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<rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content"><channel><title>EveryTrail Feed</title><description/><link>http://www.everytrail.com</link><language>en-us</language><lastBuildDate>Thu, 20 Jun 2013 07:48:47 -0200</lastBuildDate><pubDate>Thu, 20 Jun 2013 07:48:47 -0200</pubDate><image><url>http://www.everytrail.com/images/everytrail-logo.png</url><title>EveryTrail</title><link>http://www.everytrail.com</link><description>GPS travel community, geotagging, geotagged photos, Google Maps, GPS tracks, waypoints, coordinates</description><width>144</width><height>41</height></image><item><title><![CDATA[Minaret and Cecile Lakes]]></title><description><![CDATA[My last Sierra hike of the 2011 season was retracing a fondly-remembered, gorgeous overnighter to Minaret Lake, and from there the plan was to follow a popular cross-country loop to Cecile and Iceberg Lakes.The first day to Minaret Lake was smooth and uneventful: permit pickup in Mammoth Lakes, obligatory gawking at the Minarets from Mammoth Pass, then drive to Devil's Postpile and start hiking.  For a trail which gains 2,500 feet, the Minaret Lake trail is surprisingly mellow, with some delightful waterfalls and viewpoints along the way. I was surprised by the late-season flowers (nice) and mosquitos (not-so-nice). Only in the last mile or so (at 9,500'+) did things start to drag as the altitude and incline caught up with this sea-level dweller.Minaret Lake is gorgeous and popular; on this late September weekend there were at least 8 of us there. But the view can't be beat, with the spiky Minarets right over the lake. I spent my afternoon relaxing and scouting out tomorrow's &quot;cross-country&quot; (but obvious) route up to Cecile Lake.The next morning I took my time, as the route to Cecile and Iceberg Lakes is slow and time-contstrained: the permanent snowfield between Cecile and Iceberg is most safely crossed in the mid-afternoon when the sun's on it and it's soft. From Minaret Lake, the unofficial trail to Cecile Lake is obvious and straightforward, climbing towards a big cliff and then zig-zagging up one side of the cliff, with the last 20 or so feet involving some easy 3rd class (hands-and-foot) scrambling. Cecile Lake is as beautiful but more stark than Minaret Lake, placed right at the base of Clyde Minaret.Scoping out the next leg of the trip, I noticed building thunderheads to the north and actual rain to the south. I waited for a while to see if they would clear but no such luck. Being solo and a little out-of-practice on my ice axe skills, I decided that the course of prudence was to get down and try Icerberg Lake another day. I joined with another party to try an alternate (2nd class) descent route by Minaret Creek, which turned out to be more bushwhacking than we had hoped. From Minaret Lake, I headed down and all too soon the rain reached me, but at least it passed quickly. The rest of the hike was uneventful, and I soon was looking at the overcast Minarets from Mammoth Pass, thinking about when to come back. <br><img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/3597104-MinaretLake-20110923-0001.jpg"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/3597103-MinaretLake-20110923-0002.jpg"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/3597102-MinaretLake-20110923-0003.jpg"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/3597100-MinaretLake-20110923-0004.jpg"/> ]]></description><guid>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1335255</guid><link>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1335255</link><pubDate>Sat, 22 Oct 2011 15:13:07 -0500</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Parker Pass- Lyell Canyon Loop]]></title><description><![CDATA[A spectacular high-altitude trip to mark the end of the summer hiking season.I started later than expected from the Mono Pass trailhead (9500') since I apparently had a hard time reading the shuttle bus schedule. The Mono Pass trail starts out in forest but within a few miles you are getting open views, contrasting the multicolored metamorphic peaks of the Sierra Crest to the east with the more familiar whitish-gray granites of the Tuolumne Meadows region to the west. Near Mono Pass (10,600') , the forest thins even more and I tookthe opportunity to visit both Mono Pass and the old miners' cabins nearby -- they are tiny and seem barely capable of standing up to the weather. From here I cut over to the Parker Pass trail and kept winding upwards; a few hundred feet above Mono Pass, the trees finally disappear entirely, being replaced by open tundra grasslands all the way to gentle and wide-open Parker Pass (11,100'). From here, the trail drifted down a gentle valley full of lakes and streams until the main trail headed up the side of Parker Peak and the valley droppedoff as part of the great Sierra escarpment. Looking at the trail's 1500' climb from here and the time of day, I opted for an early stop and enjoyed the time until sunset drinking tea and enjoying the fading light on Parker Peak and tomorrow morning's climb.Morning light on the Inyo Craters woke me up and soon enough I was moving steadily up the valley wall (and endless switchbacks) towards Koip Peak Pass (12,250'), another wide and relatively gentle pass; the rock of this region seems to break into small chunks rather than the gigantic talus so common throughout the Sierra making for a very different 'feel' of the region. After a short (and windy) celebration atop the pass, it was right back down again towards the Alger Lakesand trees. The Alger Lakes region is glorious, with enough trees for camp, wide-open meadows full of flowers, and large lakes perfect for :lazing away. Being barely lunchtime, though, I kept on going, dropping to Gem Pass (10,380') and then down into the forested basin of Rush Creek, going by Gem Lake (9000') and back up to Waugh Lake (9450'). At the end of a long day, I finally set up camp at Waugh Lake and tried to stay clear of the mosquitos.After a few unwanted (and fortunately unsuccessful) midnight visitors, I woke up and started the day by crossing Rush Creek and joining the Pacific Crest Trail on its way towards Donohue Pass. By the time of the Maria Lakes turnoff, the forest opened up again to an alpine wonderland of talus, scattered trees, green meadows, and burbling creeks. It was difficult to refrain from song, but for the sake of the mountains and any nearby listeners, I held back. Every step seemedmore glorious than the last until I finally reached 11,000' Donohue Pass and saw Tuolumne Meadows in the distance: only long straight Lyell Canyon to go. Now all the Labor Day crowds I had &quot;missed&quot; finally caught up with me, as I watched group after group come over the pass out of Yosemite - and the pace didn't slacken all the way dawn.I always forget that Lyell Canyon has two distinct portions, an