Muir Pass, the 11,969 ft / 3,648 m pass named for John Muir, a Scottish-American naturalist, botanist, zoologist, glaciologist, and nature-enthusiast, is the fifth Sierra pass encountered by northbound Pacific Crest Trail thru-hikers (and the fifth encountered by southbound John Muir Trail
Pinchot Pass Guide: Approaches, Crossing, and Snow
Pinchot Pass, the 12,093 ft / 3,686 m pass named for Gifford Pinchot, the 1st head of the United States Forest Service, is the third Sierra pass encountered by northbound Pacific Crest Trail thru-hikers (and the fourth encountered by southbound John Muir Trail hikers). It's located just 9.8 mi
Mather Pass Guide: Approaches, Crossing, and Snow
Mather Pass, the 12,093 ft / 3,686 m pass named for Stephen Mather, the 1st Director of the National Park Service, is the fourth Sierra pass encountered by northbound Pacific Crest Trail thru-hikers (and the third encountered by southbound John Muir Trail hikers). Despite it not being as high
Guide to Hiking the Lowest to Highest Route
The Lowest to Highest Route is a 135 mi / 217 km hike beginning at Badwater Basin in California's Death Valley National Park and ending at the summit of Mount Whitney - the highest point in the Continental United States (but technically you'll end back down at the trailhead since you'll need to get
Fall Hiking In California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains
Some of my favorite places in the world can be found in California's Sierra Nevada Mountains and I've recently discovered my favorite time of the year to be there: the fall (or autumn as some readers know it). Why? Over the course of four days my group and I saw zero bugs and crossed paths
Best Section Hikes of the PCT: Northern California
The Pacific Crest Trail through Northern California passes through the Bucks Lake, Castle Crags, Trinity Alps, Marble Mountain, and Russian Wilderness areas, McArthur–Burney Falls Memorial State Park, Lassen National Forest, and Lassen Volcanic National Park. Yet a lot of PCT thru-hikers don't find
Best Section Hikes of the PCT: The Sierra
The Sierra is widely regarded as the "best" section of the Pacific Crest Trail (although Washington is usually a close second). If you're looking to hike only a small portion of the PCT, then practically any section of the Sierra would make an incredible section hike (except maybe for the section
Best Section Hikes of the PCT: The Desert
A lot of you have written to ask something along the lines of, "I have *insert amount of time*, what section of the Pacific Crest Trail should I hike?" This is not an easy question to answer. It depends on who you are, what you're physically capable of, what you want to see, what time of the year