Late June hoover wilderness

[tnhgmia]

I’ve been long eyeing a route in Hoover and am thinking of going there June 26-30. I’ve never been in that area in June. I’ll be taking some newer backpackers so wanted to do an easy route where we could drop packs and I could scramble a bit with options for people to chill if they’re not up for more talus and off trail scrambles. Ideally we’d have fishing in there with no dangerous stream crossings.

I was thinking green creek over Virginia pass and camping in the valley with day trips from there. But I’ve wondered about Virginia lakes as a starting point?

Slide canyon, benson lake and the Matterhorn area would be ideal but I can’t figure a way to do it without burning people out mileage and difficulty wise. On a longer trek it would be easy.

Any suggestions? Thanks!

[balzaccom]

With newer backpackers, easier and shorter is always better. You can always add a day hike to explore after you set up camp, but keep miles lugging a backpack to a minimum

Green Creek is ideal. You can hike up to one of the lakes, set up camp, then explore the rest. Virginia Lakes are lovely, but once over the pass, it's a long way to the next good campsite. Summit Lake does not have great camping.

From Green Lake you can also explore the Upper Virginia Canyon as a day hike....

[Wandering Daisy]

Your time-frame will likely have lots of mosquitoes at the 9000-foot or so elevations. Be sure you are prepared with head nets and bug-proof shelter. Seek out windy campsites. East Lake is a bit more windy than Green Lake. With a group it is nice to have a bug net shelter that can be used for the group to cook, eat, and simply gather to socialize.