Solo Backpacking

Yosemite’s Back Door: Hoover Wilderness Canyon Country

Who: Just me!
What: Backpacking
When: 7/21/20-7/26/20
Where: Hoover Wilderness + Yosemite NP, native land of the Me-Wuk and Numu
Mileage: 30mi on trail plus 9.5mi xc (plus a little 2mi peak bagging spur)
Elevation gain/loss: +9,000ft/-9,000ft
More photos: here
CalTopo: here

The coronavirus pandemic made 2020 quite an unusual year. I, like many people, completely changed my life around—I moved from Oakland to Tahoe. Most of the summer I spent settling in to my new area and marveling at like wow I can hike to the PCT in an hour from my front door whaaaaaaaat, but I did manage to squeeze in a couple farther flung trips. The permitting process was a mess, especially for walk-ups, but the Hoover Wilderness near Bridgeport always had high quotas and I was able to snag a permit to sneak in through Yosemite’s back door from Twin Lakes. I had some magical cross country travel, stormy weather, and a fun little peak bagging excursion.

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Bishop Pass to Dusy Basin and Knapsack Pass in Kings Canyon National Park

Who: Just me!
What: Backpacking
When: 6/17/14-6/19/14
Where: Kings Canyon National Park
Mileage: 13 miles on trail, 7 miles cross-country
Elevation gain/loss: +4300ft/-4300ft
More photos: here

This was the second trip of my road trip encircling the Sierra and my third solo trip ever. I was really excited to explore Dusy Basin, hoping to find some solitude and fantastic scenery. I was not disappointed! I had considered heading over Knapsack Pass and down into Palisade Basin for the second night, but after a brutal talus slog with a full pack (due to a poor route choice), I decided to stay in Lower Dusy Basin for the second night. Two nights is not nearly enough time to explore this gorgeous basin. The cross-country travel is easy, with landmarks everywhere and little to no underbrush to worry about. It’s a great place to explore if you’re interested in getting accustomed to off-trail travel!

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