Updated for 2024!

I’ve lived in Northern Virginia for over 10 years. I’ve had a chance to explore the iconic hikes near Washington D.C many times. And when I say near D.C., I mean around 2 hours or less.  The DMV is a majorly sprawled metropolitan area; so aside from one hike on this list, I recommend taking a drive to get to some really beautiful hikes.  I’ve tried to keep this list short and sweet, with some photos from the hikes as well as links to more information about each of the hikes.  

These are my personal rankings for the best hikes near Washington D.C. from a local:

8. Sugarloaf Mountain, MD – 1 hour away

 Starting off the list is Sugarloaf Mountain in Maryland.  Sugarloaf has some great views, but the crowds are what put this hiking area at the bottom of the list. It only requires about a .25 mile steep climb for anyone to reach the top of the mountain from the closest parking lot.  Luckily, there’s several trails to get away from crowds and make a custom loop, depending on how much length is desired.  I recommend making a loop out of the blue, green, and red trails to see both the top of sugarloaf, as well as an alternate lookout point at White Rocks that is much less crowded will equally great views.

7 . Catoctin Mountain, MD – 1.25 hours away

 Catoctin is up near the Pennsylvania border and a very similar hiking experience to Sugarloaf. However, it’s less crowded and has more views/features, including several lookouts and a beautiful cascading waterfall. Catoctin is on NPS land however no longer requires an entrance fee!  I’d recommend hiking the full 8.5 mile loop CCW (yellow-pink-red) to see all the major sites in the park.

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6. The Shenandoah Shorties (Stony Man, Dark Hollow Falls, Hawksbill Mountain), VA – 2 hours away

 So the Shenandoah Shorties aren’t an actual term, I just made it up haha. But these three hikes are some of the best short and sweet hikes in Shenandoah NP! They’re all about 1.5 miles in length and easy to moderate in difficulty.  Hawksbill Mountain and the Stony Man circuit both provide beautiful views of the Shenandoah Valley. Dark Hollow Falls is a very popular hike to a pretty cascading waterfall. The only reason these hikes are lower on my list is because they are all so short.  However, since they’re all near each other, I’d recommend trying to knock them all out in one session! Keep in mind, that parking is limited on Skyline Drive. These hikes all have an entrance fee unless you are an NPS annual pass holder (I recommend the $80 annual pass for the best bang for buck,  plus supports our parks!)

5. Harpers Ferry, VA MD WV – 1.25 hours away

 Harpers Ferry is where Virginia, Maryland, and West Virginia all meet and you can see the confluence (where 2 rivers combine) of the Shenandoah River and Potomac River.  There’s two great hikes here and I can’t really decide which is better since they are both moderate in difficulty and view the same area from two different perspectives.  Loudon Heights Trail to Split Rock is a 6 mile there and back on the VA side, and Maryland Heights is a 5 mile loop on the Maryland side. Can’t go wrong with either!

4. Raven Rocks, VA WV – 1 hour away

The Raven Rocks trailhead is in VA, with the viewpoint in WV. It’s a 5.3 mile strenuous out and back with a roller coaster of ups and downs and a net elevation gain of 1600 feet. There are some pretty nice views at the end, and you could run into some Thru Hikers on the AT or some rock climbers at the viewpoint.

3. White Oak Canyon – Shenandoah NP, VA – 2 hours away

White Oak Canyon is a 9.5 mile there and back with 6 waterfalls along the way. From the lower parking lot up to Skyline Drive is about 2800 feet of elevation gain, but unless you have 2 cars, it’s not worth doing the entire hike after you’ve seen all the waterfalls.  The trail can be customized depending how many waterfalls you want to see as well as how strenuous of a hike is desired.  I’d say the lower falls are the best of the bunch, and only 2 miles in from the lower parking area. The lower falls also have an excellent swimming hole area for the summer months. This hike has an entrance fee unless you are an NPS annual pass holder.

2. Billy Goat Trails – Great Falls,  MD – 20 minutes away

The Billy Goat trails in Great Falls are the closest hiking spot to D.C. and also one of the best in the area! There are three billy goat trails that hike along the Maryland side of the (occasionally raging) Potomac River.  Section A is the hardest (and most fun), followed closely by section B, and then section C is fairly moderate. The reason they’re called the billy goat trails is because there’s lots of rock scrambling but no rock climbing experience or equipment necessary on the trails (with section A having the most scrambling and occasional need for using hands, followed by B, then C). For more information on where to park and how to get to the Billy Goat Trails check out the NPS website, these trails can frequently be closed due to rainfall.  This hike has an entrance fee unless you are an NPS annual pass holder.  Just a reminder, these trails are on the Maryland side, you can’t get to the Billy Goat Trails from the VA side!

1. Old Rag – Shenandoah NP, VA – 2 hours away

Old Rag is hands down the best hike in Shenandoah National Park.  This hike is in my top 10 hikes of all time. Not only are there great views at the top but there is also moderate boulder scrambling for the last mile, which makes this hike really fun and unique.  You don’t need any special gear for the scrambling, just shoes with a good grip. (I wouldn’t recommend this hike for anyone who has poor balance or doesn’t want to occasionally use their hands to climb up rocks.) To make this trail a loop I recommend going up the Ridge Trail (which has the boulder scrambling and is much easier to do climbing up then down) and then hiking back down to the parking lot via the Weakley Hollow Fire Road. This turns Old Rag into a nice 9.5-mile circuit hike. More information on Old Rag can be found on the NPS website. This hike has an entrance fee unless you are an NPS annual pass holder.

Backpacking from Tenaya Lake to Yosemite Valley is one of the premiere multi-day hikes in the United States, and also one of the most sought-after for permits. Throughout the hike you get to walk among towering granite rocks, feel the mist of several of Yosemite’s majestic waterfalls swim in alpine lakes, and smell the fresh coniferous forest, all while mostly hiking downhill (if starting from the North).  While on the hike, you’ll get to experience multiple Yosemite bucket list locations including Clouds Rest,  Half Dome (from multiple angles), Vernal Falls, and Yosemite Falls (if you return to the backpacking campground).

