TRIPS

Below are some of our favorite hiking, backpacking, and snowshoeing trips in recent years. Whether you are a new or seasoned hiker, we believe we have something for everyone in each of the area sshared below: hiking, backpacking, and snowshoeing.

If you are looking for a grueling day hik or hikes that are within a day's drive from the Sacramento area, we've provided a few of our favorite below. A word of caution about the Pyramid Peak hike: we do not recommend this trail for newer hikers. Both my husband and I are fairly seasoned and consider it a butt-kicker. And another word of caution about hiking to Cloud's Rest in Yosemite - again, not likely a good idea for a super new hiker. We recommend you to plan your trip when there's PLENTY of daylight. As mentioned, we're fairly seasoned and it took us around 11 hours to finish.

In the backpacking section, you'll find some of our favorite trips along the Pacific Crest Trail mostly, as we are doing sections of the trail ourselves. There are sections of the Pacific Crest Trail near South Lake Tahoe that incredible and highly recommend, along with those we suggest below.

Snowshoeing is something we've taken up in the past couple of years and if you are someone who enjoys hiking and the snow, we're pretty sure you'l love snowshoeing. Echo Lake and Carson Pass are both areas that are within a day's drive of the Sacramento area and the Mt. Lassen area is about a 4-hour (or so) drive from the Sacramento area. The scenery is gorgeous and well worth the drive in our opinion.

Hiking

Echo Lake to Aloha Lake (~ 14 miles)

Pyramid Peak (8 or so miles, 4,000 feet of elevation gain)

Yosemite Valley to Cloud's Rest (22 miles + 6,200 feet of elevation gain)

Backpacking

two tents set up and ready for camp on the Pacific Crest Trail

Mt. Lassen

Granite Chief Wilderness

Carson Valley

Snowshoeing

Echo Lake