u/Delicious_Photo_7001

Reflections were stunning, so I am attaching few pictures from different viewpoints.

This trail followed the treeline of the lesser visited part of Ritter Range, stringing together a series of lakes: Ashley, Anona, Holcomb, and Beck. I started from Lake George in Mammoth at sunrise and stopped by Rainbow Falls first. It was so early that there were no people around. The water was running low, but the falls still looked nice. From there on, the trail becomes much fainter and less visited as it weaves in and out of the Ritter Range treeline. Ashley Lake was the most spectacular, with imposing Iron Mountain above it. I swam a few times, enjoyed long breaks, and got back to Devils Postpile for sunset.

Started at Ebbetts Pass and followed the PCT north toward Lake Tahoe. Fall has fully arrived: the greenery is gone, and the hills have turned gold. I detoured past Lower and Upper Blue Lakes (reservoirs, really), then looped back to climb The Nipple. The summit paid off with crystal-clear skies and views in every direction, though the wind up there was quite something.
From there I looped back toward Carson Pass and joined a steady stream of day hikers heading to Frog Lake (pleasant, not much else). As the afternoon light softened, I headed down toward Echo Lake on the edge of the Tahoe basin, which made a fitting finish. About 48 miles and 8,500 feet of gain.

Now that was a slow day. I started at Florence Lake, and the trail toward Thompson Pass quickly became faint and obscured by fallen trees. After reaching Thompson Lake, the route is marked mainly by a few cairns, then it disappears completely in an easy cross-country traverse.

Rocky, dry terrain opened up and a string of lakes appeared: Indian Lake, Rae Lake, Disappointment Lake, and the epic Hell for Sure Lake. I had a wonderful lunch there, then continued to Hell for Sure Pass.

From there it's the amazing Goddard Canyon, with waterfalls, deep rock-cut canyons, and smooth trail. It's probably one of the most epic canyons in the Sierra Nevada. From there it's just closing the loop along the South Fork San Joaquin River and back to Florence.

For my trail project, this became one of the beasts: the Charon Divide Loop.

A little after I started on the trail, the sunrise lit up the plateaus stretching toward Olancha Peak. Today's plan was to go from Horseshoe Meadow to Whitney Portal. My chosen route went via Soldier Lake, then toward Sky Blue Lake, and over the sort-of off-trail Crabtree Pass (there's nothing truly off-trail in the Sierra; footsteps and cairns line every nook and cranny). It was an incredibly windy day, and I wasn't really enjoying it. But then I reached Crabtree Lakes, the sun came out, and it was fabulous. Wide-open terrain spread out toward Whitney. The sun started setting as my tired legs carried me up, but from there on it was just an easy descent to Whitney Portal. One of my best days in the Sierra.

For this harder version of Rae Lakes, I started from Sawmill Pass. A smooth but steep ascent took me from the desert up to a string of alpine lakes that didn't stop for the rest of the day. My solitude was soon livened up once I joined the John Muir Trail toward Rae Lakes. The day was hot, yet windy, with signs of fall coming. After a quick lunch and swim at the lakes, I made a detour to Sixty Lakes Basin. Then it was another climb, up and over Kearsarge Pass, to my pickup. As the sun was setting, it lit everything up a deep orange. Awesome day.

This is a variation on a popular line. I started at Twin Lakes, went via Peeler Lake to connect with the PCT, and then had a great day passing Tilden Lake (one of my favorites) and Dorothy Lake - swam in both! Met only few people while in Yosemite NP. The views got quieter as I climbed from one granite valley to the next, and more people appeared heading from Sonora to Tuolumne. I finished by exiting at Sonora Pass. It’s a nice and not crowded line, 57 miles, 12k.

