Great Hikes to Take with Kids

Along the Sierra High Route

For 8 days in August of 2016, we went back into the wilderness for another family adventure.  This was our first significant off-trail hike and we were excited and a bit apprehensive.  We did our research and knew roughly the route to take and our options for side trips, etc.  I plotted our course on our new Delorme inReach satellite unit and we had physical maps courtesy of Andrew Skurka’s SHR mapset (thank god for this man!).  Moreover, I chose a section of the SHR that had offered some familiar territory (LeConte Canyon, Evolution Basin) as well as new (to us) wilderness to explore off trail.   We were set.  What we were NOT prepared for was how strenuous the hiking was off trail and how hard it would be on our 40 something bodies.  The kids did not have problems with achy knees and stiff backs and they could have carried on another 4 days.  As it was, we cut our trip short by 2 days and hiked out early.  No one complained about hiking out early and eating big, fat burgers at the Burger Barn in Bishop.  We all felt a bit sad, however, to leave the wilderness early.  We will head back out on the Sierra High Route again soon.

Day 1:  South Lake Trailhead to Dusy Basin (8 mi.)

We left a second vehicle at the Pine Creek trailhead, our exit point, and hit the South Lake trailhead by 8am.  Crystal clear skies and beautiful weather greeted us. We made it to Bishop Lake by 11:15 and had lunch and the boys took a dip.  After lunch we headed up Bishop Pass and reached the summit by 1:15pm.  We encountered several people with dogs coming down from Bishop Pass.  A snowfield awaited us at the summit (11,980′) and the boys just had to throw a few snowballs.  We made camp at one of the little lakes in Dusy Basin by 2:30pm and the boys took a dip in the lake before us.  It was quite shallow and the water was incredibly warm.  What a delicious treat.

 

 

Day 2:  Dusy Basin to lake above Big Pete Meadow (10 mi)

We woke to light rain.  It rained several times in the night and Mike heard an animal rumbling outside the tent about 2am.  I worried that the animal noise might have been a bear.  I had stashed some of our surplus food in a bag and hung it from a tree branch (I know, I know — not supposed to do that.  Save your lecture.).  We were carrying ten days of food for four people and I could not fit all of it in our bear canisters for the first 2 nights.   My dear husband was adamant that we be able to do a 10 day trip and a resupply was not an option available to us this trip.  I had no choice but to carry 10 days of food.  When we hiked the JMT in 2015, we were hungry most days.  We wanted more lunch foods and snacks.  We were also averaging 13 miles a day (I should have taken that into consideration when packing for this trip, where we would hike just 8-10 miles a day).  None of us wanted to be hungry so this trip I packed extra bars and GORP and beef jerky.  We had too much food.  Way too much.  LESSON LEARNED THIS TRIP #1:  we do not eat very much lunch when we are at altitude and none of us wanted to eat bars.  At the end of this trip, we ended up packing out a good 25 bars that no one would eat.  We carried all that weight for 8 days.  It really bugs me to pack in ANY excess gear or supplies.  I think through every bandage, ounce of coffee, pair of socks, and spare battery that we pack and I have been pretty spot on up until this trip. LESSON LEARNED #2:  we could have paid a pack outfit to bring in a resupply to us over Piute Pass, just as we had done for our JMT trip.  A little more research on my part would have made all the difference in the loads that we all carried this trip!

Hubby was up at 5am and making coffee.  He and I both had new Mountain Hardware Alpinlite sleeping bags and we were too warm in the night.  What a huge difference from our JMT experience with our old sleeping bags (read more in the “Must Have Gear” page).  We got up, got packed and after a brief hailstorm, we hit the trail.  It was overcast but warm for our long, hard descent out of Dusy Basin. By 11:30am we had reached the JMT and hiked a bit into Le Conte Canyon to a sweet lunch spot along the Kings River.  My youngest was battling his regular Day 2 migraine.  He is prone to migraines and gets one every time he goes up in altitude.  At 10 years old, he has dealt with migraines for 7 years, and he is an old pro.  He knows what he needs and after a dose of ibuprofen and a little food and water, he laid down for a short nap.  We all took advantage of the opportunity for rest and an hour later we got back to the trail.  Our plan was to hike to the end of LeConte and set up camp.  We would begin the climb up to Muir Pass the next morning.

