California: Sampling the Sierras

Sierra Nevada Part 1

August -September 2023

Fire. Smoke. Heat. Hurricanes…

Outside National Parks and Monuments there are equally amazing places to explore. Discovery and access take more research. The resources however, are endless.

After the Sawtooth Range experience I set my sites on the North Cascades (again) and again there were fires, smoke and major road closure through the park. It will have to wait.

Another possibility was Crater Lake National Park. By the time I had driven westward, it looked like smoke was going to be thick. And then I notices the rare event of a Hurricane coming up from Southern California… Interesting.

Though I had been in a variety of places in the Sierra Nevada Range, it became obvious with some work I would find more to explore. And I am glad I did! Something about that tectonic, granite, glacial landscape that moved something in me. Seeing the uplift and glacial activity seems so alive and wild.

The following images and places have kept me busy for most of August and September. And still there are more places to return to. Snow in many places required careful consideration and planning as I would find out later…

First stop: Palisades Tahoe (Formerly Squaw)

Granite Chief Trail Loop variation (I took the tram down!) I wanted to tone things down a little after all the off trail hiking in the Sawtooths.

Ralston Peak via Echo Lakes Trail (Just south of Lake Tahoe)

Twin Lakes Loop Alltrails Approximation Desolation Wilderness just south of Lake Tahoe

Leavit Peak A bit of the beaten path. Just Northwest of Mono Lake inside the Emigrant Wilderness

Sierra Nevada Part 2 Coming soon!