upper and a lower part, and the transition between the two is as brutal as the lower canyon is easy. After wandering through upper Lyell Canyon and marveling at the glaciers (and the chill of the glacier-fed Lyell Fork), the trail dropped 1000' foot through the forest to lower Lyell Canyon: roughly &quot;paved&quot; in granite to deal with the constant traffic, including pack stock, and either in the still air of the forest or exposed to the midday sun, it was hard on both upper and lower body: at least I wasn't going up it! Not long after a late lunch I reached the base of the lower canyon, and now I had 10 miles and barely 400' of elevation difference between me and the trailhead. Much of that distance evaporated quickly as I reached the Ireland Creek junction in just over an hour and a half, and the remainder gave itself up more grudgingly, finally rolling into the Wilderness Office parking lot a bit before 6, tired but wide-awake and happy. Soon enough it was time to head home and see my family and say goodbye to the high country -- for now. <br><img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/3411583-ParkerPassLoop-20110904-0032.jpg"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/3411584-ParkerPassLoop-20110904-0031.jpg"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/3411585-ParkerPassLoop-20110904-0030.jpg"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/3411586-ParkerPassLoop-20110904-0029.jpg"/> ]]></description><guid>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1284018</guid><link>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1284018</link><pubDate>Sun, 11 Sep 2011 23:30:04 -0500</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[West Walker River Loop]]></title><description><![CDATA[Along Highway 108 there's a relatively gentle route to the High Sierra that starts in the arid rain shadow and leads up to the alpine crest. The last time I visited here, in early July, the trip was gorgeous but the bugs were terrible. So for 2011, I decided to avoid the bugs and go in mid-August, normally a safe time. But 2011 has been different.The Leavitt Meadows trailhead, at 7,100', is at the base of the Sonora Pass Highway, Highway 108, which can charitably be described as &quot;crazy.&quot;  While it is no longer one lane in sections, it still has grades of over 20% near the 9,600 foot elevation pass and is always fun to drive, especially in the dark. I don't know why they paved this, but it makes a lot of great hiking accessible. I spent the night before the trip at Sonora Bridge Campground and then  headed into Bridgeport to pick up my permit.Finally armed with the permit, I climbed from Leavitt &quot;Meadows&quot; (which really feels more like the high desert) to the Hoover Wilderness sign and passed the lovely forested Roosevelt and Lane Lakes, continuing along with occasional glimpses of the West Walker River until it was time to make a mid-thigh-deep crossing and climb to Fremont Lake. Fremont Lake, at 7miles from the trailhead, is justifiably popular: it's a beautiful subalpine lake with forest and granite. (Most campsites are at the south end.) But there were lots of people and I wanted to keep going, so I pushed onward towards the Chain of Lakes, until I found a nice spot by one of the lakes. Nice, that is, until the evening bugs came out, but a jacket and a mosquito headnet kept everything nice and under control.The next morning, I woke up and so did the bugs. After a leisurely breakfast I started climbing through the Chain of Lakes towards the Long Lakes and eventually Emigrant Pass. After breakfast, I expected the bug count to drop, but it didn't, until soon enough I realized that the mosquitos were just getting worse, and so I dug the headnet out again -- good since I didn't take it off all day.From the forested Long Lakes the trail wound upwards and made another wet crossing of the (much smaller) West Fork of the West Walker River, finally breaking out of the forest a little below Emigrant Pass. The view was great, with lots of lingering snow patches even in mid-August. The bugs were terrible, but sometimes you have to stop and rest and the view made it worth it. From here the trail went up to a series of open meadows filled with amazing wildflowers. Just before Emigrant Pass, I turned off on a side trail to  Bond Pass and crossed the Sierra crest for a brief sojourn into the Emigrant Wilderness, dropping first from the crest towards Grizzly Meadow and then climbing up to Bond Pass and Yosemite's northernmost tip. Back into the forest until reaching the PCT and enormous and beautiful Dorothy Lake, sitting under still-snowy Forsyth Peak. Since the bugs were still bad, I climbed up to Dorothy Lake Pass and windy Stella Lake, settling in for a quick soak and a campsite. The wind did a good job of keeping the bugs off and the view couldn't be beat.The next morning dawned bright and early and it was time to get out of Dodge, or at least the bugs, so I packed up and headed down the PCT until the junction with the Cascade Creek trail. The Cascade Creek Trail wound down through the forest  towards the river, relatively viewless except for a vista of Cascade Creek Falls. Disregarding the map's claim of an immediate river crossing, the trail headed north and I followed until it was time to cross. From here I followed the obvious trail along the main river plain, reaching the Fremont Lake turnoff soon enough. I kept going and soon reached Roosevelt and Lane Lakes, and decided that I still felt good enough to try for the trailhead, reaching the end at about 5pm. tired and dehydrated, but happy. <br><img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/3350936-WestWalkerRiver-20110821-0036.jpg"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/3350937-WestWalkerRiver-20110821-0001.jpg"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/3350938-WestWalkerRiver-20110821-0035.jpg"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/3350940-WestWalkerRiver-20110821-0033.jpg"/> ]]></description><guid>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1265945</guid><link>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1265945</link><pubDate>Wed, 31 Aug 2011 00:45:14 -0500</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Jennie and Weaver Lakes]]></title><description><![CDATA[July trips - at least my July trips -  never quite work out as planned. The high country's usually just finished snowmelt and so things are waterlogged, or buggy, or you can't get as far as you want.  This July trip was no different: I arrived at the ranger station, told them my plans (to go over Silliman Pass between Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks), and the rangers were direct: forget it. The best information they had suggested that I might make up part way up the east side of the pass but I'd need real snow equipment, which I didn't have. So back to the drawing board.

