timeframe it was becoming clear that there would likely be no organized Sierra Club outings for the summer and I started to plan for an alternative private trip.  I wanted to explore an area I might lead a Sierra Club trip at some point and also somewhere that was likely not to be too crowded.  I had read of Blackcap Basin just a few years earlier….maybe because it’s on the west side of the Sierra I didn’t know anything about it but reading a friend’s trip report and looking at the topo map it looked great.  The plan was to do an 8 day trip given the length of time to get in and out of the basins and 8 days is about all I can carry in a ca
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Location: Blackcap Basin, California 93664, USA
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PCT Section J - Sonora Pass to Echo Lake - August 24-29, 2020

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  Trip Logistics When - August 24-29, 2020 PCT Section J - Sonora Pass to Echo Lake Total Mileage/Ascent - Approximately 72 miles and 16,000 feet of elevation gain Photos Map of Route Time for another Renee and Steve adventure.  This one was quite up in the air due to wildfires….the 2020 season was apocalyptic between fires and covid.  Our plan was to d0 a section of the PCT and finish off the last leg between Mt. Whitney and Lake Tahoe.  Our original plan was to do this hike and end up at Berkeley Camp at Echo Lake and enjoying some wine and good food but covid-19 put an end to that dream.  Simply for my own lazy purposes we went from south to north since it had 2000 feet less to climb…hey every foot counts.  I started the trip by staying overnight in South Lake Tahoe and there were lots of tourists up enjoying the smoked in lake and casinos….I didn’t quite get it myself but to each his own.  I will make a plug for the place I stayed though - The 7 Seas Inn. It was excellent…they had
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Location: Pacific Crest Trail, United States
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Hoover Wilderness - Virginia Lakes to East Lake - 09/03 - 05, 2016

Trip Logistics •         When - September 3– 5, 2016 •         Hoover Wilderness – Virginia Lakes to East Lake •         Total Mileage – Approx. 14 miles (not including layover) Pictures With only 3 days and dreams of another Eastern Sierra trip before the end of my high sierra-backpacking season it meant one place – Hoover Wilderness.   The year before I done a trip out of Virginia Lakes over to Yosemite and I loved the terrain and figured we could do a different trip out of Virginia Lakes.   Given the limited time we had we figured we’d head over to East Lake do a layover day and some day hiking in the area. After a filling breakfast at the Walker River Lodge we headed up to the trailhead.   I wasn’t super in a hurry because it was a typical cold early fall morning.   It was a beautiful day and we head a wonderful hike.   The trail winds it way up through sparsely covered forest.   The thing I love about this area are the colors of the rock – yellows, reds, oran
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