I hiked the Trail Gulch Lake/Long Gulch Lake loop on July 8, 2022. Here’s my report of trail conditions, lake conditions, and how the two drainages and other nearby Trinity Alps regions fared in the 2021 River Complex Fire. Overall, this is still a fantastic hike. The River Complex Fire did burn substantial parts of […]
Surviving a Bear Attack in Northern California’s Trinity Alps
If you hike long enough in the Trinity Alps or anywhere else in the mountains of Northern California, you’ll see a black bear. In my several dozen backpacking trips and day hikes in the Trinity Alps, I’ve probably seen a black bear about a third of the time, always with no problems. In this post, […]
The Best Northern California Spring Backpacking Trips, 2025
Northern California is a great place for a spring 2025 backpacking trip! Here are the best low/middle elevation trails in the Bay Area, Northern Sierra Nevada, Lassen National Forest, Klamath Mountains, redwoods, and North Coast. You can hike many of them year-round, even in winter. Tired of Winter, Ready to Backpack This Spring, 2025? Wherever […]
Trinity Alps Wildflowers with Author Ken DeCamp: Interview
Ken DeCamp’s all-color Wildflowers of the Trinity Alps is a beautiful book covering 629 wildflower species, subspecies, and varieties. Here Ken discusses the book, his favorite Trinity Alps wildflower hikes, and the course of his career as a photographer and writer. Where to Purchase Wildflowers of the Trinity Alps Wildflowers of the Trinity Alps: Including […]
Trinity Alps Pacific Crest Trail Section Hiking: Complete Guide
The Pacific Crest Trail travels through the rugged Trinity Alps Wilderness from Scott Mountain Summit to Carter Meadows Summit. This post provides PCT section hikers/backpackers details of lakes, campsites, connecting trails, along with a topographic map of the entire Pacific Crest Trail section. Highlights: East Boulder Lake, Telephone Lake, Mavis Lake, South Fork Lakes, Hidden […]
Smith Lake via Alpine Lake: Trinity Alps Cross-Country Challenge
Smith Lake, surely one of the most beautiful lakes in the Trinity Alps, rests on the south side of Sawtooth Mountain, just below Morris Lake. Nature writer Tim Sims shares an excerpt from his excellent book that describes how he backpacked cross-country from Alpine Lake to Smith Lake. Smith Lake, the Trinity Alps’ Most Beautiful […]
Section Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail in Northern California
Ever thought about backpacking sections of the Pacific Crest Trail in Northern California? Philip Kramer, author of the new book Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail: Northern California Section Hiking from Tuolumne Meadows to Donomore Pass (Mountaineers Books, 2018) shares key information in this wide-ranging interview. Why Does Section Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail Have Such […]
New Source for Current Trinity Alps Trail Conditions
I’ve just provided a 2018 update to my Trinity Alps trail conditions post. The main upshot: it looks like there will not be weekly updates of the PDF file that had been created by Jim Holmes of the Weaverville Ranger Station for many years. (Jim retired.) Instead, you can get recorded information by calling 530-623-2121 […]
Trinity Alps Wilderness Trail Conditions 2025
Backpackers and day hikers need to know the conditions of Trinity Alps Wilderness trails and trailhead access roads before they begin their explorations of this beautiful and remote region in Northern California. I discuss the main source for trail and road information below in this 2025 update. 2025: Lots of Snow in the Trinity Alps! […]
Backpacking Canyon Creek Lakes and Boulder Creek Lakes in the Trinity Alps
The Canyon Creek Lakes and Boulder Creek Lakes are likely the most popular backpacking destinations in the Trinity Alps, and for good reason. The trails have everything a backpacker wants: roaring creeks with waterfalls, verdant meadows, abundant wildflowers, deep, rock-ringed lakes, and towering granite peaks. This post provides everything you need to find the trailhead […]
Hiking Big Bear Lake in the Trinity Alps
Hiking/backpacking to Big Bear Lake and Little Bear Lake in the Trinity Alps is one of my favorite far northern California excursions. Trailhead access is easy, and I quickly get into beautiful sub-alpine granite wilderness. Note that the trail itself is relatively steep — you need to be in decent shape. (This post is based […]
