The days grow shorter, the nights grow colder. (Forty-one degrees this morning at my house at a 2800-foot elevation near Mount Shasta) So get your backpack or daypack, and your love for the high country, and get up there now while the sun will still bless you with warmth, while you can muster the courage to dive naked into the ever-colder clear waters of those glacial lakes.
For inspiration head to the Northern California Hiking Trails Articles page for the July and August hikes of the month. The July hike takes you to Sylvia and Lyons lakes in the Sierra Nevada Desolation Wilderness. The August hike takes you to Butte Lake, Snag Lake, and Cinder Cone in Lassen Volcanic National Park. Both come from 100 Classic Hikes in Northern California, third edition; you can download the book excerpts as PDF files, print ‘em out, and be on your way.
Go there, go somewhere, but go. You’ll need those memories this winter.
