North Peak, Hoover Wilderness
- July 4th, 2010
- Posted in Uncategorized
- By Edie
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Just outside Yosemite National Park on the eastern boundary is Hoover Wilderness, Inyo National Forest. As you leave the entry kiosk on Tioga Pass (Elevation 9945′), you’ll eventually come to the turn off for Saddlebag Lake on the left. Take the water taxi from Saddlebag Resort ($11 round trip, $5 for dogs or children, $4 per overnight backpack, $7 one way, no wet dogs allowed on the boat, no exceptions!), and go wander among some of the most dramatic scenery in the Sierra Nevada. Be sure to bring sunscreen, sunglasses and bug spray.
Cool! They must have finally opened the road to Saddlebag. It was still closed when I was there last Wednesday, though the road crew was teasing me. When I drove up the gate was open and I was about to start up when the guys by the side of the road waved me off.
North Peak is a really fine and impressive peak from a number of angles. I did a late season pack trip into Twenty Lakes Basin a couple years back in mid-October. (It was memorable for many reasons but partly because as we loaded up our packs by the car one of us had the opportunity to ask, “Should we start now or wait until it stops snowing?” We didn’t wait.)
Dan