High Sierra Topix

My favorite was Roads End for the reasons mentioned above. I went on about 25 trips from there of 4 to 8 days, but only took 4 with my son. By the time I started BP with him I had been to nearly everywhere from there I could cover in 4 to 8 days (there are lots of them), except 2. They were Arrow Peak Lake and Woods Lake. We went to those 2. He always wanted to go places to where I had never been. This nearly eliminated this trailhead for trips for us. Like me he loved to explore and always wanted our trips to be exploring trips for both of us.

After hiking from Paradise Valley to Woods Lake in 1 day, 8yo Mike is sleeping heavy and late, with the sun in his face the next morning. Mike actually liked "death" marches. I never did.

Tom

One of my favorites is Horseshoe meadows, since it is the closest high sierra trailhead to my home. A few times every summer/fall I drive up there a on a weekend night , sleep in my truck and get a great dayhike in the next day - climb Cirque or just wander around cottonwood lakes basin. Another favorite one for that is North lake, I love to dayhike into Humphrey's basin!

The Willow Meadow trailhead into Dinkey Wilderness is a treat. The first part is paved, but with bathtub sized holes in the pavement, and you really get a jounce if you don't see that one in the shady spot and hit it going 40 mph. The road turns to rocky dirt road, and then just dirt, of the air duct clogging silty kind. The last couple miles of bumpy road can knock parts off the underside of your car if you aren't paying attention. I've seen BMWs and a Mini Cooper in there - I wouldn't take my Mazda in there because the ruts and roots are such that the wheel base width ensures I'd be taking a hit to the suspension, but I bet the Mini just swerved around the worst of it.