 

The hike up LeConte was pleasant enough.  None of us really wanted to be on the JMT — been there, done that.  But, in order to get to our off-trail destinations, we had to trek along the JMT and get to Evolution Basin.  It was beautiful along this stretch of the trail and we soon got over our uptight attitude about being on the JMT.  It is a remarkable trail. And if we hadn’t been on that section of the JMT that very afternoon, we would not have run into two old friends.  We encountered an old friend from Santa Barbara, Gary, who was out hiking the JMT for the first time with his buddy.  We haven’t see Gary at home in SB in over ten years and here we are crossing paths out on the trail.  About 45 minutes later we met up with my trail friend, Rachel, a beautiful soul I first met in 2012 at Evolution Lake when I hiked the North Lake South Lake Loop with my friend Nancy.  Rachel is a rock star hiker and it was serendipitous to meet her on this day!  She was solo hiking the JMT and it was really exciting to see her and for my family to meet her.  We had no idea that either of them would be hiking the JMT that summer.  Life is beautiful.

After the happy encounters with old friends, the hike continued up canyon.  It was hot,  humid, and strenuous.  We stopped for a quick photo at Monster Rock, passed a group with a dog (not cool –dogs are not permitted in SEKI National Park), and finally reached the little lake that I remembered sat at the top of the canyon.  We found a private sandy campsite beside the lake, the boys jumped in and we had our favorite backpackers meal:  chicken teriyaki.  YUM!  The first bummer of the trip happened at this lake.  My eldest boy’s Tenkara fly fishing rod cracked (carbon fiber can break easily, especially if you are 12 years old).  I repaired it with a bit of duct tape and the pole was still functional, but he was pretty bummed out.  Note about Tenkara USA:  When we got back home, we were able to order replacement sections (he broke it in two sections over the 8 day trip) and Tenkara sent us the replacement sections for a minimal fee. Great customer service!

Day 3:  Above Big Pete Meadow to Evolution Lake 

Early to rise, Hubby was ready with coffee.  Breakfast was a bar while we packed up camp.  The tent was quite wet so we did our best to shake off the water before packing it up.  We were on the trail by 7:15 am to get an early start on the climb to Muir Pass.  Steep climb up but we were eager to get to Muir Hut.  There were several snowfields when we arrived at lovely Helen Lake.  Hubby and younger boy hiked ahead of bigger boy and me and they reached Muir Hut first.  By 10:45 we were all at the Hut and had some lunch.  I gave away about 10 nut butter packets to fellow hikers who happily gobbled them up.  I was happy to lighten my load of food we were never going to eat.  Everyone wins!

From the hut it was a short hike down to our old friend, Wanda Lake.  Of course all 3 boys had to take a dip.  I passed this time.  It was much chillier this visit than last summer when I happily jumped into Wanda Lake.  From Wanda Lake we followed the gentle trail down to Evolution Lake and found a great campsite early in the afternoon.

The boys got right to fishing and more swimming.  We practice catch and release normally, but this trip we brought along some olive oil and salt and pepper so that we could fry up and enjoy a taste of fresh caught brown trout. The boys quickly caught several fish.  Hubby cleaned one and fried it up and we all had two bites of delicious fresh fish.  A perfect appetizer before our backpacker’s meal of lasagne.  We were tired and went to bed before the sun set.  LESSON LEARNED #3:  You would need to catch a LOT of fish each day to feed a family of 4 on the trail.  Bigger boy fantasized about being able to catch fish for dinner rather than bring in dehydrated meals.  We could do this but it means more fishing and less hiking and playing each day.

