Hiking with Heidi

Hike Details: Elevation range - 7200' Trailhead Location - Donner Summit Sno-Park Mileage - 3.75 miles round trip - from the Sno-Park trailhead past Azalea Lake, then a loop around Flora Lake and back. Hiking time - about 3 hours, with lots of time for stopping to take pictures. Link to the CalTopo map:   https://caltopo.com/m/932L As someone who doesn't normally like the cold, somehow snowshoeing has become a favorite winter activity! Cue the music..."the cold never bothered me anyway!"... :)  We always start off with lots of warm layers, but it doesn't usually take more than about 15-20 minutes before we're shedding jackets and gloves because it's so easy to warm up when you're snowshoeing. It's a great workout! The trail heads out from the Donner Summit Sno-Park parking lot and essentially follows the hiking path of the PCT.      We went past both Azalea Lake and Flora Lake. The sun kept popping in and out all...

Hike Details: Elevation range - 7400-7600' Location - Echo Lake - from Hwy. 50 Eastbound, take the Echo Lake/Sno-Park turn-off (just before reaching Echo Summit). A Sno-Park permit is required ($5) and must be purchased ahead of time, I got mine at REI. The snow trail begins right across from the entrance to the Sno-Park, on what would be Echo Lakes Road. Mileage - 1.25 mi. from the parking lot to the edge of Echo Lake. From there we hiked up just a little ways on the north ridge to see the view overlooking Lake Tahoe. Hiking time - about 3 hours, with lots of time for stopping to take pictures and lunch at the lake. An awesome group of nine of us set out on the trail on this beautiful, sunny winter day! A few of the women were first-time snowshoers, so it was fun to share a new adventure with them! I've hiked here in the summer a few times, so I was looking forward to seeing what it was like all covered in snow. The trail to the lake essentially follows what wou...

Hike Details: Elevation range - about 7200' (lots of little ups and downs but no huge elevation changes) Location - from Eastbound I-80, take the Boreal Ski/Donner Summit Sno-Park exit, turn left (going opposite of Boreal) and the road dead ends at the Sno-Park (fee is $5 per vehicle, passes need to be bought ahead of time at REI or other Truckee locations). You could also possibly park at the rest area at the next exit which is closer to the junction with the PCT. Bathrooms: Yes, a pit toilet  Mileage - 4-5 miles roundtrip Hiking time - 3+ hours (including stop for lunch)

Hike Details: Elevation - low of about 4,300 - high of 5,300 ft. Location - just outside of Sierra City, off of Hwy. 49 Mileage - the plan: 3 1/2 - 4 miles; the reality: at least 5, maybe 6 Hiking time - 2 1/2 hours Route - (see map and description below) - important note:  the CalTopo map (and other maps) show Loves Falls as being south of the PCT, which is incorrect, unless they're naming something else as Loves Falls that are further down the river. The bridge and the bigger falls are right on the trail of the PCT. Weather - warm...okay, hot! Hiking with 12 people was just a warm-up for the hike a few weeks later with about 50-60 people! Which is one of the reasons to pre-hike! I've done this hike before, but we decided to add a little mileage so that we'd be hiking on the PCT a little longer. We started through the campground, got directions from the camp host, and took off up the gravel road in search of the trail intersection with the PCT. We...

Hike Details: Elevation – 9,103 ft.   Location – near I-80 just across from Boreal Ridge Ski Resort Mileage – 7 1/2  miles round-trip Time – 3 1/2 hours Route – see map and description below Weather – Perfect Take the exit at Boreal Ski Resort, turn left under the freeway and drive just a little bit around a bend to park at the trailhead.  See those craggy peaks FAR off in the distance? Yeah, that's where we're hiking. So...one foot in front of the other and pretty soon those peaks start getting closer and closer.  First we hiked down a gravel road until a fork in the road to the right took us over to connect with the Pacific Crest Trail.  We passed by some lovely meadows before diving into the thick of the forest.  And a higher-up meadow...  Those rocks are getting a little closer...  We reached the saddle where the PCT heads North and met up with some fun PCT thru-hikers. (I've learned their trail names are Di...

Hike Details: Elevation - approx. 4,200 - 5,200 ft. Location - just outside of Sierra City, off of Hwy. 49 Mileage - 3.5 miles one way (we didn't backtrack, we had drivers shuttle the cars to the end point) Hiking time - 2-3 hours Route - (see map and description below) - important note:  the CalTopo map (and other maps) show Loves Falls as being south of the PCT, which is incorrect, unless they're naming something else Loves Falls that are further down the river. The bridge and the bigger falls are right on the trail of the PCT. Weather - a little warm, but survivable Hikers - Holy cow! Way too many to name! I was asked to help lead a hike for our church's Girls' Camp -- this one was for the Level 2 girls (about age 13), there were over 50 of them! Then add in a dozen or so adult leaders and you've got a serious crowd on a trail. But we managed to make it work by splitting up into 3 groups and staggering our start by 5 about minutes. This trail is ...