Western Sierra HIke Suggestions for Noobs

is nice.. there is a store at the trail head and it will "feel" like you are near civilization for her since there are houses near the beginning.

About an hour is when the houses stop. Assuming you are hiking to the east of the lakes.

If she goes nuts you can get out easily :)

There's a ferry building too.

Lake of the Woods and Aloha have great views, more lakes in that area to day hike around. Aloha is much bigger of course and has the whole lake to look across and up to Pyramid Peak. The other lakes you mention are worth while also, I've been to most of them numerous times, only to Loch Levin area once. Note, most of them won't have a lot of privacy for outdoor bodily functions. Penner, Island Lake, Grouse Ridge etc. would be best for that, just go a bit further than others are camped at, especially at Island Lake. Glacier Lake is worth the hike in, pick a site with a good view.
Duane

We have a "starter hike" section on our website that lists quite a few options. They are all less than six miles one way, and get you someplace nice.

backpackthesierra.com

You might look at Emigrant or Carson-Iceberg Wildernesses. They are also close to the Bay Area, and the permit process is much easier. And free.

Sword Lake, Boulder Lake, Bear Lake, Clarks' Fork would all be good matches for your criteria

noobs ?
Lock Leven.

free parking.
a bit of a tussle to find the correct trail (builds character).
it's sort of , but not awfully too much, steep.
you get to cross a Very Nice railroad tracks.
and a fine selection of lakes.

my favorites are, #2 lake, but up on top of the ridge (nice and flat) and looking over the other side. (privacy)
keep going and go to the smaller lake to the east. (not much for views, but more secluded)

Another choice would be the Evolution Valley and Basin in the High Sierras. Permits are easy to obtain for the Florence Lake Trailhead and the scenery is out of this world.

Well, Evolution is WAY out of your 2-3 hour for SF specs. If we are gonna do that than from SF you could get to Tuolomne meadows in Yosemite (hy 121) It would take you about 4 hours from SF. A good weekend would be going down the Toulumne river or up it. The latter (lyell valley) is perfectly flat for 9-10 mile with nice scenery and mountains on both sides. But going down river is the arch-scenic easy-to-get to sierra hike IMHO. This one is my go to for noobs/friend visits. Going down river towards and past Glen Aulin you go past 7 of 8 (depending on how far you go) spectacular waterfalls eventually reaching the "grand canyon of the Tuolumne" – an alternate version of Yosemite valley. For the beginning of the hike you have a wonderfull view of the mountains of the sierra crest, dominated by cathedral peak to the north and the peaks to the east of the trail. The river along here is wide and clear and beautiful. The hiking is pretty relaxing until several mile past Glen Aulin.

The nice part about doing an out an back with noobs is you can gracefully judge on the fly when to turn around at the midpoint, even if you don't know the capacities of your visitors in advance. You are not committed to a loop which may or may not be too much for them. No one will complain because it is just so beautiful both ways. That is one of the closest blow-the-sock-off one I can think of, but I suppose that reaction is entirely personal.

I missed the 2-3 hour constraint.

No worry and certainly no hurry. We went to desolation wilderness. Glen Alpine trailhead to half moon lake. Climbed Mt. Tallac for kicks and hikes to Suzie Lake too. Amazing. Thanks for all the tips. My friends are sold on Sierra backpacking. As usual, the Tom Harrison map of Tahoe Rim Trail did not disappoint. Caught some 10-12" Brookies and a lot of fry to boot.

Edit to add: dinkey lakes is next thanks Shawn.

I run the Florence Lake ferry boat and store, and just so people are clear, we do not issue permits at the lake. You can get permits for the area at the High Sierra Ranger station 45min back down the road, or at the ranger station in Prather in the foothills. I have had people come into the store looking for permits, and are ver upset when I tell them we dont have permits to issue.

Hopefully this will save some people some hassle…

Thanks for the clarification, Dan. Good to note. I got mine on reserve america or whatever – didn't even know you could do that, as I typically make sure I make the station Friday afternoon before close or first thing Saturday a.m. Online cost $5 extra bucks but was SOOOOO convenient.

Maybe if your store has a computer and printer people could be spared and you could figure out a convenience charge to make things a win-win.

We do have a computer, but the internet is reeeeally bad (because of how remote we are), we mostly use it for weather updates. Some years the forest service allows us to issue fire/ disbursement camping permits…but it varies year to year, so it isnt something I would count on. As far as backpacking permits go….they have never let us issue them…

Dan, how late in the season will the Florence Lake ferry operate?

–B.G.–