How I Found California's Best Kept Secret

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How I Found California's Best Kept Secret

Рет қаралды 81,950

Күн бұрын

Emigrant Wilderness is Yosemite's lesser known neighbor to the north. Due to the close proximity, the landscape is extremely similar, despite only getting a fraction of the visitors.
I recently went on a trip to a region of Emigrant that gets very little attention. We were swarmed with early season mosquitos, had to climb over downed trees and walked through a crazy heat wave. But we found amazing alpine lakes without any crowds!
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Пікірлер: 98

@zomisland03 26 күн бұрын

Thank you for sharing! Love the different hikes!

@myvibe3893 11 ай бұрын

Hi from Australia. This is totally awesome, love Amazing American National Park Heritage. 😊

@sergiussouth4754 10 ай бұрын

I live in Northern California. Our National Wildernesses Areas are stunning. You lose the crowds of the National parks, and the country is just as nice. I used to hike a lot. I've done hundreds of miles of the PCT. It's spectacular.

@michaelperine2333 9 ай бұрын

I have visited a small lake in the Trinity Alps at least 7 or 8 times. I have been going there since 1981 and never seen another person there. Not even signs of a campfire. Fish are small but you can catch all you want. I call it Michael's Lake.

@jacobimacbroom Ай бұрын

Any places in particular you recommend? I’m also in nor cal looking for new places to explore

@sergiussouth4754 Ай бұрын

@@jacobimacbroom The Trinity wilderness is very diverse. The view from Mt. Thompson (the highest peak in the Trinity's) is way cool, as are the sub-alpine glacial lakes that you will find. Look at a good map. The main trails are shown. Have a blast. Be alert. Bear-bag your food. No Internet (unless you climb a peak, and even then...maybe.) I refrained from naming any one place. Please realize, these are not parks because they are too fragile for crowds. These are "pack it in/pack it out" areas. No motorized anything allowed. No bikes either. They would tear up the land. On foot w/backpack, or on horseback allowed. One of the magazines wrote an article and a lake that was crowded with 3 people, had over a dozen. It was a disaster. These are special places. To experience them requires responsibility. These are our National Wilderness Areas. Go Exploring. You'll love it. Hint...KZfaq has video of many places by name. Map.

@that_guy_8177 12 күн бұрын

@@jacobimacbroom no. Dont look into it.

@jacobimacbroom 12 күн бұрын

@@that_guy_8177 too late bud 🤭

@harentino1986 6 ай бұрын

This place is unreal! Backpacked here about 10 years ago, would love to go back

@dscott-kc7cd 11 ай бұрын

Love to come back to this video to hear the sound of decomposing granite under foot. The map talk at the beginning and your zest for the trip remind me of those trails years ago.

@ladydi4runner Ай бұрын

TY. Awesome video. Was fortunate enough to have hiked thru Emigrant Wilderness areas back in the Day! Instantly recognized the specific crunch boots make on that crumbling granite on those enormous slabs! Gods Country I called, such mesmerizing and serene wilderness. New Subber here! Off to check out your other vids. 😀Cheers and Happy Backpacking!💪🏻👌😎

@jessofthewest9476 Жыл бұрын

Super inspiring - definitely checking this out!!! Thank you!!

@dscott-kc7cd 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for this excellent video tour.

@ElsbethWeeks 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for the nice comment :)

@joepigg3762 10 ай бұрын

My son and I just hiked a 30 mile loop there. With those loose rocks and huge slab steps, and river crossings, I’m impressed you guys were able to do it without hiking poles.

@joesummers707 Жыл бұрын

My partner and I hiked a little east of this in the last week of June 2022. Heat was an issue, but the mosquitos were insane. We couldn't stop for a second without being swarmed. Our hiking buddies bailed after one night. The only break we had from mosquitos was a mid-day thunderstorm. Despite the bites, it was a great trip.

@cptcosmo 5 ай бұрын

My Boy Scout troop used to do a yearly backpacking trip in to the Emmigrant WIlderness area. The last two times we did it via pack team. The trails we always used were the Huckleberry Trail which starts at Kennedy Meadows Resort, and the Walker River trail on the Nevada side of Sonora Pass. There are pack stations at both trailheads. Love that area, but have not been back since the late 1980s... My favorite lake to stay at was Cinko Lake just north of Yosemite. Emmigrant Lake also was very nice.. About the only mosquito repellent I found that worked in that country is Muskol 100% DEET.

@two-soxhikes1104 3 жыл бұрын

That heat wave was brutal. We hit 117 degrees in Oregon. Good for you getting out there in the heat and mosquitoes.