This trek also allows you to summit Half Dome “the easy way.”  Well…, not exactly the easy way, you still have to climb it haha,  but adding Half Dome to a multi-day Tenaya Canyon trek drastically reduces the intensity of reaching the top of Half Dome. Half Dome as a day hike is 16 miles and 4,800 feet of elevation gain.  However, if on the route we did backpacking from Tenaya Lake to Yosemite Valley, you could camp at Sunrise Creek 2 weeks and do a one day 5 mile, 1,400 feet elevation gain hike on one day of your multi-day trek (or many other customizations if that’s too short). 

This was my third attempt backpacking this epic route in Yosemite National Park. 

In 2018 wildfires canceled my trip to the park at the last minute. Then in 2019, my friend Charlie and I made it to Yosemite, but there was record snowfall which changed our plans. We ended up backpacking the Hetch Hetchy loop, which was similar to Yosemite Valley, except purposefully flooded, to supply San Francisco with water.  Hetch Hetchy turned into much more of an adventure than we anticipated because we got lost in unexpected massive snow drifts.  But if you’re interested in a more secluded, less traveled backpacking loop in Yosemite National Park, I recommend giving that trip report a read.

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Permits

The permit system for Yosemite National Park is a bit more complicated than standard for NPS permits due to the extreme popularity of many of several of the hikes within Yosemite. 

The major points to consider for Yosemite Permits are:

1. Day Hiking Half Dome and Wilderness Backpacking are 2 different permits
1. Although, you can combine Half Dome with a Wilderness Permit (like we did)
2. Half Dome Day Hiking Permits open up for preseason lottery for the entire month of March before the hiking season.
3. Lotteries for scoring wilderness permits open up 24 weeks before your anticipated start date. 

Our Experience with applying for permits

Our goal was to score permits to combine Half Dome with a backpacking trek through the canyon.    

Our ideal route was winning the lottery to hike from Cathedral Lakes to Little Yosemite Valley (the entirety of Yosemite/Tenaya Canyon) while throwing in Half Dome on the second to last day.  

We applied to the lottery 5 times. 

We lost 2 lotteries and were successful (ish) 3 times.  

2 of our winning lotteries weren’t exactly what we wanted. 

One was just day hiking Half Dome. The other was the route we wanted, Cathedral Lakes to Little Yosemite Valley, but from Monday to Friday, which was going to be a PTO killer and not ideal.  We purchased both permits in case we couldn’t get anything better. 

On the last attempt, we lucked out and scored permits from Sunrise Lakes to Little Yosemite Valley over Labor Day Weekend!   Sunrise Lakes is one trail entry point closer and shaves off about 10 miles from the overall trek.  The big win here though, was that we would be hiking over a 3-day weekend.  We canceled our other 2 permits, and they went back into the reservation system.

Cancled and unclaimed permits can be reserved on a first come first serve basis.  You can also use a service like Outdoor Status to get automated notifications when sold-out permits become available. If your dates are flexible, you never know when a popular permit could randomly open up

Transportation

Backpacking Tenaya Lake to Yosemite Valley is a point-to-point hike with different entry and exit points.  Therefore, if you don’t have 2 cars, you will need to use a taxi or bus service.

If driving, there is a parking lot at either end of Tenaya Lake, and roughly halfway along it.  There’s also some additional parking along the shoulders of the road.  The ideal parking spot is at the south end of the lake, closest to the Sunrise Lakes Trailhead.  

In Yosemite Valley, there are many more parking options, but you will need to make sure to camp in a designated overnight parking area near the backpacker’s campground. 

A few weeks ahead of the trip, we booked tickets on the Yosemite Tuolumne Meadows Hiker Bus. It picked us up in the Yosemite Village at 8 am and took about 2.5 hours to get to the Tenaya Lake Trailhead.

Another option is the YARTS 395/120 E Bus. Tenaya Lake is not an official stop on the route, but is possible by request.    

The last option is hitchhiking, which is fairly uncommon/popular in the US, but doable.  You might just be waiting a while for pickup.  

Day 0 – Flying into Fresno

We arrived in Fresno in the evening and got a hotel in the area before getting last-minute supplies (fuel + snacks) and heading out to the park in the morning. Whenever you’re in Fresno gearing up for some major hiking, some restaurants I highly recommend are Dog House (get the tri-tip steak sandwich) and House of Juju (in my personal top 5 burger list). I try to go to both every time I visit.

Day 1 – Picking up Permits in the Yosemite Valley

With our permits we couldn’t actually start backpacking until Sunday of Labor Day Weekend, so we had time to sleep in, grab some breakfast, and get our last-minute shopping in. 

We arrived at Yosemite National Park Saturday afternoon via Tunnel View and it was hazyyyyy and hot!   There had been a lot of wildfires and accompanying smoke in the area. And it seriously smelt like a campfire and BBQ outside.  

We picked up our permits and then headed to the backpacker’s campground.  The backpacker’s campground is available for one night the immediate day before and after your wilderness permits (not including Half Dome Day hiking permits), which is clutch since it’s about a 3-hour drive back to Fresno from the valley. It costs $8 per person in cash, which we didn’t realize upon arrival, but we luckily had to make it work.

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Day 2 – The Trek Begins from Tenaya Lake!

The hiker bus picked us up in the Yosemite Village at 8 am and took about 2.5 hours to get to the Tenaya Lake Trailhead. We finally started hiking at about 11 am. 

It was a very moderate and peaceful hike to start.  We made it to Sunrise Lakes in about an hour and a half and then stopped for lunch.  While shuffling some of my packing around, I accidentally left my stove behind… Luckily Ian had his and we made lunch. 

