Help me find the “flat” spots in the High Sierra ;-)

"Flat" and "High Sierra" are not normally found in the same sentence.

–B.G.–

The area north of Moose Lake in SEKI fits the bill, I think…

I have hiked here, but not on the actual flat part.
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Thanks Paul, I just looked up moose lake and Table Meadows.

Ralph, hahahaha…well played. That's what I get for not being descriptive enough.

Bob, You're mostly right. ;-) But if topo maps and photos are to be believed there are definitely some decently sized "flat" areas, such as the ones already mentioned. Maybe "wide valleys" or "plateaus" would be better terms for what I'm hunting for.

Do the flat valleys need to line up to a setting sun, or something like that?

–B.G.–

I like your style Bob, you're thinking along the right lines. I'm trying to pre-plan possible spots for landscape photography. And yes, that would be very nice if they did. ;-)

What about evolution valley? One of the best sunsets I ever had was sitting at the outlet of Evolution Lake overlooking Evolution Valley and the San Joaquin Valley

Just north of Evolution Valley is Medley Lakes Basin….pretty flat area with some great scenery. Also close to their is Bear Lakes Basin which is pretty flat.

Thanks Dan, I'll add that one to my list to check out.

Try Golden Trout Wilderness south of Cotton wood pass.

I love Table Meadows. Such a cool area, and you can just go anywhere, no trails necessary. Here’s a shot I took on Moose Lake—keep in mind I’m a total amateur who just borrowed his wife’s nice camera for this hike.

As you can see, the lake is in a bit of a dip, surrounded by a small ridge. That’s what a lot of the Tablelands is like. It’s flatter than the rest of the Sierras, but it’s not a granite version of the Great Plains.

Thanks Mitchell, I did some looking up on Table Meadows, and checking out photos. It does look like a very cool place. There are so many areas in the Sierra that I'd love to check out, I'm having a hard time narrowing it down for my summer trip. At the top of the list right now are Red Spur Lakes/ Plateau, and Wanda Lake area.

"Siberian Outpost, Boreal Plateau, etc."

If you don't mind hiking north a few miles, you could fold Bighorn Plateau into the same trip with these two. For a real bonus, hike from there up into Wright Lakes Basin. The broad valley just before you ascend into the upper section of the basin provides awesome vistas of The Great Western Divide with sunsets to match under the right conditions, and often serenades by the Wiley Coyote Philharmonic to accompany your evening beverage of choice.

Thanks for the recommendation Tom. I really do love the sound of coyotes at night. They easily top my list of favorite "wild" animals.

For a hike without a lot of elevation gain, I would suggest Little Lakes Valley out of the Mosquito Flats Trailhead.

If you don't mind hiking up to a flat spot, then I would suggest Table Mountain which you can access from the Tyee Lakes or Sabrina Lake Trailhead. It's a bit of a butt kicker to get there, but it's flat:

"I really do love the sound of coyotes at night. They easily top my list of favorite "wild" animals."

Me, too. They're not always there, but most times I've been up there I've been treated to quite a show. I actually came face to face with a pack of them topping over the crest leading into the upper basin back in the early 80's. We came face to face about 25-30' apart. They looked at me and I looked at them for what seemed an eternity but was probably only 10-15 seconds or so, and then the alpha gave a little snuff/bark and they trotted off sideways and went on their way. It was all quite dignified. Big relief for me, too, because I was solo and starting to think the odds weren't looking too good if they decided to have a go at me. I know that is extremely rare, to the point of being a vanishingly small possibility, but still, it went thru my mind. I also wasn't aware that they traveled in groups, but there they were, 6 or 7 of them; can't remember exactly after some 34 years. What I do remember very clearly is how beautiful they are up close.

Ben, thanks for the suggestion and the photo. Looks gorgeous there.

Tom, cool story, thanks for sharing it. I've never seen them in a group. That would be something. Where I live on Ft. Ord, we have lots around, and I get to listen to them from my bedroom quite often.

I think I've told this story here before, but when my female Malinois (who looks and acts very like a coyote herself) was about a year old, we had a female coyote that lived in our neighborhood who was about the same age. I'd walk Vixen up to the park at the end of our street and this female would come over and try to get Vixen to play. She'd walk up to her and then hop back sideways, a few times, trying to entice Vixen. She didn't seem to care at all that I was there. Finally, after a few nights of this, I said, "oh, what the hell, why not?" and let Vixen off her leash. The chase was on. Vixen chased the coyote all around a two block radius, and you've never seen two dogs run so fast. Vixen caught up to her a few times, but they never fought. Finally I called Vixen back to me, and her new friend followed her back. The coyote and Vixen lay on the ground together no more than 10' from me, catching their breath.

I took Vixen up to play with her several times after that and they got along great. Unfortunately animal control came out and euthanized her because she was too comfortable around humans. One of our neighbors had been feeding her from a dog bowl in his yard. I was devastated, but I blamed the guy feeding her, not animal control.

The coyote left a lasting impression on Vixen though…from then on, when Vixen wants a dog to play with her, she sulks up to it and then hops backwards, facing sideways, exactly as the coyote had done. She never did it before and I know she learned that play style from the coyote.

twenty lakes basin out of saddleback mostly flat with peaks above the lakes

Lyell Canyon is the flattest stretch of any trail I've done.

The Tablelands appears table – like from a distance. Traversing it proved that it was distinctively not flat as it looked… at one point we thought we were at one tarn on the map, and discovered we were too low and thus off course. And one can find oneself in class 3-4 very quickly at times…

Another flat-ish area – Deadman Canyon, once you're in it.

"twenty lakes basin out of saddleback"

Surely you mean Saddlebag Lake.

–B.G.–

"The chase was on. Vixen chased the coyote all around a two block radius, and you've never seen two dogs run so fast. Vixen caught up to her a few times, but they never fought. Finally I called Vixen back to me, and her new friend followed her back. The coyote and Vixen lay on the ground together no more than 10' from me, catching their breath."

Now THAT is uber cool, Doug. What a marvelous experience. I am just really sad that the coyote ended up paying with her life. Why couldn't they just have left her alone? Bummer. :(

A few flat(ish) areas that come to mind would be Cottonwood Lakes (probably the easiest access) and Miter Basin with the meadow and nice meandering stream before the incline to Sky Blue Lake.

The upper Kern has several microbasins. The hump over the Lake South America trail seems to keep most people away but the entire upper basin just south/southwest of LSA is beautiful and remote (and somewhat flat). There is a maze of meadows and streams that eventually lead to the large lake at the entry to Thunder Basin.

Picket Creek has a large relatively flat basin with a waterfall that feeds creeks, tarns and eventually a medium sized lake with good camping. The upper basin is above tree-line. This was taken from the bottom looking back up toward Picket Creek Pass (on the left).

Upper Blackcap Basin has some large flat areas above treeline.

Just over the White Divide Finger Peak basin has two large areas that are somewhat flat and have beautiful lakes, creeks and waterfalls.

Upper Basin and Lake Basin have huge lunar style flat areas worth exploring.

There is a good sized flat area at Sailor Lake in Sabrina Basin with great views of Picture Peak and decent fishing. This picture doesn't do the area justice, but it's all I can find right now. Last summer we shared the area with a large family group (3 generations) and we all had plenty of space/privacy.