littlerunneryogi
Trail Ready!
When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe.
Posts: 12
|
Post by littlerunneryogi on Dec 25, 2019 12:43:31 GMT -8
I've got a brand new pack, an airline voucher and a long weekend in January. I'd like to find a place to explore, backpacking and winter camping my way. I prefer a loop for convenience, but am open to hiking in, setting up camp, and running a few out-and-backs from there. What are your favorite winter spots in January?
|
|
|
Post by High Sierra Fan on Dec 25, 2019 12:56:09 GMT -8
|
|
|
Post by High Sierra Fan on Dec 25, 2019 13:45:18 GMT -8
Sequoia would be another fine choice. Camping amongst the Giant Sequias? Magic. /?d=n If you’re not familiar the Sierra gets tens of feet of snow. Five feet in one storm isn’t that unusual: so over snow travel requires snowshoes or skis: boots won’t work until the hard pack of late Spring: May and June etc.
|
|
|
Post by High Sierra Fan on Dec 25, 2019 19:23:59 GMT -8
Probably more accessible from the east side, but another route is up Snow Creek. /?d=n
|
|
|
Post by johntpenca on Dec 26, 2019 16:39:33 GMT -8
and a long weekend in January How long of a weekend? From any major airport in SoCal/ SF Bay area, it is at least a half day of travel once you've reached the destination airport to get to the sierra. From Reno/Tahoe it is less of a distance to the snow. Yosemite can take a long time to get to. Especially in winter if chains are required. Do you ski/snowshoe? The sierra is under major snow already; boot hiking won't get you very far. What is your winter experience? Really need to have a better idea of your general plan to provide anything of value. Where are you thinking of flying into? Any general area you have targeted? For a quickie, San Jacinto near Palm Springs via the tram is a good time. Another option is to go to a nordic resort. There are lot's of possibilities if we knew more. edit: I see this was also posted on the Mountain States page: bpbasecamp.freeforums.net/thread/14647/winter-backpacking-camping-january. Seems here we jumped to the conclusion you were after snow camping (maybe because of the pic in the OP). If that was an erroneous conclusion, there is Joshua Tree, Death Valley and the Anza Borrego in SoCal.
|
|
|
Post by bluefish on Dec 27, 2019 9:58:08 GMT -8
If you wanted moderate temps, fly into SFO and go to Point Reyes National Seashore. You can do a 5 day trip and visit all 4 campsites, depending on what reservations you can get. Gorgeous coastline, the shortish drive includes some redwoods and maybe a quick trip out to the very impressive lighthouse. Lots of info on the .gov website. Wildcat and Sky were my favorite camps. Sunsets were incredible. On the opposite side of the state, Death Valley via Vegas. If you don't want to waste a lot of your trip driving- PRNS is hard to beat.
|
|
littlerunneryogi
Trail Ready!
When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe.
Posts: 12
|
Post by littlerunneryogi on Dec 28, 2019 18:27:16 GMT -8
Thanks for the suggestions! I'll check these out!
|
|
almostthere
Trail Wise!
putting on my hiking shoes....
Posts: 696
|
Post by almostthere on Dec 29, 2019 12:03:41 GMT -8
If you wanted moderate temps, fly into SFO and go to Point Reyes National Seashore. You can do a 5 day trip and visit all 4 campsites, depending on what reservations you can get. Gorgeous coastline, the shortish drive includes some redwoods and maybe a quick trip out to the very impressive lighthouse. Lots of info on the .gov website. Wildcat and Sky were my favorite camps. Sunsets were incredible. On the opposite side of the state, Death Valley via Vegas. If you don't want to waste a lot of your trip driving- PRNS is hard to beat.
I do this every New Year (leaving tomorrow). Always skip Glen camp, it's the coldest and isn't so scenic as the ones with ocean views.
You have to reserve the campsites way in advance to do the thru hike, especially for Wildcat which is always the bottleneck. And there is now a no show fee, so if you don't cancel and don't pick up the permit, you're fined. No campfires, no pets. But it's absolutely surreal beautiful and winter you avoid the crowds and all the fog, plus visit the elephant seals and the lighthouse to see whales migrating. Instead of going to Glen, we go and visit the Tule elk reserve and the lighthouse, stay a night at the hostel, then backpack the other camps starting at Sky, then Coast, then Wildcat - leaving a car at Palomarin you can then go from Wildcat to the southern end of Point Reyes and see it all.
This year I'm taking a skillet and a bag of briquettes, and making pizza for dinner, biscuits and gravy for breakfast... the easy hikes to the campsites lead me to taking extras. It's as close to glamping as I get. The camps have pit toilets, picnic tables, trash cans and food storage boxes.
|
|
|
Post by bluefish on Dec 29, 2019 13:25:13 GMT -8
If you wanted moderate temps, fly into SFO and go to Point Reyes National Seashore. You can do a 5 day trip and visit all 4 campsites, depending on what reservations you can get. Gorgeous coastline, the shortish drive includes some redwoods and maybe a quick trip out to the very impressive lighthouse. Lots of info on the .gov website. Wildcat and Sky were my favorite camps. Sunsets were incredible. On the opposite side of the state, Death Valley via Vegas. If you don't want to waste a lot of your trip driving- PRNS is hard to beat.
I do this every New Year (leaving tomorrow). Always skip Glen camp, it's the coldest and isn't so scenic as the ones with ocean views.
You have to reserve the campsites way in advance to do the thru hike, especially for Wildcat which is always the bottleneck. And there is now a no show fee, so if you don't cancel and don't pick up the permit, you're fined. No campfires, no pets. But it's absolutely surreal beautiful and winter you avoid the crowds and all the fog, plus visit the elephant seals and the lighthouse to see whales migrating. Instead of going to Glen, we go and visit the Tule elk reserve and the lighthouse, stay a night at the hostel, then backpack the other camps starting at Sky, then Coast, then Wildcat - leaving a car at Palomarin you can then go from Wildcat to the southern end of Point Reyes and see it all.
This year I'm taking a skillet and a bag of briquettes, and making pizza for dinner, biscuits and gravy for breakfast... the easy hikes to the campsites lead me to taking extras. It's as close to glamping as I get. The camps have pit toilets, picnic tables, trash cans and food storage boxes.
Have a wonderful trip. Glen was a mudhole when we went, but we wanted to stay at all 4. We saw 4 whales at the lighthouse. Lots of elk and deer also. Also spied a fellow on the catwalk below get on one knee and propose . She said yes, and we cheered. I first went to PRNS in the 70's when Alamere didn't have a trail to it and the area near Bolinas was still Audobon Society land and some private holdings. I looked at what was available for campsites and there are some. You could figure out some kind of trip if you did it soon. Happy New Year! We spend every New Year outside; we'll be in a shelter on a mountain in New York. Wish we were on Point Reyes, though. That would be heaven.
|
|