Sunrise Lakes looked like an awesome spot to camp,  but it was so close to our starting trailhead, and not on our timeline for this trip. Maybe next time from a Cathedral Lakes start!

When we picked up our permits, the park ranger told us that water was scarce and most creeks were dry. They recommended packing more water in than we usually did.  Many of the waterfalls in the park also had unusually low flow for this Labor Day Weekend. 

As we passed day hikers that had gone to Clouds Rest we asked them how the water situation was. They all confirmed there was one trickling stream that would be hard to fill up on.

Because of water concerns, we decided to cook our dehydrated meals ahead of time at lunch and eat them cold later on, just in case we never saw water again.  We took our time at Sunrise Lakes, enjoying a nice view with lunch followed by a chilly alpine swim.  

After lunch, we pushed on to Clouds Rest.  And it was intense, just like camping 😉

The 360 views from Clouds Rest were incredible.  Laffy Taffy Granite waves in every direction. 

We stayed at the top for about 2 hours, watching the sunset. 

As it darkened, we could see forest fires in the distance. 

We poorly judged the time it would take to descend down the switchbacks to our campsite and ended up hiking about half of it in the dark with headlamps.  Also, unfortunately, Molly sprained her ankle while hiking down.

Day 3 Part 1- Hiking Half Dome

Molly’s ankle got more swollen overnight, and unfortunately, she made the tough decision to skip out on Half Dome to not make her ankle worse. After all, we still had a big hike to get back to civilization without Half Dome. 

We didn’t find out until we got back several hours later due to no cell service, but while the rest of us were hiking to Half Dome, 2 small black bears came and wandered around our camp while Molly was in her tent.  We had all our food properly stored, and after a few minutes of sniffing around, they left.  Molly said it was a scary experience. 

We set off for Half Dome shortly after sunrise, around 6 am, to beat both the summer heat and the crowds. 

Transferring to our light daypacks filled with water and snacks for the Half Dome hike, we flew down the first part of the trail.  We got to the base of the initial Half Dome ascent about an hour later.

The stairs reminded me of the hike up to Mordor but with much prettier scenery and golden hour light shining down. 

We arrived at the cables portion of Half Dome around 7:30 am. The crowds were light and the weather was beautiful,  not too hot yet.  

We put our gloves on (BRING GLOVES) and began the ascent.  The cables can be slippery and hard to get a good grip on, even with no moisture in the air or precipitation.  There’s also a pile of leftover gloves people leave in case you forgot some, but you might be risking getting some nasty hand fungus, who knows how long those have been there and how many terrified sweaty hands they’ve touched. 

The cables section was not what I was expecting physically.  It was much more of an arm workout than a leg workout.  Because of the large spacing between the footholds, you pull yourself up the mountain with your arms rather than climbing steep steps.  I had to rest many times on the way up because my arms were burning out. 

But eventually, we made it to the top and the views were incredible! 

We hugged it out and cracked open some breakfast celebratory beers.

The hike down was lot easier than the way up, but also scarier in my opinion.  I flipped back and forth between my descent strategy depending on the steepness (going face first or in reverse (most people go in reverse the whole way).  It had also gotten much more crowded by the time we were descending, and so we did a lot of passing people on the way down, which was the worst part.  

Just take it slow!

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Day 3 Part 2 – A change of plans 

When we got back from Half Dome to our campsite from the night before, the sky was orange and smelled like a potent campfire from the nearby forest fires.  We packed up camp and pushed on toward our last campsite in Little Yosemite Valley.

The remainder of the hike from Half Dome back to the valley was almost entirely downhill.  This is why we chose to backpack from the northern part of the canyon down.  You shave a ton of elevation off of doing Half Dome as a day hike, and also mostly descend the backpacking trail once past Clouds Rest (and if you add on Half Dome). Backpacking the other way around would be brutal, and not enjoyable for the average backpacker in my opinion. 

By the time we got to the Little Yosemite Valley Campsite, Molly’s ankle was really hurting.  She wanted to finish up the hiking today and get it out of the way, rather than having it potentially swell up even more overnight like it did the night before.  We discussed splitting the group in 2 with Ian and Molly heading down a night early and Mike, Taylor, and I sticking with the original plan, but we did not want to split the group up.

So we pushed on.  It was all downhill back to the valley, so couldn’t be too bad, right?

The distance really took a toll on all of us. Our feet and knees were hurting. We weren’t originally planning on having a 14-mile day (including Half Dome no less).

As you approach Nevada Falls, there are 2 trails you can take to get back down to the valley, John Muir and the Mist Trail.  The Mist trail is more direct but is much steeper and can be slippery from the waterfall mist, which didn’t sound great for descending.  Taking the John Muir Trail instead adds an additional 1.5 miles, but is much more moderate.  

I felt this section of the John Muir Trail was one of the most scenic parts of our entire hike.  We were gifted with beautiful views of Half Dome and Nevada Falls from a side vantage point at Clark Point.

Once at Clark Point, there’s again a trail divergence with 2 ways to get down to the Valley.  One way leads down to Vernal Falls but includes over 600 steep and uneven steps, whereas the other direction continues down the John Muir Trail with 10+ switchbacks.   Since Vernal Falls was reported to be a trickle, and Molly’s ankle was hurting, we continued down the John Muir Trail. The difference in distance between the 2 routes is about .5 miles. 

We eventually made it down and crushed some pizzas in the village. 

Summary

Hiking Tenaya Lakes to Little Yosemite Valley with the Half Dome Valley is one of the premier backpacking routes in the US National Parks.  By starting at the north end of the canyon, once passing Clouds Rest (and not including Half Dome), almost the whole trek is downhill through the beautiful Yosemite/Tenaya Canyon.  The permit lottery is very competitive, but once secured, there’s a lot of flexibility and customizations you can make to this route.  