That was a big one. It connects a series of canyons in Kings Canyon for one big loop. I started at Roads End, with my first morning stop at Granite Park and Granite Lake for a swim. From there I continued into Middle Fork of Kings River Canyon - it’s a long one, so the sun was setting by the time I joined the JMT and Palisade Creek Canyon. Then came a few steep passes - Mather Pass and Pinchot Pass - where you gain thousands of feet just to immediately lose it and climb again. Morning sun lit up Marjorie Lake with great reflections, and I knew from there it was just downhill miles back to Roads End. Turns out the trail was rougher than I’d hoped - miles of knee-high stair-steps left me annoyed but not destroyed. As I descended into Paradise Valley, a small fire had started there, with smoke covering the views. The last miles were sweet, and I quickly dipped into the creek to wash off 30 hours of dust. In the end, I logged 83 miles, 18k gain.

Starting from Agnew meadows, to Thousand Island Lake, then Iceberg Lake and Minarets Lake and back to Agnew. IDK, 40 miles or something.

Now that was a great day! Started my trail northbound Grand Canyon of Tuolumne. It’s a classic and there’s not much to add - Grand Canyon is one of my favorites in Yosemite. After that had a lovely lunch at Tuolumne meadows, where I continued up Lyell Fork of Tuolumne River - all the way to Donohue Pass. So this trail line traces trail all long the course of Tuolumne River. From there, as afternoon was setting in I headed to 1000 island lake, and looped backwards a bit towards exit at Silver Lake. Overall this strings a spectacular set of views for a 62 mile trail.

I followed your recommendations and did the Mineral King - Timber Gap - Little 5 lakes - Big 5 lakes - Lost Cayon - Columbine lake - Monarch Lakes - Mineral King loop. It's a gorgeous and different day in the mountains - even though it goes up to 12 feet, it didn't feel like the high Sierra I have experienced so - modest but still intense landscape. I stopped by 13!!! lakes, swam in a few of them. Columbine lake basin was truly impressive, nested between two mountain passes.

A loop through Kings Canyon and Sequoia starts at Roads End to Avalanche Pass to Deadman Canyon, on toward Hamilton Lakes and Precipice Lake (a week after passing ithese lakes via the HST). Then down into Kern Canyon. Kern River at night was close to perfect - one of the quieter stretches of the trail, that was truly tempting me to sleep. Greeted sunrise at Colby Lake, washed off a day’s worth of dirt, and then closed the loop via Cloud Canyon back to Roads End. One continuous effort, start to finish - no camping, just forward momentum.
Being part of Sierra Oddyssey, this beast - Sierra Rex - clocks at 99 miles, 24k of gain and it doesn’t feel small. Wild, barely visited (three hikers during my time on it) and quite incredible.

Mapped what looks both awesome options. But if you have any advice which one is more scenic or cool, I’d appreciate! I’ll post photos on Monday :)

Day 1: We spent the night at Lodgepole Campground and took off from Crescent Meadow trailhead. The trail goes along the Middle Fork Kaweah River canyon, with wide-open views and shaded forest. There my friend and I split up to go at our own pace. The slight ascent becomes steep once you’re heading toward Hamilton Lake, and even steeper toward Precipice Lake. But those lakes are spectacular - I took a long lunch and swim break at Precipice. The views were too good! From there, crossed Kaweah Gap and into Big Arroyo canyon, then later into Kern River Canyon. The trail is smooth, some of the best in the Sierra.
As full moon rose, the 8,000-foot ascent to Whitney started - a well-paced series of switchbacks on smooth trail, mixed with some ups and downs. First rays of sun came out as I joined the cheerful crowd on top of Mt. Whitney. Views were spectacular all around. From there it’s probably the worst part of the trip — rocky, messy switchbacks down to Whitney Portal.

At the time I arrived - two minutes before sunrise - a cheerful crowd was already there. Whitney sunrise is epic and worth the early hike.

It was a cloudy day, but the area is still fantastic.

Got there 5:51! While it’s very popular with PCT passing by it, it’s one of the most scenic lakes starting from mammoth. I did that as a day trip, but saw plenty campers too.

Had a chance to finally see little lakes are - no wonder it’s crowded - this area is fantastic. After that we scampered off to few offtrail lakes as well, making it a bigger, yet fantastic loop.

Grinnel lake - once in Mono creek canyon, small marker indicates Grinnel lake trail - steep uphill trail, and part of it offtrail. Nevertheless - big lake in a barren landscape makes for a cool sight.