A catalog of potential hikes I'm investigating

There's never enough time to get up into the mountains, particularly since I don't get to go but once or twice a year.

So I spend a lot of my time dreaming about trips I might take.

I haven't taken any of these trips (yet), but I'm considering them.

If you know of anything about any of these trips, let me know!

• Sierra Nevada West Side trips
  1. Ansel Adams Wilderness; Devil's Bathtub; Lake Edison trailhead

     http://midsierramusing.blogspot.com/2014/06/day-hike-to-devils-bathtub.html

     4.5 miles from the 7,800 foot trailhead to the 9,200 foot lake I'm not sure how many day hikes from here, but the lake looks superb and I don't think it's often visited.

  2. Kaiser Wilderness; George Lake; Potter Pass trailhead

     http://sierranewsonline.com/potter-pass-to-twin-and-george-lakes-hike/

     4.7 miles from the 7,700 foot trailhead to the 9,100 foot lake. Looks like several nice day hikes from George Lake. Should be not very busy.

  3. Jennie Lakes Wilderness; Brothers Lake; Rowell Meadow Trailhead

     https://jennielakeswilderness.wordpress.com/plan-your-trip/overnight-2-to-3-days/brothers-lake/
     https://jennielakeswilderness.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/brothers_lake.pdf

     5 miles from the 7,800 foot trailhead to the 9,400 foot lake. A bit of an adventure for the last mile, off-trail. Right on the border of King's Canyon National Park. I have to admit I'm really intrigued by this one; seems like a high probability of being somewhere that nobody else goes. OTOH, not many day hikes.

• Sierra Nevada East Side trips
  1. Hoover Wilderness; East Lake; Green Creek Trailhead:

     http://www.highsierratrails.com/east_lake/overview.html

     4 miles from the 8,000 foot trailhead to the 9,500 foot lake. Yosemite National Park is a do-able day hike from East Lake.

  2. Ansel Adams Wilderness; Ediza Lake; Agnew Meadows Trailhead

     http://www.gardenbetty.com/2013/04/backpacking-to-ediza-lake/

     7 miles from the 7,500 foot trailhead to the 9,400 foot lake. Many, many nearby day hikes. May not be the most secluded spot.

  3. Carson-Iceberg Wilderness; Fish Valley; Corral Valley trailhead

     http://ski3pin.blogspot.com/2015/05/carson-iceberg-wilderness-may-2015.html

     7 mile hike from the 8,000 foot trailhead to the 8,000 foot valley. River camping. Possible day hike to Tamarack Lake?

• Far North hikes
  1. Caribou Wilderness; Cypress Lake; Caribou Lake trailhead

     http://www.redding.com/lifestyle/trek-highlights-the-caribou-wilderness-ep-378871243-356947901.html

     3.5 miles from the 6,500 foot trailhead to the 7,200 foot lake. Might be a little bit tame. OTOH, our other trip to Caribou Wilderness was a lot of fun (I thought).

  2. Trinity Alps Wilderness; Ward Lake; Big Flat Campground trailhead

     http://backpackinginjefferson.com/ward/ward.htm
     http://myplace.frontier.com/~paulgriffith2/pix/wardlake.html

     6.5 miles from the 5,000 foot trailhead to 7,100 foot Ward Lake. As Trinity Alps hikes go, supposed to be "less crowded"

  3. Siskiyou Wilderness; Island Lake; Island Lake trailhead

     http://web.thedailycourier.com/zachsadventures/stories/adventure.html?h=island
     http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprd3813287.pdf
     http://web.thedailycourier.com/southernoregonoutdoors/hikes/hikes.html?i=57
     

     6.5 miles with 2500 feet of elevation gain (ugh!) But it certainly looks beautiful. Starts at 3000 feet, goes to 5,500 (I think?)

     An alternate Siskiyou Wilderness hike would be Devil's Punchbowl:

     http://backpackinginjefferson.com/punchbowl/punchbowl.htm
     http://web.thedailycourier.com/zachsadventures/stories/adventure.html?h=punchbowl

     6.5 miles from the Doe Flat trailhead. Similar elevation I think.

  4. Sky Lakes Wilderness; Cliff Lake; Seven Lakes trailhead

     http://richard-hikes.blogspot.com/2012/09/seven-lakes-trail.html
     http://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/travel/outdoors/2015/09/09/oregon-best-hikes-sky-lakes-wilderness/71728578/
     http://www.dailytidings.com/article/20090918/LIFE/909180304
     

     Yes, this hike is in Oregon! But it looks really nice. 5.5 miles from the 5,000 foot trailhead to the 7,400 foot lake. Looks like there are a LOT of day hikes to take from there.

• Possible shuttle trips
  1. Start at Echo Summit on U.S. 50, and end at Carson Pass on California 88

     A slight variation is to start at Big Meadow trailhead on California 89, and end at Carson Pass on 88.

     I think both routes are mostly flat, about 8,500 feet high at each end.

     The first one is Pacific Crest Trail the whole way, and is about 13 miles.

     The second one is Tahoe Rim Trail for the first half, then PCT for the second half, and is about 9 miles; 10.5 miles including the side-trip to Dardanelles Lake.

     The second one is probably the better one.

  2. Start at the Saint Mary's Pass trailhead on California 108, and end at the Iceberg Meadow trailhead in the Carson-Iceberg wilderness.

     About 9.5 miles total. Pretty much downhill all the way, starting at 10,000 feet and ending below 7,000 feet, walking down the Clark Fork of the Stanislaus River the whole way.

     No lakes, just adventures along the river.

  3. Start at the Mosquito Lakes trailhead on California 4, end at the Stanislaus Meadow trailhead on California 4.

     This one is pretty flat, starting at 8,000 feet and ending at about 7,600 feet. It's a total of about 8 miles.

     This trip is pretty easy, I think, and might be pretty crowded. On the other hand, it's also pretty simple and would be a fine "first shuttle trip".

  4. Start at Mono Pass trailhead on California 120, end at Walker Lake trailhead off California 158.

     About 11 miles, requires going up and over Mono Pass. Mostly east side of the Sierras, so likely to be fairly barren and dry. The distance between drop-off and pick-up for the drivers is pretty substantial.

     Not probably the best, but I'm being exhaustive with this list.