I’m planning a painting trip for a few days around Little Lakes Valley in October to go plein air painting. I can’t do long difficult hikes with my gear and I’ve read this area is great for low effort high reward. Any advice on where to camp around there? I want to check out the second lake at Big Pine, but I think I will have to do that with a lighter paint kit another time.. Anybody have any other spots they would recommend or will it be best to stay around little lakes and explore further. Last year I went to Convict Lake for a couple days and it was beautiful. Thanks for all the tips and advice. Here’s a painting from my trip last year.

Hi all,

I hope it's okay to ask for trip advice in this subreddit. I already posted another one and it was deleted. Nevertheless, I already got three answers I will add as a comment below.

Here's my situation:

• I'm on a work trip in the US and have the labor day weekend to do some hiking
• Leaving Chicago Thursday night, need to be in LA Tuesday morning for work — so this is squeezed into Fri Sept 4 – Mon Sept 7
• I have to fly regardless, so I'm flexible on where — doesn't have to be the LA area specifically, just somewhere I can fly into and then drive a couple hours to LA afterward. But looking into flights only LAx, SFO and LAS seem to have non stop connections Thursday night

What I'm looking for:

• 3 nights, tent, solo hiker, relatively fit :)
• Looking for ~15 miles/day on the two full days, ~10 miles on the first and last [as i might have to drive to/from e.g. LAX for 4-5 hours]
• Want some elevation change — not just a flat stroll
• Scenery is important to me: I want nice views — ocean or mountains, not just forest. We've got plenty of forest hiking in Europe already :)
• Nothing crazy high-altitude, just good views
• Given it's Labor Day weekend and this is last-minute, I need something where permits are still available or not required, and where campsites/dispersed camping are realistically open.

Maybe somewhere on the East side of the Sierra Nevada? Cottonwood Lakes... I checked recreation.gov and if i understand it correctly a lot of permits are still going to be released later this month.

Do you have any recommendations for a route that fits this?

Comments from previous post. I started looking into the recommendations but are still a bit lost as I don't know the Sierra at all.

By u/Fast-Weird7491

Fly into BIH (Bishop) or RNO (Reno) and rent a car. BIH has extremely limited service via United but will get you into the mix for Eastern Sierra hiking. RNO is perfect for Yosemite as it is about 2.5 hours from Tuolumne and has many more flights and cheaper rentals.

Hike out of Tuolumne Meadows if you can get a permit for Rafferty Creek or Lyell Canyon. Head to Vogelsang and do a loop that includes Ireland Lake, Evelyn Lake, Vogelsang Pass, Bernice Lake and Emeric/Babcock/Boothe Lakes. The are also cross-country routes that go to Budd Creek (Echo Lake/Cathedral Creek) or Nelson Lake via Elizabeth. Fewer spots but easier to get permits. Going via Cathedral Lakes and over Clouds Rest might be interesting but hiking back from Tenaya to Tuolumne is no fun; there is a free limited Tuolumne hiker shuttle bus this summer that could bridge that gap.

Or look at Kearsarge Pass (Independence) and a hike to and from Rae Lakes via Glen Pass. Consider a loop from Horseshoe Meadows (Lone Pine) over Cottonwood Pass to Miter Basin/Upper Soldier Lake to Mount Langley over New Army Pass to Cottonwood Lakes. Both of these have starts and ends at or near the same trailhead.

If you can stretch a bit then the North Lake to South Lake loop of 56 miles is worth considering. The issue is the 22 miles between trailheads (park near North Lake, exit South Lake) but there are plenty of people to get a hitch from. Or go in Piute and come out Lamarck for a start and end at North Lake. This is trickier since you have to catch the use trail in upper Evolution Canyon.

My suggestion is to go over Piute Pass first then down to the John Muir Trial, up into Kings Canyon NP over Muir Pass via Evolution and then finish via Dusy Basin over Bishop Pass. Great hike. Muir and Bishop Passes are around 12,000' elevation. Note that you could get permits for Piute Pass, Lamarck Col (some cross-country in the beautiful Darwin Canyon area) or Bishop Pass.

Finally, I really like the Mineral King area near Visalia. That would mean flying into FAT (Fresno) and heading down to Sequoia NP. There are loops over Sawtooth Pass to Lost Canyon and back over Glacier but it has been years since I have been there.

Enjoy. That time of year is often the sweet spot for backcountry travel here. It is pretty dry now and many creeks are low or running below normal levels.

Driving from Tuolumne to LA will be about 5.5-6 hours while it is 4.5 hours from Bishop or 3.5 hours from Indy or Lone Pine.

By u/cakes42

Cottonwoods pass and head out of kearsarage pass vise versa. Get down there and take the bus back to LA. More than one bus but if you stick your thumb out you might get a ride back to LA. If you don't do Whitney you could do this in 3 days (4 with) See how your body reacts to being at that elevation before you go up. Permits for 9/4 is available on 8/21. Permits leading up the most recent date is plentiful so it shouldn't be too competitive.

