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favorite spring trips

Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 4:42 pm
by jshort
Spring trail fever has hit hard with nice weather in S.F. Does anyone have favorite spots to go in the spring with not too much snow. :)
jshort

Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 8:05 pm
by Hikin Mike
Henry Coe State Park is a nice place on the spring time.

Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 8:54 pm
by Strider
Sunday I did a nice 15 mile hike in the Santa Lucia Wilderness. Parked at Cuesta Grade (HWY 101 North of San Luis Obispo) and walked along the ridge for three miles before dropping down to Upper Lopez camp. Lost the trail for awhile, and had to bust through some manzanita and poison oak. Everything is green, water in the streams, and moderate temperature this time of year.

Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 11:28 pm
by SteveB
What area? The Sierra is a huge area. :)

Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 9:36 am
by jshort
I am looking at anything above 5000 feet in the national forests. I am severly allergic to poison oak and have two dogs which pretty much rules out state and national parks. If the Tioga pass road opens in May, Rock Creek has been one of my favorite, but I've never been there in spring.
jshort

Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 2:12 pm
by mountainLight
Well if you want to get higher one place I enjoy is anything off of HWY 4 past Ebbets Pass, heading toward Markleeville. Usually the pass opens a bit earlier depending on the conditions. There is Highland Lake, Noble canyon and numerous other places that are usually pretty empty in early spring.

http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=38. ... &layer=DRG

Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2007 6:59 am
by KathyW
It looks like we will be getting into the Sierra early this year. I'm going to head up Taboose Pass for a day hike on the 28th of April to check out conditions and then again on the weekend of May 5th for a 3-day trip.

I have 5 days off at Memorial Day, so I'm trying to figure out a trip for that long weekend. I think I'm leaning toward the west side of the Sierra.

Anyone have any suggestions fro a 4 or 5 day Memorial Day Sierra trip on this low-snow year?

Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2007 11:07 am
by TehipiteTom
KathyW wrote:I have 5 days off at Memorial Day, so I'm trying to figure out a trip for that long weekend. I think I'm leaning toward the west side of the Sierra.

Anyone have any suggestions fro a 4 or 5 day Memorial Day Sierra trip on this low-snow year?
I'm planning to go up Kibbie Ridge over Memorial Day--should be snow-free by then, and lots of different potential trips (Cherry Creek, the lakes east of Kibbie Ridge, etc.).

Or there's the Clover Meadow/Granite Creek trailhead complex, south of Yosemite. Possibilities include Sheep Crossing and the whole North Fork San Joaquin canyon.

Odds are pretty good Kaiser Pass will be open by then, which would open up Bear Creek or the South Fork San Joaquin. You could do an out-and-back up Goddard Canyon, I imagine.

Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2007 12:50 pm
by TehipiteTom
mountainLight wrote:Well if you want to get higher one place I enjoy is anything off of HWY 4 past Ebbets Pass, heading toward Markleeville.
Good suggestion. I've gone into Mokelumne from there in June in a wetter year, so I'd guess Memorial Day would be doable.

Here are snowpack data: http://cdec.water.ca.gov/snow/current/snow/. Scroll down to the map and click on a watershed, and the snow station reports should give you a rough picture of the overall situation.

Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2007 8:54 am
by huts
I would second the idea of Henry Coe Park until the subsequent post about dogs and poison oak. So I will second the Ebbets Pass idea. The area can have some spectacular wildflowers and this year they will be early! The whole Carson Iceberg Wilderness would be worth considering.

From my experience Rock Creek can be WAY busy and not a "dog friendly" area but in the spring it may be okay. Keep in mind that elevations up there at 10,000 ft may still have considerable snow.