Welcome to Backpack the Sierra.com
Welcome:
Backpackthesierra.com is a free non-commercial site that provides both the information and inspiration you need to head into the Sierra Nevada with a pack on your back and a smile on your face. In the words of John Muir: "I only went out for a walk, and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in." Take it from John Muir, put on a backpack and get going!
Just as we enjoy exploring the Sierra, we hope you’ll enjoy exploring the stories, photos, fun, and information we’ve assembled on this site. Take your time and look around. You'll find hundreds of pages of our insights and experiences backpacking in the amazing Range of Light. Among the highlights is OUR BLOG
· All you need to know about backpacking in California--what, where, when and how. And why.
· "Destinations," has a list of more than sixty backpacking trips we've taken in the Sierra Nevada, and trip photo logs for most of them.
· The best day hikes in the Sierra Nevada--listed by highway along with the backpacking trips.
· A backpacking equipment list with a rationale for each item--and ideas on how you can reduce your pack weight.
· Ideas for good cheap backpacking equipment
· Philosophy, fun, photos, and fishing!
It’s all part of enjoying what we think is the most beautiful and accessible mountain range in the world—the Sierra Nevada. And there is a lot of information here---check out the subpages for more details on every topic. That's what the navigation bar is for at the left of this page...there is more here than you can imagine.
OUR BLOG has lots more information, stories, and opinions on backpacking, the Sierra Nevada, and life on the trail. It's been named one of the top ten backpacking blogs in the world and a Golden Boots Blogger Award for 2016) The dark green blog bars on this page will take you to the most current posts.
UPDATE: APRIL 2020. THANKS TO GOOGLE CHANGING SOFTWARE ON US, WE HAVE HAD TO COMPLETELY RE-LAUNCH THIS SITE. wE'VE DONE THAT--BUT PLEASE LET US KNOW ABOUT ANY GLITCHES, SO THAT WE CAN FIX THEM!
Explore the links below to find out what to carry, how to backpack, where to go, what to do, and lots more:
About Us: Who We Are and What We Think About Backpacking in the Sierra Nevada
Backpacking: General Information about Backpacking in the Sierra Nevada
Our Equipment List: a High Sierra Backpacking list you can count on.
Gear: Our Thoughts on What Works and What Doesn't in the High Sierra
Destinations: The Best Sierra Hikes, The Best Starter Hikes, and Hikes by Highway
Machu Picchu And Peru
Stories, Fun, Fishing, Flowers, and Links
The photo above is from our trip to Boundary Lake on the northwestern corner of Yosemite National Park. The one below shows our packs resting along the shore of Lake Thomas Edison in the John Muir Wilderness, as we wait for the ferry to take us home.
(Most of the photos used to link to our Picasa photo pages, where you could see all the photos that we didn't have space for here on the website. But since Google, in its infinite wisdom, decided to destroy Picasa, many of the photos do not link any more. Of course, Picasa and Google Sites were all part of the package from Google that we used to create this, so its pretty darn frustrating. We're still looking for a better solution, and Google is no help at all. Go figure. That must be Google's idea of customer service.)