Just nearby, however, and basically using the same routing was the Jennie Lakes Wilderness that I'd always wanted to visit, with the wonderful-sounding Poop Out Pass, and so to Poop Out Pass I went. 

The main trail to Jennie and Weaver Lakes starts at Big Meadows but a short and carefully-drivable-for-passenger-cars dirt road to Fox Meadow cuts a few miles and a few hundred feet off the trek. Being lazy that way, to Fox Meadow I went only to find that I wasn't the only person with this idea: the small dirt parking lot was packed, including llama trailers! There was a small group of folks using llamas to carry their gear into the wilderness, which was quite a novel idea.

The trail from Fox Meadow to Poop Out Pass and Jennie Lake is very well graded and very gradual; you climb 1000 feet but over 4 miles. The most impressive part was that the snow started early, there was some almost immediately visible on the main trail at 8000 feet -- in deep shade and covered with pine needles, but snow nonetheless.

Poop Out Pass barely deserves the name; I wasn't pooped out coming from the west and the pass is so long and gradual that you don't really notice when you reach the top or start trending down, at least for a while. The descent here before climbing again to Jennie Lake was the most tiring part.

Jennie Lake itself is a pretty Sierran subalpine lake, nothing terribly special, that is easily accessible and doesn't require any permits. As such, it's remarkably popular; I gave up after counting 12 tents (and there were others coming up after me). Here at 9000 feet there were considerably more snow piles which made it that much harder to find a campsite that wasn't already taken. So I sat for a while and had a late lunch and a short nap and decided that quieter environs were for me.

From Jennie Lake I wandered up to JO Pass and the entrance to Sequoia Park; 'wandered' is appropriate because the trail was almost completely buried under snow and few people had obviously been this way. It got particularly interesting towards the top of the ridge where I lost the trail almost entirely except for occasional tree blazes, leading me to spend a hour to walk 1 mile.

A pleasant, and solitary, night by the pass found me waking up and heading down from JO Pass and looking for a fresh source of water. There are actually four trails which converge at JO Pass, one from Sequoia and Cahoon Gap, one from Jennie (which I'd come up), one to Rowell Meadow, and one that generaly heads towards Weaver Lake - the latter two heading north. Thanks to the thick snow cover, it wasn't until quite a ways later that it was apparent I was heading towards Weaver Lake and had skipped the lake near JO Pass, but there were plenty of running creeks.

I soon headed westward towards Weaver Lake, and then started down the wall of Boulder Creek Canyon. This route is far less popular than the trail to Jennie Lake and it showed: the canyon-side trail was often just barely wide enough for me, and downed trees made things even more interesting. At the bottom of the canyon, the creeks were running high necessitating some diversions for a safer creek crossing; even still I wound up taking a bit of a dip.

From the bottom of the canyon at 8200 feet it slowly climbed up to 8900 feet and then descended to Weaver Lake at 8700 feet. Weaver Lake is actually prettier than Jennie, in my opinion, and certainly had fewer people, although things might be different on a Saturday night.

From Weaver Lake the trail descended to the main Jennie Lake junction and then to Fox Meadow. Total loop was about 17 miles. <br><img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/3162712-JennieLake-20110717-0013.jpg"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/3162713-JennieLake-20110716-0012.jpg"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/3162714-JennieLake-20110716-0007.jpg"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/3162711-JennieLake-20110717-0014.jpg"/> ]]></description><guid>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1208214</guid><link>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1208214</link><pubDate>Tue, 26 Jul 2011 13:22:44 -0500</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Mount Whitney via Onion Valley]]></title><description><![CDATA[This is probably the best 5 days of hiking I've ever done, followingthe south end of the John Muir Trail from Onion Valley all the way tothe top of Mount Whitney. It's such a good hike, I've done it twice.We started the hike by dropping our car at Whitney Portal and taking ashuttle to Onion Valley campground, where we had a campgroundreservation for the night. On Monday morning we started up theKearsarge Pass trail passing by Little Pothole and Gilbert Lakes,finally reaching Kearsarge Pass and its &quot;Welcome to Kings CanyonNational Park&quot; sign by 2pm.  A long descent into the basin and a quickstop at Bullfrog Lake before we dropped into the glacial valley ofBubbs Creek at Vidette Meadow. We set up camp by the Vidette Meadowbear boxes and slept well amongst the trees.The bad news the next morning was that the bear boxes were bear-proofbut not mice-proof, and part of our breakfast for Day 2 (which didn'tfit into our bear cans) had been involuntarily donated to the localfauna. From the deep forest, we started hiking up Bubbs Creek and soonclimbed out of the forest into open valley. As the day progressed,plant cover grew shorter and shorter and the rocks got ever bigger. Wereached Lake 12,258' by the early evening and set up camp way out inthe moonscape near the end of the lake - flat campsites were hard tofind amongst all the scree (and the many other groups on the sameroute). As we watched sunset on Junction Peak, the wind picked up andhowled all night long: frightening but awe-inspring.Day 3 began, even at over 12,000 feet elevation, with what else but abig climb, this time to Forester Pass. Step by step we climbed,finally reaching the precipitous top fairly quickly (in a few hours,that is). The north side of Forester Pass is relatively gentle but thesouth side is a steep, steep descent down to the basin below. To makegood time to the pass, we had opted for a relatively small and simplebreakfast which then took its toll as we wound down through the valleybelow: the wind was incessant and shelter was nowhere to befound. There was also very little water to be had. We finally found afew small trees to stop and have a snack, followed by a real lunch andnap at Tyndall Creek campground (complete with bear boxes). Nap over,we decided to keep on, climbing up and past beautiful Bighorn Plateouand finishing the day with a campsite just above Wallace Creek.Day 4 opened with the sound of bells, as a horse packer looked for theanimals he'd loosed the night before. We found them first, but kept onhiking past Wallace and Wright Creeks before crossing into WhitneyCreek's valley and the dread Mount Whitney Zone (land of the BlueBag). We enjoyed the hike up past Timberline Lake and made it toGuitar Lake by early afternoon, leaving