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3 night 4 day Sierra's trip suggestions?
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Home › Forums › Campfire › Trip Planning › 3 night 4 day Sierra's trip suggestions?
- This topic has 6 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 7 years, 6 months ago by
Tom K.
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Aug 5, 2017 at 11:38 pm #3483290
Hi all,
I plan on going for an outing with my dad in Sierras. We will be traveling from San Diego Thursday Aug 31 during the night, then starting actual hike on morning of Sept 1, coming back on Sept 4 and driving back over night to San Diego. We’ve been out mostly around Silver/Gem/Thousand Island/Garnet/Ediza/Shadow lakes in the past. Sometimes starting at Silver Lake, sometimes from Agnew Meadows (and coming back to starting point). We love the area, but I would like to either take new trails or go to a new to us area this time.
My dad is a senior at this point, but even though he is in great shape, I don’t want to make it too hard of a trip and would like to have a few an hour or two before sunset to sit and chat.
Can anyone suggest either similarly beautiful hikes in a different location or new ways to explore this general area?
Extra THANKS for hikes with similar views, but closer to San Diego so we can drive less and hike more!
Aug 6, 2017 at 8:26 am #3483314The easiest, closest hike with great views would be the Cottonwood Lakes area. I think your permit would be for Cottonwood Lakes or Cottonwood Pass. Check out some maps and Trip Reports for that area. But I’d caution that that area is very popular and that is Labor Day weekend. A permit might be competitive.
Aug 6, 2017 at 5:27 pm #3483408Rae Lakes area out of Onion Valley is a great trip. you could take 2 days to get there and 2 days back, or take one hard day to get there and spend the extra time exploring a bit. Onion Valley is fairly easy to get permits out of also.
Onion Valley is out of Independence and takes about 6 hours from San Diego.
From Onion Valley to Rae Lakes, you go over 2 passes, so if you are not in good shape you may want to take 2 days to get there.
Aug 17, 2017 at 10:45 pm #3485762I’ll call the local ranger station, but has anyone gone over Glen Pass recently? How are conditions?
I’m worried about snow as we don’t have micro-spikes and our footwear is really more of trail-running type.
Aug 18, 2017 at 8:43 am #3485821There is snow on both sides of Glen Pass, but it shouldn’t require micro spikes if you pay attention to foot placement and go slow. Â There are a couple of places on the north side where people have worn a use trail directly up from one switchback to another to avoid the snow, resulting in short(30-50 foot) scrambles. Â Other than that it is smooth sailing. Â Low down on the north side you will come to a stream that requires a wet feet crossing in you choose to cross it where it intersects the trail. Â A better option is to follow the stream ~100 meters upstream to a small lake and cross there where the stream breaks into two channels. Â Both can be jumped.
Aug 18, 2017 at 9:35 am #3485829Thank you for the information!
Aug 18, 2017 at 2:22 pm #3485873A pleasure, Yuri.
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