Day Hiking the John Muir Wilderness

[Aaron Zagrodnick]

If you’re traveling on California Highway 395 along the striking escarpment on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada south of Yosemite and looking for a high-elevation hike deep in the heart of the mountains, but you only have a day or less, various roads off the main highway take you up to trailheads between 8,000 and 10,000 feet quite easily and quickly where you’re immediately immersed in stunning alpine scenery. For example, out of the town of Bishop, you can take Highway 168 straight to the Sabrina Lake Trailhead at about 9,100 feet, or turn off on South Lake Road to reach the Bishop Pass Trailhead at about 9,800 feet, or turn off on North Lake Road to reach the North Lake Trailhead at about 9,300 feet. Or, out of the tiny resort of Tom’s Place, you can take Rock Creek Road up to multiple trailheads between 9,000 and over 10,000 feet. Other roads to high elevation trailheads in the region can be found near Big Pine, Lone Pine, and Mammoth Lakes. Every one of these locations offers many hiking options to serene wilderness lakes and valleys surrounded by spectacular peaks, whether shorter trails or portions of longer trails...

In Issue 50, @Madeline Salocks shares this story about a day hike in California's John Muir Wilderness. Take a look at the story at the links below:

Short and Sublime: Day Hiking the John Muir Wilderness

Issue 50 Page 1

[balzaccom]

You are right Aaron, there are a TON of trails that meet this description on the East side...from the Hoover Wilderness all the way down to Whitney.  We have a bunch of them described in the destinations section of our website: backpackthesierra.com.  But one we haven't done is this one!   Thanks for posting.  

[RogerMoore]

Great article, Madeline!

[Madeline Salocks]

RogerMoore, thank you very much!

[ppine]

So many places, so little time.  The PCT is 1/2 hour from my house.