enough time for a quick splashand even a chance to clean up. (It's always important to look good inyour summit pictures.)3am on Day 5 came all too soon as we heated up couscous and packed upstarting up on our way towards Trail Crest and the junction with theMount Whitney Trail. Moving ahead by headlamp we climbed up slowly,but morning light came soon enough and we could see the easternramparts of the Sierra Crest lighting up in preparation forsunrise. It was stunning to watch everything brighten up from high upon the mountainside. We made it to the junction just before sunrise andstarted on the surprisingly-long Whitney Trail, sans packs.On the summit we celebrated for a while but it was time to headdown. Shortly after reaching the trail junction, we had an unpleasantsurprise as the trail was completely eroded away, leaving just loosedirt and rocks in its stead for about 25 vertical feet -- notsomething you enjoy seeing at 13,600 feet with 3,000 feet of dropbeneath you! Soon enough we were at Trail Crest and started on the BigDown: the infamous 99 Switchbacks to Trail Camp, which we reached by2pm, just in time for a much-needed nap. My partner's response toTrail Camp was an unabashed &quot;yuck&quot;, so post-nap we kept on going down,down, down, even skipping Outpost Camp, which is a much more pleasantspace in the valley.We emerged at Whitney Portal missing the store and hamburgers bymoments, so our celebration was cut short in an attempt to grab somedinner. Next time, I'll stop first. <br><img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/2351895-Whitney-Everytrail-10.jpg"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/2351896-Whitney-Everytrail-11.jpg"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/2351897-Whitney-Everytrail-12.jpg"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/2351898-Whitney-Everytrail-13.jpg"/> ]]></description><guid>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=953428</guid><link>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=953428</link><pubDate>Tue, 1 Feb 2011 17:42:02 -0500</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Coast Camp, Point Reyes]]></title><description><![CDATA[This was an easy family outing to a popular campsite at Point Reyes, perfect for a 3-year-old hiker and his parents. The early-morning rainstorm just added to the delight.Point Reyes National Seashore has a bunch of &quot;mid-country&quot; campgrounds.  While they all require a not inconsiderable walk (1 or more miles), they also have water faucets, bathrooms, and trash service (!), amenities I never associate with &quot;backcountry&quot; camping. The short hiking distance and relatively easy trails to some of these campgrounds makes them ideal for hiking trips with small children or those not terribly comfortable with the idea of &quot;really&quot; backpacking.Coast Camp is the second-easiest campsite to reach (the easiest access is Sky Campground, up on the slopes of Mount Wittenberg at ~1000 feet elevation), with either a 1.8 mile trail (with ~300 feet of elevation gain) or 2.8 mile fire road (with almost no elevation gain or loss). The campground itself has 2 parts, an open valley that's perfect for moderate-sized groups and a collection of campsites literally hacked out of the brush just uphill; these latter sites (1-7) are just perfect when you want to be kind of away from everyone.We opted to go in via the Laguna/Firelane Trails (the 1.8 mile route) after a late start. The trail quickly climbs to a ridge and stays there for a while before a moderate descent to join the fire road that is the Coast Trail, and then you're at the camp. All too soon, the day ended and the fog came in, so we finished dinner, packed up and read many books to an excited young hiker (short distance = more weight you're willing to carry = more books and toys for the little hikers). Our rest was soon interrupted by the sound of raccoons checking out the cookpots I'd left out, but once we got everything into the 'mouse locker' things quieted down.The fog got thicker through the night until we were awakened again, by the sound of rain - real rain! - on our tent, not something I'm used to hearing in California in October.  Apparently we weren't the only ones caught by surprise, as I saw at least one sleeping bag that had been outside the night before.The next morning we packed up and headed out along the Coast Trail, which, true to its name, follows the coastline for about a mile before turning inland back towards the trailhead. Soon enough we were on the road and off to pizza in Berkeley. <br><img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/1947418-PtReyesCoastCamp-1.jpg"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/1947419-PtReyesCoastCamp-2.jpg"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/1947420-PtReyesCoastCamp-3.jpg"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/1947421-PtReyesCoastCamp-4.jpg"/> ]]></description><guid>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=842830</guid><link>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=842830</link><pubDate>Sat, 9 Oct 2010 21:34:06 -0500</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Clark Range Loop]]></title><description><![CDATA[Early in 2010 I ran across an old Backpacker article describing a loop through southern Yosemite's Clark Range circling Merced and Triple Divide Peaks. The trip included high passes, enough mileage for a weeklong trip, and a distinct dearth of people -- what's not to like?So I sent in my permit application and started training.This hike proved to be a Sierran classic: granite-rimmed lakes, thick forests and open meadows, fields of talus and fields of flowers, big climbs, big drops, and starry night skies. And a distinct dearth of people.First, a big &quot;thank you!&quot; to the Yosemite trail crews, who had obviously been hard at work throughout the route -- cleaning up logs, moving trail bed, building stairs (!) -- there were places that I could still smell the sawdust.  The trail in the park is in great shape due to their hard work.I started from the Quartz Mountain trailhead heading towards Chiquito Pass (8000'); I picked Quartz Mountain because it's a few less miles of hiking through forest at the start and end, but the price was a maze of twisty little dirt roads that are hard to distinguish but definitely NOT alike (a wrong turn and the smooth dirt road becomes 4x4 thrillsville -whups!). From Quartz Mountain trailhead (8250'),  where I started hiking, I dropped within a mile to Chiquito Pass (8000') and the border of Yosemite.  From Chiquito there's a long slow climb through thick forest on the way to Moraine Meadows. About 3 miles in, I passed the turnoff to the Chain Lakes, a nice place to stop if you're starting or ending late.Moraine Meadows, my planned destination, wasn't terribly appealing -- the South Fork Merced was more rocks than water, the views were mostly of trees, and I still had energy.  So I continued onwards towards Merced Pass, staying in the forest most of the way there.  