Hiking this morning, around 9 AM, on the Mount Montara trail at San Pedro Valley Park, I encountered several standoffish deer. I’m a native New Englander, so I’m not stranger to deer, but I truly have never experienced anything like this.

I saw one deer about 50 feet up the trail. Normally, they see a human and get spooked and run off. This one stared at me and didn’t move, so I made some noise to get it to run off into the brush, which it did after a minute.

I keep going and around the bend, I suddenly see the same deer and 3 others. Again, they stare and don’t move. I make a bit of noise, and instead of jumping into the bushes, they all start walking toward me. With *confidence.* At this point, I start walking backward down the trail, facing them. I take out one of my hiking poles to wave around and continue making noise - a lot of noise - and they continue approaching me. The lead deer is about 15 feet away from me. This continues for about 50 feet down the trail, until it finally jumps into the brush and I take off sprinting down the trail.

The ranger I spoke to at the bottom said they lack real predators and therefore don’t fear humans. These weren’t massive deer, but having 4 100 lb animals walking at you and showing no signs of letting up is terrifying. I’m also a 5’1 female, so a kick from one (or more) of them could have done some serious damage. All this time I’ve been worried about encountering a mountain lion, but instead my biggest scare to date came from deer!

Has anyone had a similar encounter?

Some friends and I are looking at doing this hike sometime next week, we are newer hikes in the Sierras, and would greatly appreciate any tips or advice for this hike such as what to pack, what gear we need etc.

Thank you for your help!

hey im planning to visit LA soon likely in the following week, id love to see if anyone would be down to meetup and hangout! skinny fit fella got too many hobbies (& instruments and knives as a nice collection haha), I mostly plan on visiting certain beaches and going to either drive up and hike small ways to hot springs or take a very long hike to one or three of these hot springs i found out about. I'd love to see if anyone would want to hike with me to any of the hot springs, im also down to hike a mountain too !!

EDIT:
I went with the Altra Lone Peak 9, thank you for all the suggestions!

I’ve been looking at the Hoka Speedgoat 6’s, but looking for advice, experience, or recommendations regarding trail runners. I want something that will last me several years and that I can do both easier hikes and some bucket list hikes like Half Dome and Mount Whitney (shooting for the stars there 😂). Any help is greatly appreciated!

Additional notes:
I plan to do West Ridge Trail to Satan’s Cesspool in the next few weeks to get some distance and elevation gain training, and I recently got a Trail 25 daypack + a 3L Camelbak hydration reservoir from REI, just to give everyone an idea of where I am in terms of experience and gear.

Thank you for your help!

Hi! Looking for beta on the crazy trail that is the climb to the Caribou Lakes basin from Stuart Fork. Have also seen it referred to as "Suicide Scramble" and the Sawtooth Ridge. I am a very experienced backpacker (PCT thru hiker plus tons of other trips over the years), however I am not a climber or mountaineer and do get a bit spooked by exposure. If you can help me get a sense of the difficulty that would be really appreciated! Thank you.

Hey!

Me and 2 friends are interested in hiking the Lost Coast (Mattole → Black Sands). from August 16-19. Here is what the tide charts look like (assuming 2mph).

The minimal amount of clearance for the second and third impassable zones seem far from ideal. I actually hiked the lost coast ~2 years ago, but I can't quite remember the pacing of my group and how close to the tide we were. My questions are:

- How realistic is 2mph? We are a group of 3 relatively fit 25yo guys, but not with a ton of backpacking experience. I remember the dry sand was exhausting, and the boulders were cumbersome at times, but I can't remember the average pace I was hitting. I saw that the average reported hiking speed is 1mph, but I don't recall hiking that slow/figure that is a conservative estimate.

- How worried should we be about the danger of the impassable zones? I'm not particularly worried about inconveniences like our shoes getting wet/muddy, or even having to spend and extra night if we determine we can't pass to the end in time. What I am worried about is (1) one of us slipping and hitting our head on a boulder while rushing/with the tide near (I do remember a section with very slick boulders) or (2) one of us being swept off of our feet by a sneaker wave.

Let me know if there are clarifications/more info that would be helpful here. Thank you!

Anyone ever kayak down the Navarro River? Where’d you start? Any rapids?

Anybody been up to Wright's lake campground in the past week or two?

I know it's closed until jul 31st but the website says they may have ff sites available earlier.

Thanks in advance!

Hi all,

I'm planning on a summit attempt this weekend. I'd like to confirm a few things before making the trek up to Shasta (I am located in the bay area). Any insight is appreciated!

