one last summer hike, but where to go?

Hi Sean –

Bay Area denizen here; how far are you willing to drive? How many miles do you prefer to carry your stuff per day? How much of a high elevation/I-gotta-be-in-the-Sierra freak are you ? :)

There is a Nor Cal group on Yahoo you might want to check into; I've met some great folks, there:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NorthCA_Hiking/

I'm hoping to do a trip with some of them mid September to the Caribou wilderness, near Lassen. few people go there, and it's easy hiking, peaceful lakes… for a 'for instance'. What are you looking for in a place?

-Cyndy

I do a great solo hike from Crabtree trailhead in the Emigrant wilderness in the Stanislaw National Forest that sits on top of Yosemite like a cap. I have never seen a bear there. No bear can requirement. You can have a campfire (if that is your kink) and the fishing is suberb. This hike is a nice 26 mile loop you can do from Crabtree that passes 5 lakes (all with fish.) The loop is at a relatively low altitude of between 8k and 9.5k and there is always water on the trail either at the lakes or stream crossings. This time of year you will not encounter bugs and the swimming is great. I do this hike at least once a year and one can vary it from 3 nights to 4 nights depending on pace, layover desires and inclinations. I have also done it in 2 nights but that is humping it.

But don't think that summer is over in the Sierras. You can hike into October with great weather and best of all few people on the trails. I am going out the first week after Labor Day and again in the first week in October ofr solo hikes. It should be great even with earlier nightfall.

Sounds great, mind providing a link with details? I tried a quick search for "stanislaw national forest" and did not find much.

I left it open on purpose (-: I have hiked Mineral King a bit, but there is pretty much the extent of my Sierra experience. Much of Northern CA is still new to me, even after 8 years.

My pack fully loaded with food and a days+ worth of water is around 25 – 28 pounds. No big deal really. Mileage is more about the ups and downs than the actual distance for me. I am not a fan of hard ups and downs day in an day out. A little hard work is fun, more than that and it takes away from the trip (for me). I go out to see nature, commune with the wind and rocks, take pictures, etc. If a little elevation is there to make me work for it, so be it (-:

Looks like I really ought to join that yahoo group though.

ah, I think you meant Stanislaus. Linked here:http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/stanislaus/index.shtml

The hike begins at Crabtree trailhead which is off Crabtree Road just outside of Pinecrest on Rt 108. You will have to get TOPO or some other mapping software to see the TH because it is not on most mapping programs on the web. If you have an REI near you, they carry a Emigrant Wilderness trail guide and an excellent map which clearly shows the loop from Crabtree to Jewel Lake down to Wood Lake then along Pine Valley (not very green these days) to Grouse Lake and finally out by way of a steep climb back up to the trail you take at the beginning.

Here is a link to someone else's trip to Gem Lake which is on the loop I described. and would be a good 1st night campsite if you arrive early to the TH.

http://kevingong.com/Hiking/EmigrantWilderness1.html

A good second night would be Wood Lake and then the hike out if you want to make it a 2 nighter. If you want to make it a 3 nighter, you could stop at grouse Lake which is gradually losing shoreline to water lillies but which has great beach area toward the further end of the lake along the trail itself.

You will need a wilderness pass which you can get on line or at the ranger station at Pinecrest.

There are a lot of other great hikes in the Wilderness which looks like Yosemite without the bears.

PM me and I will send you the wilderness application and other links I have for this hike.

p.s. re. Emigrant
Fires under 9k feet only. It's very dry up there this year, so don't count on water between lakes even if the map shows streams. Hope you like horses and main trails that double as horse highways.

All that said I enjoy hiking Emigrant very much, and have managed to get to most of it over the years.

Although Rick points out that the main trails are "horse Highways", I have rarely seen horse on the trails. Horse apples yes but few horses. It does happen that ocassionally you will see a wrangler riding on the trail or a string early morning, to me, these seem very little intrusive on the overall experience. there are some of the most beautiful lakes and very good fishing in the Emigrant.

I mentioned that fires are permitted but Rick is correct under 9k feet only. You would get the Ranger lecture anyway when you pick up your permit at Pinecrest. And he is probably right about the water supplies. this has been a very dry year all over the Sierras so don't expect water except at the lakes. Luckily they are frequently found on the trail.

I guess I can sum my experiences thus: All the major Emigrant trailheads have commercial pack stations. Packtrain traffic is heaviest on either side of the weekend. Each commercial trip seems to involve two round trips–bringing the clients and gear in to a base camp, setting them up, heading back to the trailhead, returning to pick them up a few days later and again back to the trailhead. For a half dozen clients it seems to take a string of about two dozen head to get the job done.

Not all the horse traffic, of course, is commercial.

Leaving midweek and using the more remote trailheads are the strategies I recommend to avoid much of the hooved traffic. I find not so much their presence, but the profound damage they do to the trails to be the problem. But that's a topic for another day. I'd still go, because fall is beautiful in those meadows and if your timing is right, the trout will pretty much demand you toss in that lure.

I agree with the above comment. I go on a trip here at least once a year. Here are a few photos…