High Sierra Topix

Hey everyone, thanks for checking into this thread. My 2 friends and myself are looking for a fun place to do some hiking/backpacking and free climbing. I couldn't find any places on-line that had somewhere that I could input my criteria into, so I'm hoping this forum's knowledge can help find what I'm looking for.

My requirements are, but not limited to the following:

- Places to cliff-jump
- Decent weather (not raining, freezing all the time)
- Lake/river to swim and fish in.
- Trails that lead to scenic views. (High-ish peaks with epic views pref.)
- Intermediate bouldering
- Isolation/Lack of other people
- Any ridiculously cool must-see things like caves or rock formations

We're looking to go somewhere we can be entertained for 3 or 4 days, so any recommendations will be greatly appreciated! Also, it's a huge plus if the locations aren't 12 hours away from my zip code (91301), long drives kill the back!

Thanks!

Kyle

LIttle Lakes Valley, south of Mammoth, fishing, mountain climbing, numerous named peaks a few miles away. Rae Lakes area over Kearsarge Pass and Glenn Pass, stay at Dragon Lake above Rae Lakes, some peaks to bag there or off Glenn Pass itself. South Lake out of Bishop over Bishop Pass to Thunderbolt Pass. No fishing in that area though.

KKBeams wrote:
My requirements are, but not limited to the following:

- Places to cliff-jump
- Decent weather (not raining, freezing all the time)
- Lake/river to swim and fish in.
- Trails that lead to scenic views. (High-ish peaks with epic views pref.)
- Intermediate bouldering
- Isolation/Lack of other people
- Any ridiculously cool must-see things like caves or rock formations

I think that's a zip code. Right? Where are you?

I can tell you where not to plan to go - illegal to cliff jump in national parks, and there are tons of people. So base jumping off Half Dome isn't a good idea, there will be 1,000s of videos of you landing in a meadow and getting arrested.

Decent weather - well, it's not raining or freezing all the time anywhere that I know of right now, but that will change around November/December, at which point you'll probably want to avoid the Sierras until around May/June. You can expect freezing temps in the coastal ranges at night through the winter, and in the Sierras at high elevation at night throughout the year depending on how high and where you are.

You might like the Dinkey Lakes area - lots of lakes, fewer people than parks, lots of trails, lots of granite, a few peaks to climb/boulder. But you probably won't want to swim until summer. People swimming last week were sort of bouncing off the cold water. The fishing is okay in some of the lakes - brooks, goldens and rainbows. Island Lake gets a lot of fishing but I hooked three bows standing on a rock near the outlet.

Another neat area might be the Los Padres, southern portion - ton of hot springs in that area.