On the bright side, the bugs were mild and the flowers gorgeous.I topped out at Merced Pass (9300') getting glimpses of the high peaks of the Clark Range up ahead. But it was the first day and I was pretty beat, so I stopped at Upper Merced Pass Lake, a pleasant granite- and forest-lined spot of blue and the best water source since Moraine Meadows. Here I was joined by three others who had hauled themselves all the way up from Yosemite Valley, a 16-mile, 5000' grunt -- their trip was the inverse of mine, a loop around Mount Clark starting and ending in Yosemite Valley. We enjoyed some good conversation before turning in.The next morning the climbing began in earnest. From Upper Merced Pass Lake the trail wound upwards to Lower Ottoway Lake, with steadily improving views of Red and Ottoway Peaks. Lower Ottoway Lake is one of the loveliest campsites I've ever seen in the Sierra, with Red Peak, Ottoway Peak, and Merced Peak rising up abruptly from its shores, and trees and meadows providing a green frame to the blue water. Open to the west, the lake basin must be stunning at sunset. But it was barely 10am, so I just kept on going up.And up, and up, and up. A brief stop near Upper Ottoway Lake (10,500') - stark and rockbound, unlike its lower sibling, with just a few bits of green on its feeder streams -- and then I kept climbing towards Red Peak Pass at 11,130'. The trail kept on switchbacking, well-built and gently graded, but 11,000 feet is just slow going. The switchbacks grew tighter and tighter until there I was, no more up, joining my campsite companions from the night before.We loitered for a while, enjoying our accomplishment and the view north ranging from Vogelsang Peak and Mounts Lyell and Maclure to the Minarets, before starting on the way down. The north slope trail wasn't any steeper than the south side trail but the bed was far looser, a good place to watch every step! Winding on down I eventually left the talus behind and began the most spectacular portion of the hike, winding through open granite bowls speckled with lakes and trees, all watched over by Merced and Triple Divide Peaks. It was an area that called out for frequent stops and I obliged. Eventually I turned off the trail near Edna Lake and set up camp for the night, at around 9600'.The next morning (Day 3) started by heading down towards the junction with the Triple Peak Fork of the Merced River where the Mount Clark trail headed north, back towards the Valley. I, on the other hand, began climbing, first 800' through forest to meet the Merced River High Trail, and then another 300' - on staircases, no less! - to the open bowl beneath Isberg Peak.Lower Ottoway Lake was beautiful, but Isberg Basin is gorgeous: surrounded on three sides by mountains 800-1000' above you, with the big peaks of the Clark Range to the southwest, and open to the west, it is one of the most beautiful camping areas I've ever seen. I spent a long time here trying to convince myself that a 5-mile hike was sufficient for the day, but eventually decided that the trail beckoned.From Isberg Basin, the trail wound another up 700', along more stairways, to the edge of the bowl surrounding Isberg Basin, and then ducked to the side to cross Post Peak Pass (10,740'). The short walk to Post Peak Pass is a spectacular ridgewalk with views of the Minarets and Ritter and Banner Peaks, and down into the valley of the San Joaquin River as well as the Clark Range as well. Here you are straddling the boundary between Yosemite and the Ansel Adams Wilderness, and the trail definitely got rougher and harder to follow.  Post Peak is next to the pass, not directly on the bowl's edge, and offers a nice view -- but I was never able to find Secor's Class 1 trail to the top (it was more Class 3 than Class 1 until I decided that discretion was the better part of valor and retreated).From Post Peak Pass the trail wound downwards towards Porphyry Lake, which well deserves the name: the closer you get to the lake, the more &quot;speckled&quot; the granite becomes. The trail here set expectations for the rest of my time in the Ansel Adams Wilderness: rougher, steeperand harder to follow than the Yosemite trails. After a quick stop at Porphyry Lake, I forgot to get water and hiked another mile down to an unnamed lake at 9600' where I plopped down in exhaustion. I hadn't seen anybody all day.Day 4 started with me continuing down the Post Creek Trail and then heading back up towards Rutherford Lake and Fernandez Pass (10,177'). My solitude was briefly interrupted by a guided tour group and a few others heading out (it was Labor Day, after all) but mostly it was just me winding slowly up to the meadows below Fernandez Pass and then over the Pass itself. While there were numerous lakes along this stretch, there wasn't much water that was easily accessible; most of the lakes had marshy edges. The trail to Fernandez Pass played tricks, heading up towards one obvious gap and then passing it by in favor of the next gap over, going right by Peak 10,440.As of Fernandez Pass, I was back in Yosemite and the trail dropped rapidly towards the Breeze Lakes. A long pause at Breeze Lake's little sibling for rest and water, and then I started the slow hike down towards Moraine Meadows, which didn't look any more appealing the second time around. So I kept on going until the Chain Lakes junction, and hiked up as little as I could to the lowest Chain Lake for a nice sunset, a bite to eat, and some rest from the longest day yet.The next morning was a quick zip back to my car, crossing Chiquito Pass again. An amazing trip. I'm already thinking about doing it again. <br><img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/1883166-ClarkRangeLoop-1.jpg"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/1883167-ClarkRangeLoop-4.jpg"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/1883168-ClarkRangeLoop-5.jpg"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/1883169-ClarkRangeLoop-7.jpg"/> ]]></description><guid>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=824847</guid><link>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=824847</link><pubDate>Sat, 25 Sep 2010 20:20:28 -0500</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[May Lake Backpacking]]></title><description><![CDATA[The hike to May Lake is a delightful and easy way to experience theYosemite high country. It's great for a first-time backpacker,regardless of age.This hike is NOT a way to experience solitude (there is aHigh Sierra Camp and accompanying crowds at the lake). It is NOT a wayto have a true &quot;wilderness experience&quot; (there is running water and aflush toilet(!) at the backpackers' camp, plus there's thataforementioned High Sierra Camp). You MIGHT be able to get achallenging hike out of it, by going up Mount Hoffmann just behind thelake, but the trek up to May Lake itself is barely more than one mileand 500' of gain; really more of a casual dayhike than a &quot;real backpacking trip.