Travels

EVERYONE! SIGN UP FOR SCOTT'S CHEAP FLIGHTS! Nearly daily emails about seriously good deals on flights. This is especially handy if you have a flexible schedule. 

Weekend/Long weekend trips (2-4 days)

There are a lot of wonderful outdoor parks for those who like hiking and camping. Point Reyes National Seashore (~90 minutes), Salt Point State Park (~2 hours), and Sonoma Coast State Park (~90 minutes) are great beach options with campsites and/or backcountry options for sleeping. In the mountains, check out any of the major national parks within driving range for a (long) weekend (Yosemite, Sequoia and King's Canyon, Death Valley, and more). You can take a bus (YARTS) to Yosemite!

Other options for trips include asking your friends and labmates who do fieldwork around the region if they need an extra assistant!

Finally, check out the UC Natural Reserve System to find UC research stations, often in beautiful, remote locales. Contact the respective directors of each station about availability to reserve space - sometimes the are available outside of research-only purposes.

Backpacking Trips

California is a backpacker's dream! These trip reports have been compiled by Kelly, but if you're the outdoorsy type, you'll have no trouble finding folks to take a trip with you. Most if not all backpacking trips require a permit from the respective agency - many including national park and Forest Service can be browsed on recreation.gov.

1 Night

Pear Lake: Sequoia National Park, 13 miles RT

• Permit area: Lakes Trail (FCFS)

Henry Coe State Park

• Backpack to Loz Cruzeros, swim in China Hole

2 Nights

Big Sur

• Car camping: Pfeiffer Big Sur Campground

• Backpacking: Sykes Hot Spring, 20 miles RT

Cottonwood Lakes & Mt. Langley, 18 miles RT

• Permit area: JM39

Half Dome via Mono Meadows, Yosemite National Park: ~20 miles

• Permit area: Mono Meadows, add-on to summit Half Dome

• Easier to get a permit than via Glacier Point, a bit shorter and you can exit via Glacier Point if you want.

3 Nights

Hamilton Lakes via HST, Sequoia National Park: ~30 miles

• Permit area: High Sierra Trail (FCFS)

Mineral King / Big Five Lakes, Sequoia National Park: ~30 miles

• Permit area: Sawtooth Gap (FCFS), Timber Gap (reserve)

• Bring a tarp for your car!!!!!!!!

Hetch Hetchy, Yosemite National Park: ~30 miles

• Permit area: Rancheria Falls

• Beware of mosquitos!

Mt. Whitney Summit: 22 miles 

• Permits go fast, so join the Discord to be automatically notified of cancellations

• Doable as a day hike (if you hate yourself), camp at Whitney Portal Campground

4 Nights

Mineral King or Hamilton + Precipice Lake, Sequoia National Park: ~40+ mi RT

• Many choose-your-own-adventure routes to Precipice Lake, but expect to take 4-5 nights from any direction.

Rae Lakes, Kings Canyon National Park: 40 miles

• • Good luck getting a permit!

Spring Break (7-10 days)

Benji Kessler, Brian Whyte, and Wenjing Xu's China Trip. Key points:

• • China Southern has cheap flights (round trip around $400) 

  • Get your visa in SF, which takes less than a week to get it. No appointment needed

  • Don't be afraid of the language. Benji was able to order his own milk tea by the end of the trip

  • We love our Google Fi SIM card (roaming 200+ countries, flat rate, no VPN needed if you are on ) - or Airalo (rate varies by country, but you can it set up and installed in less than 10 minutes!)

Kelly's trip to Kauai to hike the Na'Pali Coast - map of highlights here.

• If you plan to backpack the Kalalau Trail, you must get a permit AND a parking pass!

• It's possible to store luggage and park at Wainiha Market, for a fee.

• You'll probably need to rent a car, so plan ahead!

• While lodging is fairly expensive, you can camp at a select parks for as little as $3: ‘Anini beach (reserve here)

• Don't miss out on malasadas, shave ice, poke from the fresh market, and musubi.