Trip · 3-day backpacking trip
For · Friends and first-time backpackers
Vibe · Challenging and hard
Distance · 17.5 mile loop and 2,992 feet of elevation gain
Permits · Register at the trailhead and apply to a CA Campfire permit online!
Drive · 3.5 hours from SF and LA
Ideal dates · April (after the snow has melted) to July
Pets · Welcome at camp and on trails!
Named after Jennie Ellis, a mountaineer's wife, Jennie Lakes Wilderness in Sequoia National Forest has 10,500 acres and 26 miles of hiking trails, with four of those routes venturing south to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park. This place is blooming with wildflowers, alpine lakes (Jennie Lake being the largest) and pine forests. The neatest part is that you don't need a wilderness permit to camp in the backcountry. Trails will get busy on warm, summer weekends, but plan a visit during the spring and you'll get to experience a classic Sierra landscape, a high-altitude adventure & tranquil getaway all in one trip.
Official Forest Service Website
Main image credit: N/A
In 1953, Sada Coe, the daughter of Henry Willard Coe, gave her family's cattle ranch to CA. It became the park we have today.
The Ohlone and the Northern Valley Yokuts were the area's earliest inhabitants. They were semi-nomadic tribes.
Henry Coe is home to Orestimba Wilderness, one of 12 state park wilderness areas that's designed to preserve the area's natural ecosystems
You won't be saving money, but you'll save space and weight with these camp sandals.
Clothes
Sleepover! This is a tent you can stand up in and have plenty of space for air mattresses, doggos, and more.
Shared Gear
A reliable, popular, and relatively affordable dual-burner camping stove that is fairly heavy, but performs well.
Kitchen
It's pricey, but the New York Times' Wirecutter recommended this attachment as a way for wheelchair users to navigate uneven terrain.
Essential Items
Instead of transporting stuff on your lap, use this storage bag to easily store items underneath your wheelchair.
Essential Items
Never dig around your pack to find some hand sanitizer. Instead, hang this one on the outside of your pack.
Personal Stuff
If you're an experienced backpacker, this is the lightest full-size, full-featured, frameless pack made.
Essential Items
Add a little magic to your experience by hanging these twinkling lights around your tent every night.
Shared Gear
Sometimes you just want a camp chair that gets the job done. Nothing glamorous or fancy. Well, this is it.
Shared Gear
The more you backpack the lighter your shelter becomes, and the lighter it is, the more expensive it can be.
Shared Gear
Camp underneath the stars and watch glorious sunrises in Joshua Tree National Park, the second largest national park in California.