&quot;Which makes it perfect if you just want to get out, or you're trying toshow that special someone why backpacking in Yosemite is aworthwhile thing to do. It's a perfect place for kids - we took our 3-year-old and saw several other 1-to-4-year-olds camping with their parents. What better place to start your backpacking career than Yosemite?This hike to May Lake starts at the end of a steep paved road at SnowFlat where you find limited parking, bear lockers, and a toilet(vault, not flush). The trail meanders through classic Yosemitegranite and forest, slowly climbing until you hit the one &quot;climb&quot; (andswitchback) up a granite headwall. Once you reach the top of theheadwall, you're pretty much there: make sure to climb the ridge forthe best views. The backpackers' camp is at the south end of the lake,it's hard to miss. Follow the trail around the south end of the lakeif you want to go up Mount Hoffmann.The lake is cool and technically swimming is prohibited (since it's awater supply for the High Sierra Camp), but that doesn't seem to stoppeople. There is also a plentiful supply of rocks to plop into thewater. <br><img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/1624618-MayLake-20100731-0001.jpg"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/1624622-MayLake-20100731-0003.jpg"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/1624625-MayLake-20100801-0005.jpg"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/1624628-MayLake-20100801-0006.jpg"/> ]]></description><guid>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=741596</guid><link>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=741596</link><pubDate>Sat, 7 Aug 2010 01:29:34 -0500</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Thousand Island Lake from June Lake]]></title><description><![CDATA[A wonderful weekend excursion to the High Sierra. (I didn't own a GPS then, so the track line is approximated.)I had always wanted to re-visit Thousand Island Lake after a stopover on the Muir Trail but the most obvious route there always seemed to be via Agnew Meadows, which is really a 3-day trip, and 3 days together was hard to find. Then one day I looked at the map and went &quot;Doh!&quot; You can reach Thousand Island Lake from the June Lake Highway, quite easily. So we packed up our bags and went.The trail follows the June Lake Loop Highway for about a mile or so before heading up towards the lakes. Agnew, Gem and Waugh Lakes are all hydroelectric power stations, so you see a lot of dams on this trip. The hike up to Agnew Lake, in particular, passes by an old railway, used, I presume for building and maintaining the dam. Seeing the old equipment is kind of cool.After Agnew Lake, you head up towards Gem Lake and then towards Waugh Lake. Waugh Lake is framed by a view of where the Cathedral and Ritter Ranges merge, with Mount Davis rising up high.  After meeting the PCT, we headed south towards Island Pass, going past some lovely tarns framing Banner Peak, and continuing down towards Thousand Island Lake.Thousand Island Lake, while not containing 1000 chunks of land, is nonetheless gorgeous, with Banner Peak rising at its head and the lake stretching seemingly forever. Unfortunately, all that water means lots of mosquitoes, so it was not an evening to linger and watch the sunset.Thousand Island Lake is also a bear hotbed, so we were particularly glad to have our bear canister at 2am, when my wife woke up and yelled &quot;Bad bear! Bad bear!&quot; in her best &quot;Bad dog&quot; voice. Apparently (I didn't have my glasses on), said bear looked appropriately sheepish and moved on. The next morning we had a large muddy noseprint on our bear canister -- and all of our food.After leaving Thousand Island Lake behind, we descended the San Joaquin River following the PCT (not the JMT) and then headed up towards Clark Lakes. The Clark Lakes look like a wonderful place to stop over, and indeed some horse packers had. As it was late July, the bugs were bad and the flowers were gorgeous.From Clark Lakes we climbed up and then descended the Spooky Meadow Trail. When I think of &quot;meadow&quot; I think of a flat expanse of green but Spooky Meadow is only flat for people who live on terraces: the trail descends steeply through many patches of green before traversing a steep hillside that's seemingly all talus. I'm still not sure how the trail managed to stay together after anyone walked on it, seeing as how it was nothing but loose rocks.Eventually the trail dropped down to the far side of Agnew Lake and after crossing beneath the dam, we headed down to our car, June Lake, and some well-deserved ice cream. <br><img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/1556336-ThousandIslandLake-20060729-0001.jpg"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/1556337-ThousandIslandLake-20060729-0002.jpg"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/1556338-ThousandIslandLake-20060729-0003.jpg"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/1556339-ThousandIslandLake-20060729-0004.jpg"/> ]]></description><guid>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=721986</guid><link>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=721986</link><pubDate>Sun, 25 Jul 2010 18:06:47 -0500</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Lyell Canyon - Vogelsang Loop]]></title><description><![CDATA[The Yosemite High Country in July... creeks full of snowmelt, meadows full of flowers, mosquitos full of blood. This hike is remarkably gentle and relatively easy for all that it climbs high into the high country. Of course, the presence of one of the High Sierra Camps (hotels in the backcountry) should tell you that. It goes &quot;up&quot; Lyell Canyon (which is perhaps the flattest 6 miles I've hike anywhere), following the Tuolumne River. and the John Muir/Pacific Crest Trails south Lyell Canyon is delightful: it has a flat bottom with meadows and the Tuolumne River , surrounded by forest rising up the walls, and snowcapped peaks in the distance. You can't get much more idyllic. This portion of the hike was not only easy and beautiful, it was also almost mosquito-free.At the Ireland Creek Trail junction, you leave the Muir Trail and start going up. Right near the trail junction are a number of very nice campsites. The trail then heads up at last . Most of this climb is through deep , viewless forest, alas. After climbing about 1200 feet, the forest begins to thin out a bit and you start getting spectacular views across Lyell Canyon.  This forest is also full of mosquitoes in season (which is actually true for the rest of the hike). After leaving Ireland Creek and heading north, the scenery opens up considerably and there are many campsites; while they superficially seem to be dry sites, in early season there are many creeklets with water. In retrospect this might have been a good area to camp.When you reach the Ireland Lake trail junction, there's a good stream but you still have some up left. Supposedly, Ireland Lake is 2.5 miles and 300 feet of climbing away, just beneath Parsons Peak, but I didn't go there.  