In Part 1, BACKPACKING WEBBER LAKE TO DONNER SUMMIT ON THE PCT, we trekked from near Webber Lake to White Rock Lake on a pleasant six mile stretch of the Pacific Crest Trail near Lake Tahoe. In Part 2 we set off toward Paradise Lake, where we hope that it will be warm enough to swim …
The backpacking trip I look forward to each year is not the longest, hardest or most exotic, it’s the one we take in Tahoe with our godson, Chase, and his mom, Laura. We used to be a group of six, but goddaughter Taira, at 16, is focused on water polo, and her dad, Ken, is …
The heavily forested Stanford Rock hike, located in Ward Canyon, is a rigorous 11 mile loop that rewards the hiker with stunning views of Lake Tahoe, Twin Peaks, Alpine Meadows and many other surrounding peaks. Trailhead The trailhead is located on Ward Creek Blvd. The trailhead has an obvious parking area in front of a …
We set out on Saturday for a moderate, early season overnight backpacking trip to Paradise Lake, six miles from the trailhead on Highway 80. Despite the calendar noting that it’s supposed to be summer in early July, this is the spring that won’t arrive in the high Sierra, El Nino refusing to loosen its grip …
On a rare sun drenched day last weekend Pacific Crest Snowcats showed off the beauty of the backcountry with a snowcat full of psyched skiers and snowboarders. Eleven clients and two guides piled into a van early in the morning, drove away from the crowded ski areas on a holiday weekend and made fresh tracks …
We have hiked and mountain biked around miles of trails in the Lake Tahoe area, but I can already see that after only a few weeks of having our canoe that we are going to be discovering all kinds of new terrain. Steve and our good friend Cindy loaded up the canoe and took off …
“This is awesome!” seven year old Chase exclaimed excitedly. What got him so excited? Disneyland? Action figures? Trucks? No, he was building a dam in a shallow creek to catch the elusive fingerling trout slipping by. We were deep in the Granite Chief Wilderness on a multi-day backpacking trip and his face reflected pure joy …
“How much longer? Are we almost there?” The familiar refrain from our godchildren came, not in a car, but in the Sierra wilderness, as they shouldered heavy backpacks and bent toward the granite formations as we neared the summit, having gained 1,000 feet of elevation in about 2 miles when we went backpacking to Loch …
On the Hike From Hell(hole) (https://ingasadventures.com/2009/07/13/the-worst-backpacking-trip-ever/) Steve and I resolved to get a canoe, harkening back to the good memories we had of paddling on the Yukon River last summer and eschewing further backpacking trips. Now she was on top of the car, the maiden voyage of the little red canoe beginning with a road trip …
This trip to Hellhole Reservoir in the Granite Chief Wilderness won’t qualify for the worst trip in the annals of backpacking because no one was seriously or mortally injured, but in our combined history, this was the worst trip ever for my husband and me. A combination of minor mishaps, lost trails, illness and topography …