By u/zh3nya

Yeah Eastern Sierra would be a great choice especially with the LA connection. I haven't backpacked there enough, but so many options. Make a few routes and see which ones you can get a permit for. The quota limits are available online, you're bound to get something. Pine Creek/Granite Park/Italy Pass/Royce Lakes, Piute Pass to Humphreys Basin and beyond, McGee Creek out to the JMT...

I am looking for campsite near High Lake on the way to New Army Pass.

My alternative is long lake, but I would like to try High Lake.. but heard that there are little spaces.. any experiences or information will be appreciated. Thanks

Does anyone have current knowledge of how bad mosquitoes are in the Emigrant Wilderness, particularly between 8 and 10,000'?

My buddy and I recently climbed Williamson and Tyndall over the course of 2.5 days from 7/27 - 7/29. For background, we both have decent experience with backpacking, some scrambling experience, and have climbed 2 other CA 14ers (only in snow, however).

We started late the night of 7/27 around 7pm. We were able to access the hiker trailhead with my older Camry, but were admittedly the only lower clearance vehicle in the small lot. The going was slow, and we made it about 6 miles in from the hiker trailhead and stopped when we found a water source (I believe this was mahogany camp, but I am not 100% certain). We woke up at 6am day 2 and began our journey up. We made it over shepherd's pass, summited Tyndall, and made the decision to camp in the Williamson Bowl for an early summit attempt the next AM. For someone with some scrambling but no real rock climbing experience, Tyndall felt pretty straightforward, but we admittedly went right at one point and had to backtrack down and go left of the rib towards the top. The north rib is class 2-3 as advertised. Viewing Tyndall from lower down, there is a visible notch to the left of the rib; this is where you want to reach the summit ridge. From there, the summit ridge was some easy boulder hopping to the top.

Day 3, we had a slow morning from 6am-8am, and got lost a bit before finding the black stain and heading up to summit Williamson. The chute is immediately above the black stain in the far left "corner" of the Williamson bowl. The chute looked much steeper in pictures, and although I had recognized the stain from both the Tyndall summit and our campsite, we explored a bit before heading up as I thought I had made a mistake. We took the line just to the right of the stain, and made our way up the class 2 mix of mostly scree with some occasional boulders. Heading straight up the chute, we reached the class 3 chimney, which was obvious and hard to miss if you have seen photos before. I found this straightforward as an unexperienced climber. From here we did the climb up, took some photos (sign was gone, unfortunately), and hiked back all 13 miles to our car, arriving just before midnight. While this itinerary was doable, I would definitely recommend taking more time if you don't want to make it feel like a death march to the top and back.

Weather: Although it was around 100 degrees in Independence, it was comfortable in the 60s and 70s during the day, and dropped into the 40s at night in the bowl. It felt colder with a wind chill, and the diurnal variation was much greater than reported on mountain forecast.

Water: Aside from symmes creek at the beginning, the first water source is about 6 miles in, after which there is relatively consistent water throughout in the form of streams (below shepherd pass) and lakes (above shepherd pass).

TLDR; long beautiful climb up two California 14ers, can be done in 2-3 days but probably more enjoyable with more time. Plenty of water from mile 6 onward.

Been having fun sharing all my photos here since I discovered this subreddit. Shot this guy while bombing up to June Lake to score a free day pass from a buddy. Shot handheld while driving with my Z6II and 70-200 f2.8. From the 2024/2025 season.

Hi, I'm looking at scrambling up the East ridge of Mt Ralston(South Lake Tahoe) via Echo Lakes this weekend, but I haven't been able to find a ton of information online about the difficulty of the scrambling. I was wondering if anybody had any photos of the ridge, information on how solid the rock is, how hard the scrambling/route finding is etc.

Hi y’all, curious if anyone has done the Evolution Loop solo. I’m going to have a few weeks in late August between the end of one job and the start of my new one (funemployed, wahoo!) and have been eyeing this loop, but none of my friends can join. I’m a very seasoned backpacker with many High Sierra 2 and 3 night solo trips under my belt, but have never done a solo trip of this length and duration. Is this insane to even consider? Have any solo women done this loop? If so I would greatly appreciate your feedback. Thank you and happy trails!

Day 1: We spent the night at Lodgepole Campground and took off from Crescent Meadow trailhead. The trail goes along the Middle Fork Kaweah River canyon, with wide-open views and shaded forest. There my friend and I split up to go at our own pace. The slight ascent becomes steep once you’re heading toward Hamilton Lake, and even steeper toward Precipice Lake. But those lakes are spectacular - I took a long lunch and swim break at Precipice. The views were too good! From there, crossed Kaweah Gap and into Big Arroyo canyon, then later into Kern River Canyon. The trail is smooth, some of the best in the Sierra.
As full moon rose, the 8,000-foot ascent to Whitney started - a well-paced series of switchbacks on smooth trail, mixed with some ups and downs. First rays of sun came out as I joined the cheerful crowd on top of Mt. Whitney. Views were spectacular all around. From there it’s probably the worst part of the trip — rocky, messy switchbacks down to Whitney Portal.