With more time you may consider starting at Cathedral Lakes and camping there one night, and then Sunrise Lakes one night.  With even more time, you could add on Illiouette Falls via the Panorama Trail to your descent back down into the valley or as a side day trip. 

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Outside of the main Yosemite Valley region lies a hidden gem for hikers, backpackers, and nature lovers looking to get away from the crowds of Yosemite: Hetch Hetchy (HH). This valley was converted into a reservoir in 1913 and supplies the bulk of San Francisco’s water.  Many say that before the valley was filled with water, it was even more beautiful then it’s more famous neighbor, Yosemite Valley. However, even with the valley dammed up, it’s still a very beautiful and picturesque area to explore and is filled with great hiking and backpacking opportunities. The most popular multi-day route in the region, The Hetch Hetchy Loop, provides backpackers with nonstop granite cliff views, cascading waterfalls, and lush forests, all while following the path of the Tuolumne River.

Map of Hetch Hetchy Loop Trail

Permits

If camping overnight, this hike requires wilderness permits from Yosemite National Park from May-October. Yosemite uses a reservation system for most of its popular backcountry routes, including Hetch Hetchy.   60% of the spots for any given trailhead are reservable, and the rest are available on a “first-come, first-served” basis.  Reservations are available 24 weeks in advance on Recreation.gov and the permit processing fee is $10 per application.

The “first-come, first-served” permits have changed for Yosemite National Park since COVID.  Rather than being a walk-up permit, they are released on Recreation.gov seven days in advance of the desired start date at 7AM PDT.

The ideal Entry Point for permits on this hike is Rancheria Falls or Beehive Meadows, depending on which direction you do the loop. I did the loop Counter-Clockwise so we got Rancheria Falls permits.

When using the online permit application system, You only need to select the start date of your hike. Later in the application process you specify how many nights in the backcountry you will be and rough estimates of where you plan to camp.

The permits must be picked up in person at a wilderness center one day in advance (8AM to 5PM) or on the same day (8AM-11AM).  The easiest place to pick up the permits for Hetch Hetchy is at the Hetch Hetchy Entrance Station.

How To Get There

Hetch Hetchy is located outside of the main Yosemite Valley area to the north and not directly reachable from the valley.  Hetch Hetchy is about an hour and a half drive from Little Yosemite Valley and requires exiting and re-entering the park at the Hetch Hetchy Entrace Station.  The gates to the Hetch Hetchy road are open from 7AM to 9PM on May 1- Labor Day.  For dates outside this window and road conditions click here.

Overnight parking is located at the Wapama & Rancheria Falls Trailhead for free to backpackers. Also, backpackers are able to use the backpacker’s campground for one day before and after their trip for $8 per person for each night you use. The backpacker’s campsites are first-come first-serve and on the honor system for paying the fees with the provided envelope (bring exact change!).  The campsites in the backpackers campground include a food storage locker and picnic table, with water about a 10-15 minute walk away.

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Trip Report

I did this trail with my friend Charlie on May 27-29, 2019, but have recently updated this post to be more thorough and include the latest permit information.  The snowpack in 2019 was at record levels and changed our original plans from backpacking Mineral King in Sequoia National Park to instead backpacking the Hetch Hetchy Loop. 

When we picked up our permits from the Hetch Hetchy Entrance Ranger Station, the Park Ranger told us to expect up to 4 feet of snow and jokingly asking us if we brought our galoshes (rubber rain boots). Or maybe he wasn’t joking, because they would have been nice as you’ll see later on in this post!  We bought trekking poles and microspikes before the trip in preparation for potential snow hikes. The trekking poles were an excellent investment and I don’t know if we would have made it through safely without them, but we never used the microspikes. Microspikes are good for hard packed snow and ice, which we were expecting, however we were the first ones to do the Hetch Hetchy Loop after some decent snow a few days earlier, so the snow wasn’t packed at all. 

Day 1

Yosemite Valley is somewhat on the way to HH so we stopped there first to check out a few of the iconic sites, pick up our wilderness permits and rent a bear canister.  

HH was about an hour drive from the valley.  We did some last minute packing and divvying up the food (cheez-its were our nectar) and then we were ready to begin our 3 day trek!

The backpackers parking area is a decent walk to the start of the trail, maybe 3/4 of a mile and all downhill.  When we got to the dam, we had nice views of the reservoir and a few waterfalls. Wapama Falls was deceivingly far away. I thought it’d be a quick hike to get there, but it was 2.5 miles away and took over an hour.

Once we got there, the falls were raging and the mist was refreshing.

After stopping for a quick lunch before leaving the reservoir area we met some trail friends, Jeremy and Becky. We hiked together for a few miles but then split up after Rancheria Falls, which was around 5.5 miles from the trailhead.  

Rancheria Falls had lots of nice campsites, and sleeping next to the sound of rushing water would have been great. However, after examining the map, Charlie and I decided to push on to knock out some elevation gain for day 2. Looking back, both of us are really happy we made this decision, especially after a challenging day 2 with lots of snow trekking.

We climbed over 1000 feet in a mile and a half after the Rancheria Falls and entered the clouds. It was exhausting and we were desperately looking for anywhere to camp.  We ended up finding a flat spot in a boulder field off of the trail and near a creek. It didn’t look like anyone had camped here before (so no fires), but it was a pretty cool spot.

We set up camp, ate some dehydrated Fettuccini Alfredo with Chicken from Backpackers Pantry (which was surprisingly good) and called it a night pretty early.  I got up around 1am to pee, and the clouds had dissipated and the milky way was bright! I also saw a lot of meteors! I ended up waking up Charlie so he could see it as well and persuaded him to help me do some astrophotography.

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Day 2

The next morning we gave our gear a chance to dry out before departing.  It didn’t rain, but all of the moisture from the clouds made it damp.

