Tis the season! (For backpacking!)

Last year, my major backpacking trip was a 4 day hike through the southern Sierras. Now, as the weather's warming up (70's and 80's this weekend!) - I'm ready to get outside! Watching the video for last year's trip is making me excited - maybe Olympic NP? Yosemite?

Tarptent: double the pleasure...

Ugh. It's been tooooo long since my last post. But I've used the time well....a week before a multiday backpacking trip into the Sierras, I found an answer to my soon to be aching back.



Tarptent. BOTH a tarp AND a tent. The ultralight advantages of a tarp.... but the all enclosed, insect barrier and wind resistance of a tent. All in a small bundle weighing in at 2.5 pounds. My previous tent - the Marmot Equinox - was in the heavyweight division, 6.5 pounds. Even better? My particular tarptent, the Rainshadow 2, is roomy enough for 3 people, whereas the old heavyweight could only stomach 2.



Yep - 5'2" me, nearly 6' of my friend Jeff, and about 5'5" of my friend Jessica. Cozy enough but not too cozy... I'm in love with my new tent. Hopefully we'll spend some more quality time together soon.

Jennie Lakes Wilderness

Now admittedly, we did not actually go to Jennie Lake - but we did hike to Weaver Lake that is in Jennie Lakes Wilderness area. Lying between Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park, it's a beautiful place to bring your dog hiking (which you can't in the national parks). Weaver Lake was an easy 3.2 mile hike in for a total of 6.4 miles out and back and some elevation gain.

The hike starts along a little stream and proceeds to climb with
occasional views of the surrounding Sierras through the trees. Throughout most of the hike you can smell the fragrant pines - our dog had a good time sniffing around. The trail then becomes somewhat of a rock garden, eventually leading to a view of this:




The lake is beautiful, with surrounding grassy areas - perfect campsites! We saw several backpackers with really choice tent sites. You can do this hike as part of a loop, including Jenny Lake, as 2-3 day backpacking trip. I'm hoping to do this soon with the dog, or possibly some beginner backpacking friends,