High Sierra 7-Day Adventure

45 miles in the Emigrant Wilderness

September 23-29, 2023

7 days/6 Nights on the Trail

$1,295 per person

$1,495 with gear rental

Your registration includes a 45-mile, 7-day, 6-night wilderness backpacking adventure, training meeting before the trip, a food-kit with all meals on the trail, and devotionals every morning and evening. Not to mention spectacular High Sierra views and the memories of a lifetime! This is truly an epic adventure!

Airfare and ground transportation and lodging in SFO not included but we can help arrange carpooling.

This hike is rated Strenuous

We reserve the right to adjust the itinerary based on overall group dynamics and safety.

Sept. 22 – Travel Day: We fly into San Francisco on August 7th, staying at one of the airport hotels. (Airfare and hotel not included. However, we can make hotel and flight arrangements for you at our cost.) 

Day 1: We’ll leave our airport hotel and head out for the Kennedy Meadows trailhead (elev. 6,320 ft.) stopping for a bite to eat on the way. We’ll hit the trail and hike along Summit Creek all day, finishing a short first day at North Relief Reservoir.

Day 2: We leave Relief Reservoir and continue a long ascent through Saucer Meadow. We’ll finish our uphill 5-mile day at a beautiful, shady camping area called Sheep Camp (elev. 8,790 ft.) for our second night.

Day 3: We’ll hike 7 miles through pine forests and open meadows, then crossing over the highest point of our trip at Mosquito Pass at 9,500 feet. We’ll then begin descending past Emigrant Lake, one of the largest lakes in the Wilderness, finally finishing at Maxwell Lake (elev. 8,500 ft.) for the night. This is an excellent lake for swimming, with some amazing views of Bigelow Peak to the South.

Day 4: Today we hike to my favorite lake in the Sierras, Lertora Lake! It’s an amazing lake with rock formations, cliffs and granite islands. We’ll descend following the East Fork Cherry Creek, past Sachse Monument, (complete with an old mine), then continue past Huckleberry Lake, finally completing a 6-mile day by ascending to Lertora Lake where we’ll camp for the night. 

Day 5: This is an up and down 8-mile day, descending into Cow Meadow and Cow Meadow Lake. Then it’s uphill hiking past Deer Lake, where we’ll stop for lunch. Then we continue uphill bisecting the Upper and Lower Buck Lakes, finally finishing at Wire Lakes (elev. 8,830) where we’ll camp for the evening.

Day 6: We start a gentle ascent through Spring Meadow, then on to Salt Lick Meadow, where we’ll turn east and hike up into the beautiful Upper Relief Valley. This is one of the prettiest hiking sections in the Emigrant! Then we begin a long descent into Lower Relief Valley, along relief creek, finally finishing at Relief Reservoir at 7,100 ft. where the fishing and swimming are spectacular!

Day 7: This is our last day on the trail, a quick 4-mile descent along Summit Creek as we retrace our steps back to Kennedy Meadows, where our vehicles await! We’ll drive back to San Francisco staying at one of the hotels (hotel not included) close to the airport. We’ll get an amazing dinner that evening where we’ll share our highs and lows from the trip.

Sept. 30 – Travel Day: It’s a bittersweet finish to our adventure as we fly back to our homes with friendships and memories that can only be forged over a week in the wilderness together!

*Your registration does NOT include airfare to San Francisco, ground transportation to the trailhead, or hotel lodging in San Francisco. However, we can make airline and hotel arrangements for you, as well as carpooling.

Operated under Special Use Permit on the Stanislaus National Forest.

“The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or family status.”