 

Day 4:  Evolution Lake to Darwin Lakes (Off-trail!)

Today we had a short hike to our next stop — Darwin Lakes.  We were on the trail by 8am and after rounding Evolution Lake we started the descent into Evolution Valley.

We left the JMT as it descended into Evolution Valley and would not return to it this trip.  Hooray!  The trail to Darwin Bench was marked with ducks so it was easy to find.  Although there were ducks to mark the way, this was off-trail hiking:  boulders and granite slabs to scramble and picking our way through the trees.  As we crossed Darwin Bench we walked through meadows filled with clumps of lupine.  The fragrance was divine.  We found ourselves at lower Darwin Lake by 1pm.

The boys put on their rain gear and grabbed their hiking poles and struck out for a snowfield near the lake for some creative skiing.  Hubby and I set up camp and hiked around the lake for a half mile or so.  With the exception of two groups that hiked through, we had this amazing place to ourselves.  We all swam and got clean.   Bigger boy broke his Tenkara rod in a second place and the rod was now officially out of commission.  Poor kid.  There were plenty of mosquitos to harass us so we escaped to the tent by 6:30.  That night the wind really whipped our tent around and woke us up several times.

 

Day 5:  Darwin Lakes to Lake 11,092′

We woke to a chilly morning but it was dry and clear.  We had a little alpenglow off the Darwin peaks and we were eager to get started on our section of the official Sierra High Route.  Today we would begin to follow  Andrew Skurka’s SHR mapset that we downloaded and printed for the section we would be traversing.  We packed up, the boys skipped a few rocks off the turquoise water, and we turned and followed the creek back down to Darwin Bench.  As we descended, we were treated to the most beautiful meadows of lupine we have ever seen.  The air was heavy with the sweet fragrance and it was really unbelievable.  We strolled along with the flow of the water tumbling over the boulders and through lupine so dense we struggled to avoid stepping on it.  We needed to pick our way along the terrain and stay between 10,700′ and 11,000′ (based on the info from Andrew Skurka and Steve Roper).  If we dropped too low or climbed too high we would be stopped by steep granite slabs or impassable terrain.  Our destination was Lake 11,092′.

 

We climbed over granite slabs, through forested areas and across streams with thick bushes and flowers on the banks.  We startled a buck with a large rack who leapt away up the mountain side and we were treated to an amazing view of Evolution Valley — from Evolution Lake all the way down past McClure Meadow to Evolution Meadow.  We only covered about 3 miles in 3 hours.  We stopped for a much needed lunch and I tried pushing bars on everyone but got no takers.  I ate a bar just to lighten my load. We were still carrying too much food and it frustrated me because I couldn’t dump it and no one would eat it!  Younger boy realized that he had lost his much prized Oakley sunglasses on the hike up.  He was really sad — believe it or not, this is the first piece of clothing or gear he has ever lost.  Ever.  Poor kid.  After a short break, we continued onward and upward.  We crossed 3 streams (as Roper specified in the book) and then headed uphill beside the 4th stream.  The stream led us to a lush meadow and a small pool.  Just beyond was Lake 11,092′.  What a gem!

Hubby and boys jumped into the lake (you should not be surprised by this by now).  We set up camp and my youngest tackled his daily chore of making up our beds.  He is pretty amazing at this task and we are all grateful each night when we climb into our bags.

While our youngest relaxed in the tent and set up the beds, Hubby, bigger boy and I walked around the lake.  We found a few beaches, a waterfall on the far side and tons of lupine.  Once again, we had the entire lake to ourselves and we had seen no one since leaving Darwin Basin.  Ahhhhh!  Early to bed again this night.  In the morning we would climb to Snow Tongue Pass and then make our way down.  We have read that this is a gnarly pass so we want to hit it early in the day before the sun and fatigue can slow us down.  As we lay in the tent, younger boy worried aloud that he could not remember where he had left his Kindle before we set out on this trip.  I assured him that it was somewhere in our cabin.  He was bothered by the loss of his sunglasses.  “This is going to cost me a lot of money!” he said.  We tried not to laugh.  (Note:  His Kindle was back at the cabin so not a total loss.)

