Mt. Whitney Summit Hike and Camping in the Eastern Sierras

As part of our quest to conquer the highest peak in the lower 48 my brother and I reserved 3 nights of camping in the eastern Sierras. Two nights were in Lone Pine campground just a few miles down the road from Whitney Portal and 1 night was at Gold Ledge campground about 15 miles north of Lake Isabella on the south western side.

Lone pine was a very nice campground at 6000 feet and well maintained (the sand had even been raked into a pleasant pattern before we arrived!). We had site # 20 which turned out to be great. It was separated on one side by a giant boulder and well spaced from the next campsite on the other side. Down the gully a short ways was a peaceful stream and even a perfect fishing hole where they had just recently stocked some trout. This is definitely a repeat site in the future. Its also a great staging area of Mt. Whitney being located only a few miles from the portal (which is quite drivable the morning of the hike) and much quieter, cleaner, and with slightly warmer weather. As it was late July I expected the weather to be hotter than it was but it turned out to be a very pleasant 75 degrees or so when not in direct sunlight.

Camping and Fishing at Eureka Valley Campground in Stanislaus

My buddy is getting married in a few days so as part of the celebration we decided to spend the weekend in style: Camping and Fishing in the Western Sierras. And as luck would have it, one of his old friends from college had the perfect spot: Eureka Valley Campground in the Stanislaus National Forest. I had never been to this part of the Sierra's which was just north of Yosemite's classic vistas. Its just a great wide open beautiful location directly adjacent to the Middle Fork of the Stanislaus River (http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/stanislaus/recarea/?recid=15029)

Yosemite National Park - Vogelsong Backcountry

Date: 8/12/2011-8/14/2011
Location: Yosemite National Park -
Entry Point:
Length:
People: OS, AS, BE
Duration: 3 days, 2 nights

Yosemite National Park - Halfdome Hike

Date: 10/1/2009
Location: Yosemite National Park
Entry Point: Yosemite Valley Mist Trail
Length: 18 miles
People: AS, ES
Duration: 13 hours