Beginner Overnight suggestion

[AlmostThere]

You don't need to worry, just be aware of the symptoms and realize that if they don't resolve themselves after a day or so, or worsen, the only real way to deal with them is to descend to lower elevation. And odds are good that the really serious symptoms of cerebral or pulmonary problems are incredibly unlikely below 9,000 feet, and sequoias don't really occur at high elevations, they are in the mid elevations. Most people who have elevation issues (if they have any symptoms at all) have a headache or a suppressed appetite. That's usually pretty easy to tolerate. Eat what you can and drink plenty of water, take an ibuprofen.

[tstrauss]

Thanks again everyone for the great info. I will definitely post a trip report complete w pics. Looking forward to my books arriving so i can read up on everything.

Tony

[wildhiker]

I'd like to put in a plug for Redwood Canyon as a backpacking destination. We did a day hike with our young kids down the canyon about two miles and then looping back past the Hart tree. I wish we had had more time to explore further down the canyon and camp by the creek. The giant sequoia trees here are just awesome. Huge trees everywhere. No people. No little fences to keep you back from the trees like the popular trails in Giant Forest or Grant Grove. What an experience to picnic leaning up against a giant sequoia that is about 20 foot in diameter! Plus, almost certainly no problem getting a walk-up wilderness permit and you can probably build a campfire - ask the rangers. Not classic high sierra scenery, but definitely a unique experience you cannot have anywhere else in the world.

-Phil

[AlmostThere]

I'd like to put in a plug for Redwood Canyon as a backpacking destination. We did a day hike with our young kids down the canyon about two miles and then looping back past the Hart tree. I wish we had had more time to explore further down the canyon and camp by the creek. The giant sequoia trees here are just awesome. Huge trees everywhere. No people. No little fences to keep you back from the trees like the popular trails in Giant Forest or Grant Grove. What an experience to picnic leaning up against a giant sequoia that is about 20 foot in diameter! Plus, almost certainly no problem getting a walk-up wilderness permit and you can probably build a campfire - ask the rangers. Not classic high sierra scenery, but definitely a unique experience you cannot have anywhere else in the world.

-Phil

Redwood Canyon never allows fires. If you see fire rings in there, they are illegal. Otherwise, Redwood Canyon is a wonderful destination -- the trail that goes farther down the canyon will take you to a meadow.

[dave54]

... I'm heading to Kings Canyon Sequoia (i guess you call it SeKi?) for a week in early July...

A pedantic point of explanation.

The NPS uses a shorthand when using talking about the National Parks internally. A four letter acronym using the first two letters of each word in a Park name. so Sequoia-Kings Canyon NP becomes SEquoia KIngs, or SEKI. LAssen VOlcanic NP is LAVO. GReat BAsin becomes GRBA. Single word names use the first four letters -- Yosemite is YOSE, Pinnacles is PINN, Yellowstone is YELL. These are mostly used for internal communications within the agency, publicly they use the whole park name to avoid confusion. Enough people here are familiar with the acronyms so the four letters are used. Saves typing out the whole name.

This is used nationally. There may be some exceptions if the acronym creates some inappropriate word, or confusion with another local feature. I cannot think of any exceptions off the top of my head, but there may be some.

The Forest Service uses three letters.

[wildhiker]

After sleeping on it, I thought of another overnight backpack you could do in Sequoia NP to see big mountains: Wolverton trailhead to Alta Meadow. We last did this in August 2011 and had the camping area to ourselves. The trail doesn't get that much use and getting a walkup wilderness permit should not be a problem, especially on a weekday. A well-graded trail climbs about 1300 foot elevation in 3 miles from Wolverton to Panther Gap. The first part is shared with the trail to Pear Lake and gets a lot of use. After the trail splits, you see fewer folks. This trail section is in open woods with many small meadows and lots of wildflowers. When you get to Panther Gap, you have this sudden stunning view of the deep canyon of the Kaweah River below you and the peaks of the Great Western Divide to the east. Here's a photo. There was a big fire south of the park while we were there, so the smoke was obscuring the mountains a bit.

P1030649-GWDivide@PantherGap.jpg

From Panther Gap, it's another three miles gradually climbing about 900 feet more in a traverse along the open slopes with constant views and lots of wildflowers. You pass side trails going down to the High Sierra Trail and up to Alta Peak. Then you get to a small permanent stream running down from Tharps Rock (in a wildflower garden when we were there) - that's your water source. About 100 yards further, you top a spur ridge and look down on Alta Meadow, with campsites in the fir forest to your right. Here's a photo at sunset across Alta Meadow to the Great Western Divide (the wildfire smoke added to the red hue).

P1030685-GWDivideSunset@AltaMdw.jpg

-Phil

[Barn Animal]

If you do decide to do the Lakes Trail (which I highly recommend) you can camp at either Emerald or Aster Lakes if you think a hike to Pear Lake would be too difficult. This would cut off about a mile from the trip and about 400 feet of elevation gain. There are bear boxes and a toilet at Emerald Lake though I'm not sure about Aster.

I hiked the Lakes Trail with my family as a kid and its where I fell in love with hiking and backpacking. So its very doable for your family and will be a great hike to do. The watchtower and Heather Lake are great places to have lunch and leave you with only a mile or two more to get to your destination. And there is a lot of exploring to do around Emerald and Aster.

As said above, Jennie Lake a great alternative if you decide not to do the Lakes Trail. However in my opinion, the views are not quite as spectacular and Jennie Lake can get very crowded. I would recommend getting to the Lake pretty early in the afternoon so you can secure a campsite that is more secluded. One thing to consider is that at Jennie Lake campfires are permitted if that makes any difference to you.

Whatever you choose you can't go wrong! Good Luck wherever you go!

[maverick]

Hi Barn Animal,

Welcome to HST! Thank you for your input.