Our next landmark was Tilltill Valley, about 1 mile from where we camped on night 1. We were very glad we brought sandals to switch into because the trail went through a large boggy area with water up to our knees.  I’m not sure if it’s always this boggy, but I feel like it probably is.

Next was the big climb for day 2.  About 2000 more feet to get to the high point of the loop, 7650 feet.  We were definitely starting to feel the air getting thinner as we ascended because we both  live at sea level elevations. As we approached 7000 feet, the snow was starting to become a lot more prevalent.

And soon, we lost the trail…

The 4 feet of snow estimate from the park ranger turned out to be a massive understatement —  we were hiking on snow drifts up to 10 feet tall. We were also sinking into the snow at least a foot with every step. Snowshoes would have been great to have, but instead we had cold soggy hiking boots.

It was interesting trailblazing through the snowfields constantly looking for signs of a trail.  I don’t know why the NPS doesn’t have trail markers on this section of the loop, because they do on most of the day 3 section of the loop.  

I have an app on my phone called Topo+, which is topographical maps synced with your GPS, and I downloaded the HH area for offline use for the trip.  It’s practically a modern orienteering device. The app saved us multiple times when we wandered off trail in the snow. We actually followed deer and bear tracks frequently through the snow because they seemed to be following the trail. The animals probably do follow the trail considering the forest is pretty dense and the trail is a nice footpath for animals.

We took turns leading in the snow and the person behind would step in the other’s footprints to save energy.  A big struggle of hiking through the snow drifts was avoiding postholes (loose snow near fallen trees or above melt areas).  Snow around the fallen trees would collapse under our weight and our legs would fall through, up to hip deep at times. We would use our poles to poke around ahead of us to check if the snow in front of us was packed enough to walk on.  It was an ACL/MCL spraining nightmare but we managed to escape with no knee injuries. Charlie did however fall through a posthole and got scraped by a tree branch which turned into a massive bruise; luckily the stick didn’t pierce through his leg. I also had some very tender Achilles tendons the next morning, and was limping around for a few days after completing the loop.

Snow trekking also required us to have to cross some snow bridges over creeks.  Both my legs fell through, but my backpack stopped me from falling all the way through.  It was very terrifying and I ended up crawling out on my belly very quickly.

After about 3 miles wandering around in the snow we finally found  a section of solid ground where we could rest. Charlie let out a primordial grunt when we made it: “OOGA BOOGA!”, and that became one of our catch phrases for the rest of the 2 week trip.  I also unfortunately left my favorite pink Nalgene water bottle at the rest site. I’m guessing we were pretty far off the actual trail so I wonder if anyone will ever find it.

After leaving the rest spot, the snow disappeared rapidly and we made our way to a very rocky area. We spotted a large solo cairn off in the distance and were finally back on a trail!  That cairn is definitely the most helpful and happiness inducing cairn I’ve ever come across on a hike.

We were once again in a cloud, and camped on the northeast side of Lake Vernon. I would say the north side has better views and campsites then the south side near the main trail but they’re both nice. The south side has the advantages of being near the creek, and not having to hike an extra half mile.

On night 2 we ate meat lasagna from Mountain House, and threw some of the cheez-its in for a delicious meal on night 2. We also split a dehydrated ice cream sandwich, which tasted just like a normal ice cream sandwich, but super crunchy and not cold. As we were eating, the clouds opened up a bit and we got some nice cotton candy looking clouds around the lake. A curious mule deer also wandered into our campsite and we had to shoo it away.

While we were setting up camp a  boy scout troop arrived and set up camp in the same area.  After chatting with one of the group leaders, we learned they got lost in the same snowdrifts and ended up finding our footprints and that’s how they made it to the lake.  They were confused when they saw 2 of us but only one set of tracks haha. Charlie and I definitely felt like some true wilderness explorers.

Day 3

The next morning we had damp gear again due to the low clouds and let our gear dry out while eating breakfast near the lake.  We saw a lot of salamanders near the shore and they were very entertaining to watch. It was like natural television out in the backcountry.

Day 3 was very chill and almost all downhill.  It was about 11 miles back to the campsite and we did it in under 6 hours.  We pretty much only stopped for lunch and to filter our water from creeks a few times. The last 4 miles on the beehive trail were quite steep and had a lot of switchbacks.  While descending, we passed some people about 2 miles away from the main trail and they looked exhausted and still had a long way to go. It would be a very strenuous endeavor to do the loop clockwise and make it all the way to Lake Vernon on Day 1.

The last mile of the loop had some of the best views.  Seeing the reservoir from a higher elevation was a beautiful sight after hiking through the pine forests most of the day.  

Overall this was a challenging, but fun loop. Large amounts of snow so late in the season made the hike pretty unique and it was also both Charlie and my first time backpacking in snow. The loop definitely would have been more enjoyable with snowshoes, and even more enjoyable with a lot less snow.   If you want to do the Hetch Hetchy loop I recommend doing a similar itinerary to what we did and to definitely go counter-clockwise.

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Grand Tetons National Park

September 6-7 , 2021

Overview:

Distance: 21.5 miles

Elevation Gain: 3656 ft.

Time: 2 days, 1 night

Difficulty: Strenuous 

 Camping overnight in the backcountry of GTNP requires permits from the NPS. This includes Backpacking Paintbrush Canyon.

The Tetons are a special place. Driving into the park, it was fairly flat until we were met with some massive jagged mountains that came out of nowhere. There’s a bunch of iconic views along Route 191, but to really experience the Teets, I think you have to get up into the backcountry.

Backpacking Paintbrush Canyon + Cascade Canyon Loop

Every year, a group of my close friends and I do a 1-2 week outdoor adventure trip somewhere in the USA to get away from our jobs, reconnect with each other and get into nature. This year we explored the national parks in Wyoming as well as some cool spots in Idaho. The past few years we’ve been pretty good about planning out our itinerary and reserving permits for the backpacking trips we want to do, but this trip had pretty much no planning at all. 

