Mid-June Backpacking – Western US

I hope this doesn’t come across as unhelpful, but so far as I’m concerned, everything you mentioned above is good in June.  Bugs or heat or snow are just part of the price of admission at that time of year.  I’m drawing blanks as to where you won’t deal with one of the three.

Trans Catalina Island Trail. Spend the end of your trip in Avalon Bay sightseeing, dining, boating, diving, etc.

I’ll put in a plug for northern New Mexico. There will likely be some mosquito pressure, but it’s usually not horrific. Usually snow is not much of a factor here by mid-June. The pecos wilderness near Santa Fe has a great loop called the skyline trail that is about sixty miles, though can be shortened if necessary. You’ll get a lot of the features of hiking in the San juans, but it is usually accessible earlier in the season. The other option I would check out is a section of the CDT going south from chama. North is really spectacular, but will likely be pretty snow-locked in mid June.

Also I would not count out Utah, particularly if you find trips through canyons with flowing water. There are lots of options in grand staircase-escalante of this nature.

The High Sierra Trail in the Sierras can be done in a week. It’s going to be buggy or hot no matter what. I went last summer and there was so much water that I always had opportunities to dip my shirts in the cool water and never, ever felt overheated. With all the snow and water they’re getting this year, it’ll be ever more accessible. Bug spray and pants and loose, longsleeve shirts reduced the mosquito bites. Maybe look into Hawaii or outside of the U.S. for prestine conditions, but the bugs and Heat are pretty much inevitable for summer backpacking IMO. It’s all part of the adventure and experience. :)

Rogue River trail – but a bit hot then

Lost Coast in North California would be pretty good

Trinity Alps melts off sooner than a lot of places, might be okay then

Either of those could have bad rainy weather so you might want o have a backup plan

Focusing on western National Park units in June —

Point Reyes National Seashore will be cool and foggy. Larger loops are possible, including a walk through Muir Woods National Monument and parts of Golden Gate National Recreation Area:

https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/90733/

https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/33764/

https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/38080/

Redwood National and State Parks should be cool and foggy near the coast, warmer inland.

Channels Islands National Park should be cool and foggy, maybe island hop via ferry.

Grand Canyon National Park – North Rim is high enough to not be blazing hot in mid-June. Dropping into the Canyon itself would be very hot.

Maybe Dinosaur National Monument, June averages 84° / 48° F.

Great Basin National Park could be good in June, too: 76° / 48° F at the relatively low-elevation visitor center.

Talking to the rangers might be a good idea for this weird weather year.

Hope this helps.

— Rex

Thanks, all.  These are exactly the kind of suggestions I was looking for.  Internet’s full of beta on many of these places, but you never know if the commenter considers 4 miles to be a “big day” or if they’re an experienced backpacker with legitimate assessment of the difficulties.  I put a lot more faith in perspective from a site like this.

Sort of zero-ing in on Lost Coast Trail.  Heard of the lost coast before, but was unaware of the trail until yesterday.  Beach hiking would be new.  And many of these rest of these sound like great destinations too to build the bucket list and more are welcome.  Thanks again!

“Beach hiking would be new.”

Then you haven’t been beach hiking on Olympics.  A number of great choices there.  Mid June you have to reserve.  And tends to be rainy.  Check out http://www.oregonhikers.org/field_guide/Washington_Coast_Hikes

Trinity Alps could be great, but there is lots of snow everywhere in the west. Mt. Lassen could be great if Trinity is too snowy. Either will have great weather. It’s hard to predict bugs, you take what you get.

is there good backpacking at Mt Lassen?  Like a 30 mile loop or 15 mile out and back?

Kings Canyon/Sequoia won’t have bugs at high elevations in June, instead expect to be post holing. Mosquito apocalypse at the lower elevation parking lots/trail heads.

The lost coast would be nice, expect warm but not super hot weather will lots of sun exposure.

Another nod for the Pecos Wilderness in New Mexico.

13k foot peaks, alpine lakes, big horns and killer food after. Opportunities for play tourist in Santa Fe, Taos, and surrounding areas too.

Cottonwood basin in the White Mountains?

Glacier Peak wilderness in Washington State. But check snow conditions.

oops sorry I see that you’ve been there. If it’s still too snowy in the high country, you could do the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne in Yosemite. Or Vogelsang Pass to Sunrise high camp loop. From Vogelsang you could also head out to Triple Divide fork in the south east corner of the park. that only rises to 10,000 feet with southern exposure and so should be clear of snow. then loop back over Vogelsang via a different trail; or come out Sunrise that way too. there will be bugs everywhere this year in June.

Even in high snow years this is an excellent series of routes because there are no life threatening stream crossings and no technical snow fields. Again it’s mostly southern facing.

Grand Canyon of the Toulumne will have an uncrossable stream that time of year, but you can cross a large fallen tree by scrambling upstream (I think it’s register creek?) Also there is another potentially difficult creek crossing closer to the white wolf end, but you can easily walk up stream to find easier crossings.

Snow levels are going to be a big issue this year on the West Coast. Southern Sierra is crazy deep right now, Northern Sierra is deeper than normal and the Cascades are well above average. Most of my local trails in Central Oregon I won’t expect to be clear until mid to late July even at 6k feet. I checked the depth while BC skiing at a popular trail head and it was over 9 feet deep at just over 5,000′!  As such, I’m quite surprised to see people recommending trails in the high Sierra as there’s little doubt you’ll be post holing all day.

Getting to the Lost Coast Trail for you is going to be a chore. Fly to SFO/Oakland, then drive 5 hours and find a shuttle. Beach hiking I find a bit boring (though Olympic NP coast is an exception) so I’d personally think about flying into somewhere that gives you options rather than locking you into one particular hike in case the conditions aren’t right. Maybe flying into Salt Lake City so you can rent a car and get out to wherever has the best conditions. I also like the New Mexico idea though I don’t know what their snowpack is like.

June is always a tough time of year to find the right conditions. I generally end up gravitating toward the mountains and don’t mind snowshoeing and sleeping in the snow as that generally means a few more weeks until having to deal with the mosquito hoards! That said, if you can wait until about 45 days out to lock in your trip I think you’ll have the best luck as the conditions change so fast that having the flexibility to changed trips would be best.

If you do fly to CA for the Lost Cost Trail and have extra time, I highly recommend driving down to Santa Cruz or even further to Big Sur — lots of spectacular day hikes and overnights. E.g. the Skyline to the Sea trail through Big Basin Redwoods State Park, and hikes Ventana Wilderness. Not exactly a short drive, but the 1 itself is beautiful and the destinations are completely worth it.

Colin, thanks for the information. I am planning to hike sections of the PCT from Crater Lake to mid-Washington, starting in early July (non-negotiable), and this is very relevant.

Glad to help!

I was planning on doing a speedy trip from Bend to Canada starting in mid July and getting back in time for the total solar eclipse (I think it’s August 21st) but with the snow I think I’m going to have to start August 1st and just do Washington so I can be back in time. It’s really, really deep! But who knows? We could get a ton of rain and have it ready to go in late June like normal.

Wow, I know the situation in the Sierras, but didn’t realize it’s unusually deep all the way. And even though you’re right that it’s too early to be sure… This gets me thinking about a later starting date (meaning lots of complications with flights) or even an alternative hike. I may pm you mid-April if you don’t mind! And possibly see you in WA.

I’m happy to share what I see. This past weekend I was in the lower elevations in on the west side of the cascades and saw the mosquitos are already out… that’s a good sign right???