Top 10 Hikes in 2023

High Trail, Ansel Adams Wilderness, Inyo National Forest, August 2023 This year, Live and Let Hike celebrated its 10-year anniversary of bringing you thorough trail descriptions and extensive photo collections of day hikes and backpacking routes across the United States and beyond. The web design may not be world class—and no one would mistake my …

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Big Pine Lakes (John Muir Wilderness, CA)

Big Pine Lakes, John Muir Wilderness, Inyo National Forest, August 2023 The simple names—First Lake, Second Lake, etc.—belie the picturesque setting of Big Pine Lakes, nestled in a majestic valley across the High Sierra Crest from Kings Canyon National Park. Once a relatively well-kept local secret, the Internet and social media have turned the lakes …

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Lamarck Lakes & Grass Lake Loop (John Muir Wilderness, CA)

Lower Lamarck Lake, John Muir Wilderness, August 2023 Named for a famous early 19th-century French biologist and naturalist, Lamarck Lakes are set below dramatic granite facades in the eastern Sierra Nevada and accessed by way of a steep and challenging trail in the vicinity of Aspendell and Bishop, California. The relentless climb ends at two …

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Mott Lake Trail (John Muir Wilderness, CA)

Mott Lake Trail, John Muir Wilderness, August 2021 Generally less frequented than nearby Yosemite or Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park, the John Muir Wilderness spans 650,000 acres of mostly unblemished mountain terrain in the heart of California’s Sierra Nevada. The region is dotted with hundreds of alpine and subalpine lakes, each of which shimmers …

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Top 10 Hikes in 2021

Evolution Lake, John Muir Trail, Kings Canyon National Park, August 2021 The past year brought new milestones for Live and Let Hike, with the Covid-era bump in traffic continuing for a second year. In fact, annual viewership rose by more than 50 percent compared to 2020 and more than 100 percent relative to 2019—Live and …

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John Muir Trail Northbound Section 3 – Muir Trail Ranch to Red’s Meadow (John Muir Wilderness, CA)

Marie Lake, John Muir Trail, John Muir Wilderness, August 2021 Note: This is the fourth in a series of five posts describing the John Muir Trail (JMT), a scintillating, multi-week hike through California’s Sierra Nevada that extends more than 200 miles from Yosemite National Park in the north to Mount Whitney and Sequoia National Park …

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John Muir Trail Northbound Section 2 – Onion Valley to Muir Trail Ranch (Kings Canyon National Park, CA)

John Muir Trail above Woods Creek Junction, Kings Canyon National Park, August 2021 Note: This is the third in a series of five posts describing the John Muir Trail (JMT), a scintillating, multi-week hike through California’s Sierra Nevada that extends more than 200 miles from Yosemite National Park in the north to Mount Whitney and …

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John Muir Trail Preparation & Logistics

John Muir Trail, Kings Canyon National Park, August 2021 Note: This is the first in a series of five posts describing the John Muir Trail (JMT), a scintillating, multi-week hike through California’s Sierra Nevada that extends more than 200 miles from Yosemite National Park in the north to Mount Whitney and Sequoia National Park in …

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