We really wanted to backpack in the Tetons, but we missed the permit deadline earlier in the year. It was also Labor Day weekend, so we were a little nervous about acquiring walk-up permits for our top choices.  From my pre-trip research, Backpacking Paintbrush Canyon and the Cascade Pass loop popped up a lot so we wanted to try for that as our first choice, and succeeded!  

GTNP allows walk-up permits the day before starting a backcountry trip. I’m not a big fan of this. I think it should be the day-of, but alas.

We arrived at the Jenny Lake Visitor center at 6:30am after a 2 hour drive from Yellowstone. We were told by a friend that the doors opened at 7am; turns out they opened at 8am, whoops.  It was pretty chilly outside so no one really wanted to wait outside for an hour and half, which in hindsight we should have done. Once we left our warm car to wait in line for permits, a decent line had already formed.  We didn’t succeed in getting the Paintbrush Canyon permits the day we got there, but we got them for the following day for North Fork Campground.

Now onto the trail deets!

This loop starts at String Lake, just north of Jenny Lake. By the lake, there are 3 parking lots; we chose the South lot since we were taking the loop counter-clockwise. 

After missing our very first trail junction less than a mile in and having to backtrack, we were finally on our way into one of the most scenic areas of the GTNP backcountry. About 2 miles in, we were greeted by a mama and baby moose walking down the trail!! Shoutout to Dillon for these epic telephoto shots.

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We also later saw a black bear cub, but I didn’t get any good pics of it.  

Lower paintbrush canyon reveals the first beautiful views of the Grand Teton backcountry. Even in Early September there were some hints of fall colors.

There are several streams to fill water throughout the paintbrush canyon ascent,which we took advantage of a few times. I think the lower and upper camping areas in Paintbrush Canyon would make great one day backpacking trips going counter clockwise, or a second day campsite coming from the other direction. 

After filling up our water bottles, we pushed forward to Holly Lake for lunch. At 6 miles, Holly Lake was approximately the halfway point for Day 1. So far, we knocked out ~2500 ft. of elevation gain. The next section of climbing was a lot tougher for us because the altitude started hitting.

In the panoramic photo below, the break in the mountains on the right side of the photos is the continental divide and the last bit of climbing, around a mile to go. 

I’ve seen photos of this section covered in snow and ice and I much prefer the scree. Walking on the scree was still pretty sketchy though; the rocks moved a lot. So close yet so far and we were struggling.

Eventually, the four of us arrived at the high point of the loop – 10,700 feet! 

There were some pretty great 360 views from the top.  But descending into the canyon on the other side of the continental divide made the views look even better.  Unfortunately, there were some visibility issues due to Canadian wildfires in 2021, but the Tetons still looked majestic nonetheless.

The descent from the Paintbrush Divide to Lake Solitude was about 2 miles and 1600 feet of elevation loss. It was also scree on almost the entire way down to the lake. Because of this steep scree section, we were all really glad we decided to take the Loop CCW instead of CW; I think it’d be more strenuous going the other way around.

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As a reward for making it past the crux of the hike, we took a frigid polar plunge in Lake Solitude. And then walked to our campsite in our underwear.  Little did we know, that was another 2 mile walk… ha!

We all thought the North Fork Campsites would be just down the trail aways, however the backcountry sites span over a mile.  (Make sure to grab a map of the camping area from the ranger for whichever campground you get permits for! It was very helpful finding the hidden campsites tucked away off trail.)  Since we arrived at sunset, all of the campsites closer to Lake solitude were taken and we got one of the very last ones further down the mountain.

The next day was pretty much all downhill, for 7 miles.  We had beautiful views of Cascade Canyon for the first several miles. 

Then the last 2 miles, the end really seemed to be running away from us.  Walking around the edge of Jenny Lake, back to the parking lot, seemed longer than it should be. Part of that was probably because the sun was beating down on us, without much shade for relief. But we all made it eventually, injury free! 

Overall this was a very strenuous 2-day backpacking trek, that provided incredible views of the heart of the Tetons. If I were to do this hike again, however, I’d probably make it a 3-dayer to enjoy my time in the mountains more instead of just 2 days of a brutal workout. I’d still take it CCW and  camp at Upper Paintbrush or Holly lake the first day, North Fork or South Fork the second day, and then hike out the third day. 

I hope you enjoyed this recap, and feel free to leave any questions or comments below! I always love hearing your feedback!

Overview:

Distance: 3.4 miles

Time: 2 days, 1 night

Difficulty: Easy

Backpacking to Hole in the Wall is a fun easy overnighter (or day hike) that provides some beautiful views of the Oregon Coast.  There’s towering rock formations in the shallows, dense forest touching the beach, and lots of driftwood (and driftwood forts!). This backcountry campsite is within the Olympic National Park boundaries, so permits are required and can be reserved up to 6 months ahead of time. 

Parking is available at Rialto Beach,  another popular Oregon beach that’s worth exploring, but typically very crowded.  Hole in the Rock is then 1.5 miles down the beach, heading North. When we went, we were blessed with 2 sunny days in a row.  The most important thing to note about this hike is that the hole in the wall can only be passed during low tide. Make sure to check the tide charts, because backcountry camping is on the other side of the formation.

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You can also go above/around the Hole in the Rock instead of through.  This section of the trail is worth checking out either way because it has sweeping views of the Olympic Coast from a higher vantage point.

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Once past the wall, we were free to pick a spot to set up camp for the night.  We also partook in making our own driftwood fort like many other campers on the beach.  Seeing everyone’s forts was one of my favorite parts of this trip.  I posted some photos of our driftwood fort in a National Parks Facebook group and was met with the wrath of several people (boomers) saying that we vandalized a National Park.  I don’t agree with the sentiment since the driftwood was already there and we made our fort in place, and high tide breaks the forts down if you build them low enough.  So your call if you want to participate in fort building or not!

