Trip advice: 4 days, west side, for my 14 year old
Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2012 10:21 pm
The last time I took my daughter backpacking she was 12 and we went from Sabrina to Blue Lake, but cut the trip short due to oppressive mosquitoes. We did manage a day hike from Blue Lake past Dingleberry to the falls on the Moonlight outlet, and she enjoyed playing in the water and around the falls. But even without the squeets that trip pushed the edge of her limits.
I thought I had lost her from backpacking forever until--to my complete shock and delight-- she asked me tonight if we could go on an "easy" trip together this summer. She is now 14 and I would say she is a "2" on the posted hiking scale. She is strong but small for her age but not used to a lot of discomfort so I don't want to push her.
Here are our limitations:
1. Trip length: four days. A relatively "easy" hike in--say six miles or less and less than 2000 feet elevation gain, set up a base camp, opportunities for day hiking for a couple of days, then out. Similar to Blue Lake on the east side or Kibbie Lake or Round Top Lakes on the West side in difficulty--or just a tad harder given that she is older.
2. Trail hiking on the day in and the day out.
3. As mosquito free as possible for July 27-30.
4. Probably West side--it has to be accessible from Palo Alto in a half-day drive. We might be able to do a trip from the east side if it were relatively close and accessible to whatever highway pass we need to cross.
5. Not impossible to get a permit at the last minute.
6. We don't fish or have a dog. Ideally there would be spectacular scenery and some very interesting places to explore with her for a couple of days, Due to other activities on her schedule the trip has to be a Friday-Monday trip.
I'm not too interested in going back to Kibbie or Round Top although at this point those are the only places I know that somewhat fit my criteria. I guess I'd love to magically discover a Sabrina Basin without mosquitoes on the West side less than four hours from my house! Since that is not going to happen, I'm hoping the rest of you have some creative ideas to expand the list of choices.
Many thanks in advance!
I thought I had lost her from backpacking forever until--to my complete shock and delight-- she asked me tonight if we could go on an "easy" trip together this summer. She is now 14 and I would say she is a "2" on the posted hiking scale. She is strong but small for her age but not used to a lot of discomfort so I don't want to push her.
Here are our limitations:
1. Trip length: four days. A relatively "easy" hike in--say six miles or less and less than 2000 feet elevation gain, set up a base camp, opportunities for day hiking for a couple of days, then out. Similar to Blue Lake on the east side or Kibbie Lake or Round Top Lakes on the West side in difficulty--or just a tad harder given that she is older.
2. Trail hiking on the day in and the day out.
3. As mosquito free as possible for July 27-30.
4. Probably West side--it has to be accessible from Palo Alto in a half-day drive. We might be able to do a trip from the east side if it were relatively close and accessible to whatever highway pass we need to cross.
5. Not impossible to get a permit at the last minute.
6. We don't fish or have a dog. Ideally there would be spectacular scenery and some very interesting places to explore with her for a couple of days, Due to other activities on her schedule the trip has to be a Friday-Monday trip.
I'm not too interested in going back to Kibbie or Round Top although at this point those are the only places I know that somewhat fit my criteria. I guess I'd love to magically discover a Sabrina Basin without mosquitoes on the West side less than four hours from my house! Since that is not going to happen, I'm hoping the rest of you have some creative ideas to expand the list of choices.
Many thanks in advance!