Short but strenuous hike on the Pacific Crest Trail and South Fork Lakes Trail to a pair of alpine lakes in the Trinity Alps Wilderness.
Category: Strenuous Hikes
Ohlone Wilderness Trail (Ohlone Regional Wilderness, CA)
Excellent two- or three-day backpacking option in the East Bay, connecting Del Valle Regional Park with Mission Peak Regional Preserve.
Kelso Dunes Trail (Mojave National Preserve, CA)
Mojave National Preserve in southern California boasts a wide array of desert ecosystems, from pinyon-juniper woodlands, to Joshua tree forests, to cactus-yucca scrub, but there is perhaps none more iconic than the massive desert dunes scattered across the 1.6-million acre park. The primary show-stopper is Kelso Dunes, the largest dune field in the Mojave Desert …
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Sidewinder Canyon (Death Valley National Park, CA)
Sidewinder Canyon Death Valley slot canyon California
Bald Mountain Loop (Sugarloaf Ridge State Park, CA)
Towering above California’s wine country, Bald Mountain (2,729’) is the highest point in Sugarloaf Ridge State Park and one of the tallest peaks in the Mayacamas Mountains, a subset of the Coast Range in the North Bay. While the main draw of Sugarloaf Ridge is the nearby 25-foot seasonal waterfall, hearty hikers can trek to …
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Chalone Peak Trail (Pinnacles National Park, CA)
Rising to 3,304 feet, Chalone Peak is the highest point in California’s Pinnacles National Park and a worthy challenge for peak-baggers who seek to brave the exposed sun and 2,000 feet in elevation gain to reach the summit. The Chalone Peak Trail juts off from the end of Bear Gulch Cave in the eastern section …
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Top 10 Hikes in 2019
2019 has come and gone, and it was an excellent year for hiking. Over the course of the year, I added 43 posts to Live and Let Hike and notched nearly 150,000 site visits (81,000 visitors). As always, the travel was diverse, spanning hikes and scenic drives from 13 states (plus the District of Columbia), …
Condor Gulch – High Peaks Trail Loop (Pinnacles National Park, CA)
Originally the work of volcanoes 23 million years ago, the rocks of today’s Pinnacles National Park were moved, upended, chiseled, and weathered by water, wind, and the infamous temper of the San Andreas Fault in central California. The result is a wild paradise of formations, boulders, spires, and talus caves, less than a two-hour’s drive …
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Mount Diablo via Eagle Peak and Mitchell Canyon (Mount Diablo State Park, CA)
At 3,849 feet, Mount Diablo is one of the highest and most prominent peaks in the San Francisco Bay Area and perhaps the most well-known mountain in the East Bay. Taking its name from a linguistic accident in the early 19th century, this “Devil’s Mountain” makes for a very long and imposing climb for modern …
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Sharp Top Trail (Jefferson National Forest, VA)
Viewed from the valley below, Sharp Top (3,862’) in central Virginia is an imposing peak, once thought by 19th century Virginians to be the highest point in the state. Although later surveyors found this not to be true (the honors go to Mount Rogers at 5,728’), Sharp Top remains a popular destination for hikers seeking …
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