To finish off the night, we let the campfire die out and then laid our sleeping bags in the sand without a tent and stargazed until we fell asleep.  Let me know if you have any questions about this hike; I hope you have a good time out there!

Overview:

Region: Mount Baker Wilderness, Washington, USA
Date: August 11-12, 2020
Difficulty: Moderate
Elevation Gain: 1300 ft.
Permit Required: Northwest Forest Pass (No reservation required)

This short hike has such a massive reward.  It was a major highlight of our 10 day outdoor adventure tour of Washington.  The 360 views at the top are incredible.

The road to the top is pretty rough, and got more inclined the higher we went. I’d definitely recommend a high clearance vehicle; we made it in our Nissan Pathfinder.  There’s several nice campsites at the base of the trail too scattered around Twin lakes.  The trail to the top is a constant elevation gain over about 1.7 miles, but since it’s short, it’s not too bad!

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There is one sketchy section hiking to Winchester Mountain Lookout where there was a rock slide on the trail, so definitely use caution here.

Looking down at Twin Lakes from the trail

Hiking to Winchester Mountain Lookout, like all fire towers in the PNW,  is first come first serve.  We arrived at the top around 3PM and were the only ones there, so we got first dibs in sleeping in the fire lookout for the night. More people trickled in as the day went on but no one asked us to stay inside.  I’m not sure if this is an unspoken rule with sleeping in the fire lookouts or what, but we weren’t complaining, especially the next morning when it got down into the 20’s.

We experienced a wide range of weather conditions while we were up there,  starting with stormy skies.

But the sun poked out for dinner!

Mount Baker Sunrise

If you ever get the chance to some hiking to Winchester Mountain Lookout​,  just remember: Leave no Trace and leave the Fire Lookout better than you found it.

Cheers!

Backpacking Sahale Glacier requires backcountry camping permits issued by the US National Parks Service.

After this trip to the Pacific Northwest and visiting Washington’s 3 National Parks, I’m now excited to say I’ve visited half of the U.S. National Parks. And the North Cascades have definitely made my top 5 list. I don’t hear people talk about the North Cascades too much, which is probably because it’s inaccessible most of the year. Most of the backcountry backpacking trails are only open in August and September due to snow, unless you’re doing legit mountaineering. 

Backpacking Sahale Glacier is an offshoot trail of the popular Cascade Pass Trail which is accessed from Cascade River Road. It is not a main road into the park, but still very popular nonetheless.  Cascade River Road turns to gravel at around the halfway point and is about 18 miles long. It  took us about an hour to get to the start of the trailhead after the turnoff from SR-20. 

After we parked and finished packing our final items it was time to ascend! The first 2.5 miles of the trail has 35 (we counted) gradual switchbacks that knock out the first 1500 feet of elevation gain. There weren’t many views during this section because the the dense forest but I still enjoyed it.  Once we completed the final switchback, we started getting some epic mountain views.

From the end of the switchback section to the Sahale trail merge was a little under a mile and only about 200 feet of elevation gain. We passed a few small streams in this section and took some time to filter water. You’ll definitely want to tank up here, because we didn’t run across any more water until the bottom of the rock scramble section in the final half mile. (There was also water at the top near our campsite.)

The trail merge to hop off the Cascade Pass trail onto the Sahale Arm trail is a great stop to have lunch, overlooking the valley. Additionally if you continue another mile, there’s another awesome lunch spot overlooking Doubtful Lake.

The Sahale Arm trail is about 2.15 miles with 2200 feet of elevation gain that gradually gets steeper and steeper as you work your way up to the campsites. Luckily, the maximum elevation of this hike is 7600’, so there’s not too much of a lack of oxygen.  

On our way to the top we saw our first mountain goat! A major bucket list item on this trip for me was seeing one of these guys in the wild. And we saw a lot more as we climbed higher.

The final 0.65 miles is a rock scramble and by far the hardest section of the hike with over 1000 feet of elevation gain. The trail disappears frequently in the rock scramble but there are plenty of cairns to follow. This section is even more difficult on the way down, so take your time.

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At the end of the trail there are several rock mounds where campers can set up. They all have man made rock walls around them to protect from the wind. Another camper told us they’re referred to as ‘bivs’ but nothing popped up on Google when I searched for that?   

While we were searching around for which campsite we wanted to claim, a guy came up to us and said he forgot the SD card for his camera and was about to propose to his girlfriend and saw all of us with our camera gear. So we also shot an engagement. Congrats Jason and Angela! 

One of the best features of this campsite is the pit toilet where you can take the most epic poop of your life! All 4 of us had to get some funny photos.

We were gifted with an amazing sunset, which most day hikers don’t get a chance to see. We had some dehydrated Pad Thai with chicken from Backpackers Pantry while we watched the sun go down. For us there was a stream running near us from melting snowpack, so we didn’t even need to melt snow to eat or drink.

And after the sun finally went down, we had phenomenal Milky Way views! The Perseid meteor shower was also happening so we got lots of pics with shooting stars. This is one of my favorite photo captures of the trip.

It was surprisingly warm at our campsite, at least according to me. It was noticeably cooler at the bottom of the rock scramble. I guess we had more of a wind block? However, once we got settled into the tent for the night the winds really started picking up. We shared a 4 man tent for this trip. Ian and I faced one direction and Taylor and Wyatt faced the opposite direction. Wyatt and Taylor claimed they were freezing all night but Ian and I weren’t very cold, so that was pretty strange because none of us particularly run hot or cold. None of us slept that well, though, because the wind was so loud and thrashing the tent around. 

In the morning, we packed up and headed out on the same trails in reverse. We only had one small section of snowpack hiking to do to get from our campsite back to the main trail, so none of us used our crampons or microspikes. Definitely check with a park ranger to see if you’d need them or not. 

