Page 153 - 2017 Travel Guide to California

The range is home to three national
parks, 15 state parks, two national monu-
ments and 20 officially designated
wilderness areas. Hikers get itchy feet at the
mere mention of its celebrated walking
paths: the John Muir Trail; the Tahoe Rim
Trail; the Pacific Crest Trail; the Tahoe-
Yosemite Trail. At the drop of winter’s first
snowflake, skiers begin making plans for
the three premier ski resorts on America’s
West Coast: Squaw Valley (site of the 1960
Winter Olympics), Heavenly and Mammoth
Mountain. Streams rushing down the
range’s sheer east slope into the Owens
Valley are renowned for their fly fishing.
Geographically speaking, the mountain
range is pretty much one big chunk of
granite tilted like a badly placed brick in a
cobblestone street: It’s gently sloped on the
west side and quite steep on the east, lower
in the north and higher in the south. Keep
that in mind when choosing a hiking trail:
for an easier amble, look to the north and
west; for a challenging ascent, head south
and east.
City & Town
Now connected by gondola to the Heavenly
ski resort, the bustling town of South Lake
Tahoe, located on the lakeshore and the
SPECIAL
»
EVENTS 2017
“LIGHTS ON THE LAKE,” held each Fourth of July at South Lake Tahoe, is the largest
synchronized fireworks show west of the Mississippi. July 4 tahoesouth.com
With past participants such as Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley and John Elway, South Lake
Tahoe’s AMERICAN CENTURY GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP has been called the “Super Bowl
of Celebrity Sports.” July 19-24 tahoecelebritygolf.com
The LONE PINE FILM FESTIVAL highlights the astounding number of Hollywood westerns
and other movies filmed in and around this tiny Owens Valley town, from 1925’s Riders of the
Purple Sage to 2008’s Ironman. Oct. 5-8 lonepinefilmfestival.org
»
MUST
SEE,
DO
» The Wild, Wild West Bodie, possibly the
Old West’s most notorious mining town, now
exists in a state of “arrested decay” on a high,
windswept plain northeast of Yosemite. It’s one of
America’s most extensive ghost towns.
› www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=509
» Mountain Light The late adventure photog-
rapher Galen Rowell was the Ansel Adams of the
Kodachrome era. Stop by his Mountain Light
gallery in Bishop to see mountain images both
iconic and unusual.
› mountainlight.com
» Climbing Half Dome The hardest part of
hiking to the top of Yosemite’s Half Dome might
not be the mile of elevation gain or the vertiginous
metal cables covering the last 400 feet: It’s
scoring the coveted, mandatory permit. Only 300
per day are given out, and they’re issued via an
online lottery.
› nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/hdpermits.htm
» Biggest Tree Tree-huggers, don’t bother
trying to wrap your arms around the General
Sherman Tree in Sequoia National Park. With a cir-
cumference of 102 feet, the giant sequoia is the
largest known tree on the planet. While not quite
as tall as its coastal cousins, its staggering girth
more than makes up for it.
› nps.gov/seki/naturescience/sherman.htm
» Long Live Mono Lake Set in a brooding,
volcanic, Tolkienesque landscape, Mono Lake is
one of the most otherworldly sights in California,
with spiky tufa towers rising out of an alkaline
lake. Explore it by kayak or canoe, or take a
guided naturalist walk along the shoreline.
› monolake.org
› calderakayak.com
CANOEING beneath the Sierra ramparts,
opposite; cross-country skiing in Yosemite,
above left.
2017 T R AV E L G U I D E TO C A L I F O R N I A 151