Continue heading west and up to the 10,580' summit of the ridge between Lyell Canyon and Rafferty Creek Valley. The views from up here are spectacular, as you would expect.I followed the trail to Tarn 10,425, which is visible from the ridgetop. There are campsites on both sides of the lake, although right next to the lake is pretty boggy. When I was there, there were wldflowers and bugs in profusion -- at first there was a good wind to keep them off but that died off as the evening progressed and I had to resort to stronger measures - DEET and then physical layers. A mile further on is Evelyn Lake, which is on an even more open plain . Both the tarn and Evelyn Lake have great views of the Cathedral Range to the west and a beautiful sunset.Next morning, I got up bright and early but not early enough to beat the bugs, so moving quickly was the order of the day. You can drop straight from Evelyn Lake down to Tuolumne Pass or follow the trail into Vogelsang High Sierra Camp. This year, the camp hadn't even opened yet, so I wandered over there. The hike is beautiful, following grassy ramps between granite outcrops and cruising just below Fletcher Lake. The High Sierra Camp location is gorgeous, too, although I'm not sure what I'd think when the camp is in full swing. From the High Sierra Camp, I headed down towards Tuolumne Pass and Rafferty Creek Valley.  Unlike the way up, this is a long, gentle incline all the way down, open for much of the way. It's not until the last mile before reaching the JMT/PCT that the angle is ever very bad; there's about 350-400 feet of elevantion change there, which probably isn't fun when you're climbing it. Soon enough, you reach the JMT/PCT and then are crossing the Tuolumne River and heading back into camp.A cold beer and a dip in the Tuolumne River and all was right with the world. An excellent way to spend a summer weekend. <br><img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/1554890-Vogelsang-20100717-0001.jpg"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/1554891-Vogelsang-20100717-0002.jpg"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/1554892-Vogelsang-20100717-0003.jpg"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/1554895-Vogelsang-20100717-0004.jpg"/> ]]></description><guid>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=721082</guid><link>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=721082</link><pubDate>Sun, 25 Jul 2010 10:55:53 -0500</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Rancheria Falls]]></title><description><![CDATA[It's spring, and spring means waterfalls and flowers and green in Yosemite. What better way to spend a spring weekend than gawking at all of these things, especially on a backpacking trip?Hetch Hetchy is the fraternal twin of Yosemite Valley, drowned in the early 20th century to provide drinking water for the San Francisco Bay Area. As a result, it's much less visited than Yosemite Valley, and you can even go backpacking here! The downside is that the trail network is not terribly huge, and Rancheria Falls is the easiest trail and the one that passes by all the waterfalls, so this trail gets almost all the visitors to the area: this is not a hike for solitude. This was reinforced even more at the Rancheria Falls camping area, where I counted 20 (!) tents -- apparently this is The Place To Be in early May. (A ranger informed me that it's empty midweek, if you have that option.)But oh boy are there waterfalls! There are three named waterfalls (Tueeulala, Wapama, and Rancheria Falls), plus a cascade at Tiltill Creek, but at this time of year, there were cascades of water everywhere, all pouring onto the trail and into the reservoir below. Fortunately, the water was never very deep on the trail, so my feet never got wet (yay for waterproof boots).The source of all this water is snowmelt, and there was still plenty of snow on the mountains surrounding the reservoir -- enough so that a fellow hiker remarked that he half-expected &quot;a Viking ship to come sailing down the fjord.&quot; I then spent the rest of the hike on the lookout. No Vikings, fortunately.This was a wonderful way to spend a spring weekend, even if it wasn't the least popular trail. The flowers and the scenery were gorgeous, the temperatures were mild, and it was a great experience. <br><img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/1217257-RancheriaFallsExport-1.jpg"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/1217255-RancheriaFallsExport-2.jpg"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/1217253-RancheriaFallsExport-3.jpg"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/1217251-RancheriaFallsExport-4.jpg"/> ]]></description><guid>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=601975</guid><link>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=601975</link><pubDate>Mon, 3 May 2010 13:30:17 -0500</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Glacier Lake, Sierra Nevada]]></title><description><![CDATA[An easy getaway off of I-80.After realizing that our Labor Day weekend was consumed by various kid things, I moped around until my wife threw me out of the house. Since it was too late to take advantage of the full 3 days, I did a quick drive up I-80 to CA-20 and then to the Bowman Lake Road. The hardest part of this hike is getting to the trailhead on a dusty bumpy dirt road.  Eventually you reach the end at the Grouse Ridge campground; just beyond is the trailhead on the end of Grouse Ridge. The trail itself drops down into a valley and then gives you two options, either up on Sand Ridge (with an early climb) or at the base of the ridge (with a climb at the end). I opted for the later climb and followed the base of Sand Ridge. The trail winds through a forest until the last climb up towards the Black Buttes and Glacier Lake.Because this hike requires no permits, and it was Labor Day weekend, it was popular -- I wound up camping about a quarter mile away from the lake because there were no campsites available (I stopped counting at 8 parties). Glacier Lake itself is smaller than you'd think from the map but is very pretty; there's an interesting mixture of light granite and dark basalt in the surrounding rocks. <br><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2530/4009994625_8939c5387b_m.jpg"/> <img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2497/4009994707_12dea9b7e2_m.jpg"/> <img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2531/4010762170_45780cb8fb_m.jpg"/> <img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2444/4010762220_b519e5c68e_m.jpg"/> ]]></description><guid>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=438905</guid><link>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=438905</link><pubDate>Fri, 11 Dec 2009 18:12:53 -0500</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Loch Leven Lakes]]></title><description><![CDATA[This trip was not a good idea.That is not the fault of the hike (although it's not the best hike, see below), but because