The descent was much faster. We did it in about 2.5 hours vs. around 6 hours for the hike up. The rock scramble wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be while I was hiking up it. To me the worst part of the descent was the switchback section. This section was fine starting the trail because we were all so excited, but on the way down with no views, I just wanted the hike to be over and the 35 switchbacks never seemed to end. 

Overall, this backpacking trip was awesome and I’d definitely do it again someday.  Although it’s strenuous, the reward definitely pays off.  It’s very cool to start off seeing the towering mountains from the trailhead and then climb high enough to see endless peaks from the top. 

Some additional photos included this blog were from my friends Ian and Taylor.  Please leave a comment below if you have any questions or comments, love hearing from you!

Overview:

Location: Canyon Creek Lakes Trail in Trinity Alps, California

Dates: June 1-2, 2019

Distance: 16.7 miles

Difficulty: Moderate

Elevation Gain: 2,969 ft.

After Charlie and I finished backpacking in Hetch Hetchy we headed back to Fresno to pick up Wyatt, Taylor, and Ian. Next, we all went out to the Tioga Sequoia brewery to celebrate Charlie’s birthday and discuss where to go next. We needed to try to escape the snowpack in the High Sierra’s and find somewhere else to go because everyone still wanted to do some backpacking, but our 5 day Mineral King permits were canceled by the NPS. We decided to head to Redding, CA and do some backpacking somewhere up in Northern California.

After some internet searching during our road trip up, and a pitstop at Pinnacles National Park, we decided to start with some backpacking to the Canyon Creek Lakes in the Trinity Alps.

The parking lot was at the end of a windy 11 mile road that heads up into the canyon.  When we got to the lot at around 10AM, there were already at least 20 cars there, but still space for plenty more. We did some last-minute rearranging of our gear and food and then were ready to start the ascent!

After about a half mile we came to the first major creek crossing. The water was around knee deep, so everyone changed into sandals or went barefoot. I highly recommend bringing sandals or water shoes for this route.

We hiked for about another mile and a half and then got our first epic view of the snowcapped mountains.  There is also a nice campsite here for anyone who gets a late start on the trail.

At around the half point we stopped at a nice waterfall for lunch.

About a mile from the lake we came to the next major stream crossing.  This one was a lot wider and flowing well.  It took us a while to figure out where to cross and where the trail continued.  The trick is to head towards the left when you first arrive at the creek, and not to keep walking up the right side.  When we crossed, there were lots of large fallen trees to walk on and a wooden trail marker nailed to a tree on the opposite side.

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Although the entire hike is 2600 feet of elevation gain, it’s fairly evenly distributed along the entire trail. After 7 miles of hiking uphill though, we were getting tired and there were two final rocky hills to scramble up before making it to the lower lake.  One of those rocky hills has an epic 360 degree view of the canyon.

We arrived at the lower lake at around 6PM and many people already had camps set up.  It definitely looked like some people had been there more than one day, too.  The lake is big and there’s plenty of space for people to spread out, but the problem is that the terrain is very rocky and it can be hard to find flat spots to set up a tent.  The smaller your tent, the more spots you’ll be able to find.  (Remember to always camp 100 feet away from water sources as per the USNF regulations.) We didn’t see many places to set up hammocks.

We walked about 3/4 of the east side of the lower lake and still couldn’t find any good tent spots.  Our group was ready to call it a day but Charlie and I really wanted to push on to the upper lake to see if there were any better campsites. When I stood up from resting, my knee was in intense pain and I could barely walk. The pain came out of nowhere, I didn’t notice anything unusual while hiking.   I pushed through the pain and we headed for the upper lake because we still needed to find a campsite for the night.

The upper lake is only about 50 feet higher in elevation than the lower lake but looked significantly different.  We had to hike through a bit of snow to get up to it and about half of the lake was still frozen.  We ended up finding a sweet spot to camp between the upper and lower lakes that could fit both our 4-man tent and 2-man tent.

 After setting up camp, we explored explored the area more.

The sun was beginning to set, and the mountains were soon going to block the sunlight so Ian and I decided to jump into the lower lake while we could still dry off. 

Considering the upper lake was still partially frozen I’m guessing the water temperature was near freezing and I sure felt the shock and adrenaline when I jumped in.  I immediately swam out and ran all the way back up to our campsite while hyperventilating. 100% worth it!

For dinner we had some delicious Mountain House Beef Stroganoff.  As we were finishing dinner, a big rain cloud formed so we hid in our tents for about 15 minutes.  Once the rain passed, we emerged from our tents and were greeted by a phenomenal rainbow above the snow-capped mountains.

The scenery changed again when a lightning storm started rolling in.  It rained a bit more and then the sky turned pink and purple.

The next morning my knee was still hurting pretty badly. I was somewhat worried because I knew hiking 8 miles was not a good idea but there really weren’t many alternatives. The guys offered to stay another day and see if my knee would heal a bit, but I didn’t think it would.  We also didn’t have much food left so I said we should press on. I’m not gonna lie, the thought of trying to get a helicopter ride out definitely crossed my mind a few times.

It turns out we all got various injuries on this hike.  Taylor got a bad rash all over his body from what we think was poison ivy and Ian got a bad rash on his hips from his backpack strap.  

I ended up hobbling all the way back down to the car lagging behind the rest of my group using my trekking poles to try and keep weight off of my knee.  After switching into my Chacos for the wide stream crossing, I decided to leave them on for the remainder of the hike so that I could just walk through the little streams, instead of trying to balance on rocks and roots.

Overall backpacking to the Canyon Creek Lakes is moderate in difficulty, and I would highly recommend it.  I also recommend camping there for at least one night; additional nights if you want to head even further into the backcountry where there’s even more alpine lakes and waterfalls.

Some additional photos for this post were taken by Ian and Taylor.  Check them out on Instagram for more of their work!

UPDATE: After some physical therapy, my knee is all healed up and I’m out hiking and climbing again!