@ElsbethWeeks 3 жыл бұрын

Ugh - I do not envy you up in PNW! With a heat wave like that, you are almost crazier not to go to the mountains! It was a good 20 degrees cooler above 8,000!

@cyninbend 22 күн бұрын

It's cooler if you hike out of White Wolf--up toward Tuolemne--Campground (and they have running water in their restrooms to wash, tho for tent camping nearby Porcupine Flats is a better campground--primitive and beautiful). May Lake is so pretty and there is a cool woods on the side of a mountain, then meadows of wildflowers before you get to the lake. Around the side of the lake to the right, is a switchback trail going down the other side or the small ridge (don't go near if if it's raining! You can't get back up it.) that heads past the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir and eventually down near Yosemite Falls to the Valley! You trace the trail Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir took over 100 yrs ago (tho they had horses), they got to see the 2d valley of Yosemite b4 San Francisco turned it into a reservoir. I won't be alive for it, but I'm waiting for Gen Z to build a new reservoir somewhere and drain Hetch Hetchy, recreating the valley it was, but with what we now know would be far more ecological. No cars. Electric transit (train or?) could deposit campers in campgrounds created to protect plants and animals...and yet deal with the huge numbers of people who want to camp in Yosemite--paradise as beautiful as Yellowstone but a little kinder?

@thewestfaceofdhaulagiri6697 Жыл бұрын

Years ago, I used to backpack to and around huckleberry lake in Emigrant Wilderness. Great fishing. For scenery we would make side trips to nearby Upper and lower Twin lakes in Yosemite right on the border between Emigrant Wilderness and Yosemite.

@BlacksBeachBoogieBurner Ай бұрын

Emigrant Wilderness is the best, I like to soak my cotton t-shirt with stream or lake water to keep cool while hiking

@Macc_spice 4 күн бұрын

You hike in a cotton shirt?!

@BlacksBeachBoogieBurner 4 күн бұрын

@@Macc_spice normally I'm in a wetsuit surfing, but if I dress I'm in cotton, always

@adventureawaits5003 2 жыл бұрын

Such an amazing video props for crushing it in that heat. I agree there's something majestic about nightfall in the mountains

@ElsbethWeeks 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much! Yeah the heatwave last summer was insane!

@the_luminary 8 ай бұрын

Quite the gems indeed!

@shawnpheneghan 10 ай бұрын

I've never hiked in Emigrant but Northern Yosemite and Hoover are right next door and offer phenomena hiking. There is one thing better than a swim in alpine lakes after a nice hike - soak in a natural hot spring (kern river Hot spring) and then a swim.

@NorthwestWanderer 7 ай бұрын

There are a lot of secrets, even in popular areas if you are willing to do off trail travel and camping. Especially in the Sierra where cross country travel is relatively easy.

@johnnyhoover5870 10 ай бұрын

It use to be a secret. My dad and I have been going there since the 70s and could stay a week and never see a soul. We would go to Downey and Milk lakes. Great video thanks for sharing your adventure.

@featherau8490 10 ай бұрын

Live near there . Gets hot every year , same time. Never disappoints for 50 years . Then fall hits fast , two weeks later .. Winter . That quick.

@dad102 Ай бұрын

This is very cool.

@waterfallmadman 3 жыл бұрын

Emigrant is awesome. Great hike. Those lakes may be nice but West Cherry Canyon is one of my favorite places. Amazing waterfalls. Amazing River. But you need to go in the spring when there are no mosquitoes! :)

@ElsbethWeeks 3 жыл бұрын

I love Emigrant! But I have never been in spring time! I was thinking about it this year and I probably should have - I just have never seen mosquitos like that in my life!

@highcountrychronicles Жыл бұрын

Noooo! My reaction when you said you were taking the lower trail back. Ugh. Such a sandy mess. LOL. Nicely done however. :)

@motofunk1 11 ай бұрын

There is a lake in Baja called Laguna Hanson that you might like.

@kristymoore7052 2 жыл бұрын

I live very near there. At the same time I decided to backpack Peeler Lake outside of Twin Lakes/Bridgeport area. After permits and paying for parking it was 10:30a and the heat rose to 100. Ag. Didn’t do well but made it. Looking forward to my own back yard this year.

@shawnpheneghan 10 ай бұрын

Hiking up Buckeye get you to the the same area (Kerrick Meadow) - but there are a lot fewer hikers.

@jaredcrist4798 Ай бұрын

Where do you park to start your hike? In Yosemite?

@tonyfontana8222 Ай бұрын

We have camped there for many years. Very well known place for Californians.