I was completely out of shape when I did it and because the only weekend I had available was when it seemed most of the Sierra was on fire and filling the air with smoke. But that was the weekend I had, so I went.The hike itself is a long wind (well it seems that way) up the edge of the Yuba River Valley. One cool thing about this hike is that it crosses the Union Pacific tracks -- I got to watch a train go by, which seemed pretty neat. One bad thing is that this is the same valley that I-80 runs through, so you get to listen to traffic on the Interstate the whole way up.Once you finally crest the ridgeline and get away from the road of the Interstate, everything changes. The Loch Leven Lakes are little subalpine jewels; my guidebook claimed that Lower and Upper Loch Leven get most of the traffic while High Loch Leven gets less, but that certainly wasn't true the weekend I went.This is definitely an easy trailhead to get to but that cuts both ways. <br><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3417/3520075138_2000c6d156_m.jpg"/> <img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3569/3520075194_4feb526356_m.jpg"/> <img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3649/3519261533_3d07141474_m.jpg"/> <img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3634/3519261621_c68313310d_m.jpg"/> ]]></description><guid>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=438890</guid><link>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=438890</link><pubDate>Fri, 11 Dec 2009 17:45:37 -0500</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Bear Lake, Emigrant Wilderness]]></title><description><![CDATA[This was my first backpacking trip in over a year and what a reintroduction. Life witth a 2-year-old is many good things but not terribly conducive to backpacking on a regular basis (at least, not my 2-year-old). My wife gave me a free pass, though, so off I went to Pinecrest on a Friday afternoon.The way to the trailhead is on a twisty maze of dirt forest roads, seemingly all alike. (This is where a GPS device is most useful; the trails themselves are well-signed.) It culminates in a huge, paved parking area more at home in Yosemite Valley than random place in the Sierra.The hike itself moves along pretty well with a long climb upwards culminating at Camp Lake which is long and narrow; a ridge to the south separates it from a long drop into Pine Valley. It began raining on me here just as I was finishing lunch and kept on for the next 45 minutes to Bear Lake, tucked into a narrow valley. It then continued to rain pretty much all day and night, although I found some dry spots to stay in when I wasn't in my tent.The rain finally stopped the next morning and I hauled my wet self out. This area is full of classic Sierran granite and forest; it's popular for a reason. <br><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3581/3642096595_64c1092a15_m.jpg"/> <img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2457/3642098077_b6f6b72969_m.jpg"/> <img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2465/3642098219_7878d064d7_m.jpg"/> <img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3320/3642904804_3d743ab21a_m.jpg"/> ]]></description><guid>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=438882</guid><link>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=438882</link><pubDate>Fri, 11 Dec 2009 17:19:30 -0500</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Nelson Lake, Yosemite National Park]]></title><description><![CDATA[Escape from the hustle and bustle of Tuolumne Meadows into the Cathedral Range! The first part of this hike is a moderately steep trudge through the forest on a good trail to Elizabeth Lake, where you finally break out of the trees and are rewarded with a great view of Unicorn Peak and other parts of the Cathedral Range.Then you continue onwards on a good use trail up towards the crest of the Cathedral Range -- and it's a good use trail, NOT a Park Service trail! It's fairly easy to follow but it has a strong preference for the up direction. You break out of the trees at long last at 10000 feet, just in time to crest the ridge and get beautiful views of Tuolumne Meadows and the high country north of there.The use trail then drops into the Echo Creek watershed, wandering through two subalpine meadows between Cockscomb and an unnamed (to me) fin of rock, and then climbs up over the toe of the eastern ridge to wind up at Nelson Lake. When it heads east the trail becomes a bit harder to follow.Just above Nelson Lake are great viewpoints to watch the sun set. There are plenty of nice campsites, although there were still quite a few bugs in early August of a low snow year (but not many mosquitos).You could easily wander around for a long time up here but I had to get back to the wife and family and headed out the same way the next day.I only saw one other group after leaving Elizabeth Lake, which is kind of a nice change in Yosemite. <br><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3195/3849500181_a1aca2e6ac_m.jpg"/> <img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2551/3850296274_6e968ddf7c_m.jpg"/> <img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3547/3849500717_bd69961034_m.jpg"/> <img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2546/3850296536_65512f5c86_m.jpg"/> ]]></description><guid>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=438876</guid><link>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=438876</link><pubDate>Fri, 11 Dec 2009 17:02:39 -0500</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Cluster Lakes Loop, Lassen Volcanic National Park]]></title><description><![CDATA[I wanted a mellow backpacking trip and this perfectly fit the bill. Drove up the night before, crashed in the Southwest Walk-In Campground, picked up a permit the next day, and set off from Summit Lake after oohing and aahing at Mount Lassen itself. Spent the night at Silver Lake and headed out the next day.The hike definitely has ups and downs but they are not that bad -- mostly you are climbing up to or down from the Hat Mountain lava plateau -- and goes really fast. There are not very many viewpoints, and the forest is exceptionally dense on the eastern half of the hike (basically east of Echo Lake in the south and Silver Lake in the north), so if you want views, don't do this. But I had a great (and mellow) time). <br><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3491/4044883463_cd3c95e039_m.jpg"/> <img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3536/4045627702_ce831b3288_m.jpg"/> <img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2571/4044883901_6811196b35_m.jpg"/> <img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2685/4044884123_221ecef5d9_m.jpg"/> ]]></description><guid>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=438866</guid><link>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=438866</link><pubDate>Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:41:25 -0500</pubDate></item></channel></rss>
	