Day 6:  Lake 11,092′ to Lower Golden Trout Lake

We had a perfect night:  still and dry. Bigger boy was chilled in the night and we moved him to the center of the tent.  The rest of us were fine.  What a difference a good sleeping bag makes!  We broke down our camp and hit the trail by 8:15.  The climb up the pass was gentle and lovely with erratic boulders and grassy meadows and lots of lupine.  Trickling creeks and pools of water.  So much to see.

Bigger boy found a mylar balloon wedged between some boulders.  He tied it to his pack and carried it the rest of the trip.  It is always alarming to find trash in this incredible setting and we do our best to pack out any trash we stumble upon.

Our hike to the top of the pass became steep quickly and without a trail, we did our best to find the one spot that Roper said was the place to descend.  He gave a decent description but we didn’t ascend the mountain exactly where he did because ascent literally means climbing sharp, large granite slabs and boulders.  You pick your way up.  LESSON LEARNED #4:  do a bit more research on any off-trail pass that is rumored to be sketchy.  Snow Tongue Pass was VERY scary once we got to the summit.  Every where you looked the granite dropped off and straight down for hundreds of feet.  We thought we were in the spot that Roper described as the once place to descend but it didn’t look hikeable.  We continued down the ridge line looking for a better place to get down.

At one place, we could see what looked like some foot prints in the dirt near some boulders at the ridge line.  We looked further down and it looked like someone had slid down a stretch of dirt and scree.  This must be the spot.  Holy crap!  My only thought was that we were total idiots to bring our children here and we were going to get us all killed.  What were we thinking???

I was comfortable taking myself down this steep, scree and boulder faced descent, but I really did not want my kids to go down.  They were incredibly confident and in fact, they led the way down.  Bigger boy started first and offered to go down a few feet and scope it out.  He could see pretty clearly where others had descended before us and he began to slowly make his way down using his hands and butt sliding where necessary.  Younger boy started after him, then my husband and me in the rear.  It was extremely exhausting travel and the packs on our backs were constantly trying to pitch us into the abyss.  All of us knocked rocks loose accidentally and we got good at shouting out “ROCK!” and taking cover as the rocks hurtled past.

We all survived the descent and arrived at a pretty big snow field at the base of the mountain.  We stumbled down and came to a massive jumble of boulders that we had to hop across.  We were pretty tired and the boulder hopping was adding to our fatigue.  Before us we could see a sparkling gem of a lake and we kept it in the cross hairs.

We made it to Upper Wahoo Lake and I know I heard the angels in heaven singing.  The boys wanted to jump in the water and all I wanted to do was to sit on a rock and take deep breaths.  I was so blown away at what we had come down and I just needed it to sink in.

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We were pretty pleased with the fact that we had survived Snow Tongue Pass and we took a family shot to mark the occasion.

We threw on our packs and departed Upper Wahoo Lake.  We still had quite a ways to go that day and there was what appeared to be an endless boulder field before us.  We slowly picked our way along and came out into Humphreys Basin.  Hallelujah!

At the start of this day, we weren’t sure where we would camp in the evening.  After coming down from Snow Tongue Pass I knew we would make camp at the first lake we came to.  Upper Golden Trout Lake it was.  Turned out to be a nice spot with only a few other people camping there and we found a site far from those who had already made camp.  We all needed some food and some rest after a very long yet satisfying day.

What we love most about backpacking are the moments where the boys get to explore and be free.  Thank you mother nature.

 

(experiencing technical difficulties — check back after 12/25/16 for rest of content)

Day 7:  Lower Golden Trout Lake to Moon Lake

Day 8:  Moon Lake to Pine Creek Trailhead

 

 

Coming soon…

Lake Ediza

20 Lakes Basin

Fern and Yost Lakes

Garnet Lake

South Lake – North Lake Loop