NorCal Hiking & Backpacking:

Never been up to Grouse Ridge around this time.. does anyone know if this is a popular spot for memorial day weekend? Worried primarily about trailhead parking. Thanks!

I’ve been hiking the double dipsea almost every other weekend as preparation for Mt Whitney. However, this has gotten a little stale.

Anyone have any recs for hikes that are either similar or a little more in mileage / elevation gain, ideally within ~1hr or so of SF? (4k ft, 15 miles).

Hello I have a permit for 2 people from 6/25 to 6/28 next month. I know this is not transferable thus I will have to release them into the sphere. If serious, DM and let’s coordinate!

Was hoping someone with experience could sanity check these plans and potentially provide advice? First day planning to hike out past the first impasse section to Sea Lion Gulch (first day the tide never gets above 5 feet), and camp there since it looks to be right at the start of the second impasse section (2.5 feet and below). Second day, in the morning (i.e. before 11am) hike the second impasse section to the front of the third impasse section and camp at ~Miller Flat. And then just hike out in the morning again on the third day since the water is only below 2.5/3 feet before 11am.

I guess does this logistically make sense and am I getting the right campsites to get through the impasse sections quickly the next morning? And then I guess are there any other campsites that would be better that still fit into these plans (most critical part is getting through the impasse in the morning on the second and third day before 11am). I’m referencing the website below for impasse tide restriction locations.

If there’s any other advice about the area or things to check out, I’d greatly appreciate it too! Thank you!

https://www.blm.gov/sites/blm.gov/files/docs/2021-02/TIDE%20GUIDE%20WEB_Active%20Links%20%281%29.pdf

My husband and I would love to find dog friendly (hopefully tick free) backpacking trails we could take our dogs for 1-2 nights. Do you have any suggestions?

My friend and I are planning to do an overnight camp this weekend and want to hike in to a lake somewhere in the general 2-hr vicinity of Truckee (where I live). We're thinking areas South of Hogansville or North of Camp Spaulding. Looking for max 7-8 mile hike in. Recognizing there's still a lot of snow cover, anyone know of some good spots? Any recommendations appreciated.

Looking to go do a 2 night trip with my pups, I usually go to desolation or emigrant but not sure if it’s too early in the season for those areas if I don’t want to trek through snow. Any recs?

Does anyone know if the roads and trail to Devil’s Punchbowl in Siskiyou Wilderness are open currently? It looks like Google and Apple Maps both route to the Doe Flat Trailhead from the Crescent City area without any closed roads, but the Six Rivers website states that the Devil’s Punchbowl is temporarily closed.

Hi there,

My girlfriend and I are comjng down to norcal from Oregon at the end of May for a 3 day camping trip. Is there any must see or do hikes or activities in the area that any locals or frequent visitors can point us too? Thank you!

Hi there! Wondering if anyone has insight into shuttle options for someone hoping to secure a walk-up permit for the LCT -- My partner and I are road tripping through the area in a few weeks and are aiming to try our luck at a walk-up permit; however it seems impossible to schedule a corresponding day-of shuttle (most companies say you need to give them advance notice and already possess a permit, and you aren't able to cancel day-of -- so no chance of booking a shuttle "just in case"). We'll only have the one car, so doing a self-shuttle isn't an option.

Are the walk-up permits essentially excluded from the private shuttle system? Or have folks had luck scheduling a shuttle to the North starting point the same day as obtaining a walk-up permit?

EDIT: The reservation gods smiled upon us and we were able to snag a 5/27 permit that must've been re-released. Thanks so much for the insight re: walk-up permits!

I am hoping to go backpacking (3 day, 2 night) in Lassen in about a month and would love input/help coming up with a route that minimizes time spent in the super scorched areas while still seeing some of the highlights of the park. I have looked at the maps of the burned areas and know being in burnt timber is going to be somewhat unavoidable but would love input from anyone who has hiked there post-fire. Thanks all!

Howdy! I and 2 friends were going up to the redwoods in a few weeks. We were looking at doing the bike in camping at Gold Bluff in PCRSP and then heading to Redwood National Park and 2 nights of dispersed backpacking. My concern is about leaving our bicycles at the Redwood Ck TH for 2 nights. Does anyone know if there's any place safe (and official) to store 3 bicycles for a few days? Thanks!

Did a hike up Mt. Ralston recently. I heard this noise coming from the trees, kinda like someone was bending a piece of plastic of sheet metal (that kind wubba wubba wubba) sound. It was rhythmic, would happen in a pattern of 3-4 then repeat, and sounded kind woody.

At first I thought it was the snow and I was in avalanche danger, but it happened even in places with no snow so I don’t think it was that. Anyone heard this before / any ideas?

We're going to do Mt. Langley over three days in late September. I was thinking an itinerary that looks something like this. Trying to minimize time off of work. Permits are thursday - saturday, driving from the bay area.

Wednesday: Drive 4 hours from roughly 6pm to 10pm. Find a motel or campsite to stay at.
Thursday: Drive the next four hours, get to trailhead at 10am - 11am. Hike 6 miles up to camp.
Friday: Summit day. Wake up very early. Leave stuff at camp, summit, come down back to camp.
Saturday: Wake up around 8am. Hike down. Drive four hours out, either stop at Yosemite, or some random motel .
Sunday: Drive home.

Alternatively, we could also do something like the following, to summit White Mountain.
Saturday: Drive only one hour to Bishop, recover, recuperate, go to bed early.
Sunday: Wake up at 6am. Hike White Mountain. Be done by 4pm. Drive 6 hours home.

Any thoughts / suggestions? Is adding White Mountain too ambitious? Also, will a Honda fit be able to do all the roads listed?

A few friends and I want to have a chill and smallish bonfire toward the end of the month, but we're aware that winds from the Pacific tend to pick up around then considerably. We have our eyes on a location, and are going to monitor the wind 1-2 days before we go out. However, I'm looking for some Plan B's, but I can't find anything besides Santa Cruz.

Are there other options where we'd be allowed to have a small bonfire, maybe around East Bay?

Thanks!

Hi! My friends and I will go to Yosemite this weekend. Gonna stay for 1 night in Housekeeping camp. What should I bring? And what to expect? Thankss

Hi! My partner and I want to do a 3/4 day trip backpacking through Big Sur in early June. I have backpacked a fair bit with some longer back country trips, but my partner is newer to backpacking.

We are (for now) thinking that we’ll do the Cone Peak Trail via Kirk Creek Trail in Ventana wilderness, but if anyone has different suggestions we are very openminded and would love ideas. I’m especially interested in any seasonality considerations, given our trip will be early June.

We are thinking we will fly in to SFO, rent a car, drive to the trailhead and leave the car there for 3ish days.

Does anyone have general advice for/against renting a car for this purpose? Or better alternatives for getting to trailheads? All other thoughts/recs welcome as well! Thank you:)

Hello, I've recently gotten into hiking, and I went on a pretty challenging one a few days ago in the east bay area. It was about 9 miles long and had a fair amount of uphill climbing, definitely took me by surprise.

I think I enjoyed it more because it was almost entirely empty, only saw a couple passerby's during the entire hike.

Anyone know of a good trail thats long/challenging like this where i'm not likely to see many/any people?

I live in the Sacramento/Stockton region and would be willing to travel up to 1.5 hours away.. Thanks!