@cbingham40 2 жыл бұрын

Great video. I’m just trying to figure out how to get there.

@ElsbethWeeks 2 жыл бұрын

:) The trailhead is called crabtree - it's just outside of Pinecrest/Strawberry

@cbingham40 2 жыл бұрын

@@ElsbethWeeks thank you for getting back to me. It's been super hard finding info on how to get to a place, park, permit and where the trials are. I was able to contact the ranger station Tuesday and they stated that the park isn't open u til April 15

@ElsbethWeeks 2 жыл бұрын

@cbingham40 Yeah I totally understand! WIth all of the different agencies managing their areas differently, its especially tough. Sorry it took so long for me to respond! Have fun :)

@ReignDog Жыл бұрын

I’m backpacking Kennedy meadows area this Labor Day weekend, meet me out there!

@Danny-ww6tt Жыл бұрын

Thanks for this video! I'm looking to go somewhere fourth of july weekend and trying to find spots without permits.. Would you recommend Bucks Lake or other similar spot in the area?

@hugmynutus Жыл бұрын

Tom Harrison's maps are both the best & worst thing you can buy if you like backpacking in California. You'll find so many cool places to go and explore.

@drmb87 2 жыл бұрын

I love your videos. May I ask what type of backpack you have?

@ElsbethWeeks 2 жыл бұрын

Oh thank you! That’s so sweet! I use a gossamer gear gorilla 50! I really love it and do recommend it for most people :)

@darrenbrennan7679 Ай бұрын

The thing that sucks about hiking is hiking back. 😅

@corinaalmaguer2454 Жыл бұрын

I did this trail !!!

@mdc-jamz6967 Жыл бұрын

It truly is

@thefourthperspective Жыл бұрын

What time of year was this

@mandie_shea 4 ай бұрын

We camped in the same spot at Piute Lake in 2022 after setting out for Gem Lake and being like “wtf this is not where it said it was”! We had awesome chilly weather for June though so the mosquitoes were minimal!

@korodski 2 жыл бұрын

Shhhhhhh

@adambatchelder4121 Ай бұрын

That's why I never post anything on the Internet.

@matthewstouppe2782 Жыл бұрын

What time of year did you go?

@epenaloza52 Жыл бұрын

How the hell are you taking a small backpack and with so little things. I'm going to weaver lake (March 3) and my great wouldn't fit in that backpack hell it doesn't even fit in my backpack.

@JoseHernandez-tt2kp Жыл бұрын

Did you need a permit to hike/camp?

@matthewstouppe2782 Жыл бұрын

Yes, but it’s free and there is no quota or cap. You can get them at a near by ranger station and can self permit if the station is closed

@dave-d-grunt 2 ай бұрын

GPS is good. But you just can’t beat a real map!

@knshield9684 11 ай бұрын

and promptly ruinded it by sharing with everyone.

@Dean-O-Holics 10 ай бұрын

10 paces behind at all times 😂

@andrewfeltz9445 Ай бұрын

Guess it's not a secret now

@victoriatrnr 8 күн бұрын

🫶🫶🫶🫶

@jonw8825 3 ай бұрын

A drone that fly's along with you as you walk will save time setting up the camera. The mosquito cells will also help tremendously. Great video!

@FishDR 5 ай бұрын

Then proceeded to put it on the internet for a monetary gain...

@bustaruckus5611 4 ай бұрын

So you work for free then? You decline your paycheck from your employer? Thanks, so kind of you.

@FishDR 4 ай бұрын

@bustaruckus5611 nope, but in my free time, you can find me at no name lake off lost mans trail all to myself, because thats what "secrets" are for, imo

@bustaruckus5611 4 ай бұрын

@@FishDR That's great...but it doesn't mean she can't be helpful to people and also get rewarded for the time and effort it took her to shoot and edit this (as well as the video equipment and software costs). ✌️

@FishDR 4 ай бұрын

@bustaruckus5611 thought I'd express my opinion on the ironic title and the ethical shortcomings. She can do as she pleases, though

@bustaruckus5611 4 ай бұрын

@@FishDR There are no ethical shortcomings here. I was happy to have the info, and I'm happy that people are monetarily incentivized to keep putting out helpful information that they might not have otherwise shared if it wasn't worth their time. And that's not an ironic title. She's acknowledging that it's little-known, but now sharing the info with us. And "best kept secret" is also just a phrase people use...not a literal assumption that it's a secret. An example of irony is Hidden Valley Ranch salad dressing having Oakland, CA stamped on the bottle. If you're going to get pedantic with people, at least construct a good argument.