Little Bear Lake in the Trinity Alps
I did a fantastic hike to Little Bear Lake in the Trinity Alps Wilderness. It started with a steep 3000-foot climb on the trail to Big Bear Lake, followed by a moderate 1-mile cross-country scramble over granite. From my Northern California Hiking Trails Youtube channel: Little Bear Lake in the Trinity Alps: My Video I […]
Climbing Mount Hilton in the Trinity Alps in Late December
Not many people try to bag a major Trinity Alps peak like Mt. Hilton in winter, but Michael Kauffmann really loves to hit the high mountains, even when most people wouldn’t consider it. Granted, we’re way behind on snowpack, so he was able to do a lot of the walking on regular trail, which was […]
Yes, I Did Go Skinny-Dipping with 12 Naked Women in the Trinity Alps…
Mount Shasta area writer Tim Holt just wrote a really good piece in the Redding Record Searchlight called “Naked sunbathers, Mt. Shasta oddities: In the great outdoors, expect the unexpected.” I’m one of the hikers he featured, and he discusses a very pleasant and memorable experience I had while backpacking in the Trinity Alps in […]
Trinity Alps Snow and Hiking Trail Conditions, June 26, 2011
OK fellow hikers, all of northern California got buried under monster snowpack this winter and spring, including the Trinity Alps. As some of you may know, I started my backpacking career in the Trinity Alps, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself when I backpacked to Caribou Lake, Emerald Lake and elsewhere in the Alps last summer. […]
Trinity Alps Backpacking: Caribou Lake, Sawtooth Ridge, Emerald Lake, Morris Meadows
I recently took a kick-ass backpacking trip to Caribou Lake, Sawtooth Ridge, Emerald Lake , and Morris Meadows, all top Trinity Alps trails I haven’t trod in years. The journey traced one of the most difficult journeys in my guidebook 100 Classic Hikes: Northern California — Hike 48 to Caribou, Emerald, and Sapphire Lakes. And […]
Trinity Alps Wilderness Backpacking and Hiking Trails Update, July 2010
Note: Get the latest information on Trinity Alps trail conditions and trailhead access here. Like much of the rest of northern California, the Trinity Alps received an overabundance of snow this winter and spring. There’s still a lot of snow at the highest elevations, and in some places the heavy storms knocked trees across the trail. […]
Trinity Alps Winter Crossing
Tom Stienstra of the San Francisco Chronicle just wrote a great story about three Mount Shasta area guys who just crossed the Trinity Alps in winter from Big Flat to the Canyon Creek Lakes trailhead in eight days: The expedition started at a location so remote and snowbound that it took a helicopter drop to […]
Trinity Alps Hiking Trails Update
Note: Get the weekly updates on Trinity Alps trail conditions from the Forest Service. The Shasta-Trinity National Forest recently released an update on trail conditions for the Trinity Alps. Overall the outlook is quite good for summer backpacking in the Trinities, assuming we don’t have another nasty fire season. However, the report is still incomplete, […]
Trinity Alps Hiking/Backpacking Trails Update
Note: go see the July 1, 2010 Trinity Alps hiking and backpacking trails update post! The Trinity Alps in far Northern California suffered heavily from fires this summer, and many of the trails that hikers and backpackers love were impacted. I have a special concern because, not only do I love the Trinity Alps, but […]
Climate Change Evidence: Beetles Affected in the Trinity Alps
I’ve recently blogged about the effects of climate change on California coastal hiking trails, and how climate change is affecting animals in the Sierra Nevada and glaciers in Yosemite National Park. I just found an article about the findings of Dave Kavanaugh, the Senior Curator of Entomology at the California Academy of Sciences. Dr. Kavanaugh […]
Trinity Alps Featured in the New York Times
Well, the hiking trails in the Trinity Alps Wilderness, my old stomping grounds, have been featured in America’s newspaper of record, the New York Times. I first hiked in the Trinity Alps when I was twelve years old, and for the next 22 years I backpacked up there whenever I could. (My favorite destinations: Caribou Lake, […]