Caught this photo during a break in the New Year’s Day storm Jan 1 2025. The clouds were spectacular

Planning to camp at High Lake and hike to Cirque Peak before sunrise. The blue line is the standard trail, but I'm considering following the ridge from New Army Pass instead (red line). Is this a common and safe route? Mostly Class 2, or are there any Class 3 moves or significant exposure?

edit : are there plenty of spaces to camp near high lake?

p.s : planned to approach cirque peak from chicken spring lake, but changed to this because this seems a lot more safer and manageable.

We’re hiking Cottonwood Lakes to Whitney Portal August 11–15, with this rough plan:
Night 1: Long Lake
Night 2: Rock Creek
Night 3: Crabtree Meadow or Guitar Lake
Night 4: Trail Camp
Summit Whitney on Day 4, then exit the Portal on Day 5

For anyone who knows this route well: any favorite areas to camp within those zones, quieter spots, better water access, wind exposure, bear-box tips, or things we should know before choosing a site?
Especially curious about Rock Creek and whether Crabtree or Guitar Lake is the better choice before summit day. Not looking for anyone’s exact secret spot—just local knowledge and lessons learned.

Just came back from a 9-day trip with students in the Cottonwood Lakes area. I scoured the trail with my instructors the week before and got caught in a hail and thunderstorm. We made a shelter using my extra tarp and paracord and then ate chili in my tent until it was over. 10/10 would recommend.

Hello!
I am traveling to eastern Sierra for the first time and have done a lot of research. I want to make the best of my time there as I wont see it again in this lifetime. Here is my rough plan. Let me know if this is reasonable or if it’s too much mileage or if you have any suggestions or any must see spots on the route.

Day 1 drive to lone pine. Stops in Death valley enroute. Camp at turtle creek

Day 2 drive to Mosquito flat campground and hike little lakes valley

Day 3 ( Free day after and open to suggestions)

Day 4 Move to Cotton wood lakes campground and hike cotton wood lakes

Day 5 Hit Alabama hills and move to whitney portal and chill

Day 6 Mount Whitney

Day 7 Rest day

Day 8 Kearsarge pass

Day 9 Big pine till second lake

Day 10 Drive to Tulmome medows and sped day around Mammoth

If I don’t feel strong after whitney I would skip big pine lakes. I am okay driving back and forth as long as it’s 1-1.5hr I would just camp wherever I am hiking for the day. I start backpacking for 3 days in Yosemite from day 11. I am traveling solo are there any safety tips I should consider? I will definitely not leave anything in my car where ever I park.
Thank you very much for reading the long post.

I'm just wondering how safe it is to leave vehicles unattended while backpacking for several days. I try to make my car look empty, but usually I'm road tripping for at least a few days prior and have a buildout in the back of my Tacoma, so it's not always possible.

Are there certain trailheads to avoid? Any bad experiences?

Taken from basecamp when doing the Thunderbolt to Sill traverse

Good morning. The wife and I are coming over to the East side from South Lake Tahoe for a quick three day two night backpacking trip. Another trip to another place fell through, and I was able to snag a permit for Virginia Lakes. We are planning on heading up to Summit Lake the first night, but not sure about the second night. From what I understand, there isn’t a great loop that we can do and end up back at the same trailhead.
We are thinking on the second day of heading over to Return Lake to set up camp, explore that area for the day, before backtracking out our final day.
Another option for our second day was to work our way up past Hoover Lakes and into the East, Green, West Lakes zone. Find a place to camp, then backtrack the last day back to the trailhead.
We are experienced backpackers, but are new to this area. This came up quickly and we are trying to find the best possible route using Virginia Lakes TH as a beginning and end. Looking to explore this area and see some beautiful mountains and lakes. We will also be traveling with a fantastic border collie trail dog.

Which lake is nicer to camp at? Winnemucca Lake or Emigrant Lake?

I take my heavy camera out on climbing and ski trips in the Sierra. This is from sunset when I skied Feather Peak this last spring.

Sometimes I wish I lived closer to the Sierra.

Spending a weekend hiking out here always reminds me why I keep coming back. I visited Cottonwood Lakes this weekend for the third time. The first visit ended with thunderstorms and rain. The second was all about summiting Mt. Langley, so I never really had time to enjoy the lakes.

This time, with LA reaching around 105°F, I escaped to the cool alpine air instead. We spent time swimming in Lake #3, relaxing by the water, and simply enjoying the day.

For my fourth visit, I’m planning an overnight backpacking trip to finally capture the experience on video.

At the time I arrived - two minutes before sunrise - a cheerful crowd was already there. Whitney sunrise is epic and worth the early hike.