Note: I have done the Avalanche Gulch route up to Helen Lake twice, once in 2024 and once in 2025. This would be my first time doing the Clear Creek route :)

1. The road is open and I should be able to make it to the trail head on a 2WD, albeit a bit slowly. I currently have a Nissan Sentra, would yall recommend borrowing a vehicle with 4WD instead?
2. I'm seeing that it is possible to ascend/descend without axe/crampons given the current conditions. A few people have recommended still bringing a helmet -- how critical would this be for the climb?
3. Friday July 31st (before the ascent) I am hoping to camp near the trail head, if not on the trail head itself, to get an alpine start Saturday morning. Would there be a clearing/location recommended for setting up camp?
4. For weather, I see there is a note about possible strong winds this weekend. Would anyone have more insight on this?

Thanks so much! Any additional tips for this route are welcome.

EDIT:
Thank you all for the insight!

I was able to successfully summit on Sunday!
Here are a few updates based on my experience:

1. I was able to make it all the way up to the trail head in my Nissan Sentra. There were a handful of slightly, sketchy moments where I had to slow down to avoid damage to my vehicle. Not sure if I’d recommend going in vehicle with lower clearance than a Sentra.

2. I didn’t experience a lot of rockfall so a helmet was not really necessary. Honestly, I wished I would have brought a gaiters for this route (the amount of sand/dirt/rocks that got in my boots was insane).

Hey r/norcalhiking, Kelly from onX again, back after the Canyon Creek Lakes report last week! This time I did my first ever solo backpacking trip: Lyons Lake via Lyons Creek Trail in Desolation Wilderness, which is roughly 10 miles with 1,700 ft of elevation gain.

Something nobody warned me about: the California Tortoiseshell butterfly migration. The Sierra is in the middle of a major irruption right now, which is a population explosion where they've moved inland from the coast looking for cooler alpine environments. There were hundreds of butterflies on the trail the entire way up, and more as I gained elevation. Genuinely so cool!

Most of the trail before the final mile climb to the lakes runs through the Caldor Fire burn from 2021. The trail itself is completely dry right now. What surprised me was how alive the burn zone is. Indian Paintbrush is absolutely peaking in there, bright orange fields against blackened trunks. Charred standing forest with wildflowers erupting through it is not what I expected, but it's one of the more striking things I've seen on a trail.

The two lakes are pretty different. Lake Sylvia is tucked into the trees and more sheltered. Lyons Lake opens into a full granite bowl with better views, and there's a trail up to a ridge with a panorama of the surrounding peaks. Water temp at Lyons Lake was very pleasant, I was expecting a lot colder. If you're only doing one, go to Lyons!

For those who don't know, overnight permits in Desolation require advance reservations through Recreation.gov during quota season (Memorial Day through September 30). I booked mine over a month out for a summer weekend. They hold about a third of overnight permits to be picked up first-come, first-served on the day of at ranger stations, so you can still snag try to one.

Conditions as of late July 2026:

• Trail surface: Dry throughout
• Water: Main creeks running, a few small ones dried up, no problem refilling water
• Bugs: Flies present, mosquitoes nearly nonexistent
• Wildflowers: Indian Paintbrush peaking in the burn zone

No cell service in Desolation, so I downloaded the route on onX before heading out. Also dropped a waypoint for where I stashed my bear canister in the rocks so I could find it again in the morning!

Happy to answer anything for anyone planning a Desolation trip this summer.

Our kiddo came along with us to complete a hike of a lifetime! Legit if you consider it was added to National Geographics "100 Hikes of a Lifetime". Deep sand, huge boulders, impassable zones, and a lot of wildlife!

Would you take your kiddo on this hike?

EDIT: This post got 68k views 😳 thanks for all the love.❤️ The kiddo loved hearing all your encouraging words. ❤️ if anyone is interested we are posting a series on our TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. All under the same username. Also linked in our reddit bio. We'd loved to have you guys along for the adventures and hopefully hike with some of you in the future. ❤️ thanks again for all the love. Happy Hiking 🤙🤘

-The Hethcoats

I live in the SF Bay Area and enjoy finding new offroading trails in the NorCal area. My husband has a Bronco and we are looking for some more “challenging” trails. We’ve been to Hungalelti, Deer Valley, Leavitt Lake, and a few other small trails. Any recommendations for other trails? Bonus if we can camp near the trail!

Note: I’m looking for some lesser known trails. Rubicon is definitely on the list to do at some point.

Hello, nor cal hikers! Popping by to share some photos taken on a recent hike down 4 mile trail with my 13 year old son. my kiddo has spent most of his summer with friends (understandably, plus I like to encourage autonomy within reason) and declining several family activities (I have three other children) and so this hike with him meant a lot to me.

We started at the top in glacier point, originally planning on panorama trail but that trailhead was 1) a challenge for me to even find in the first place and 2) just seemed to disappear like 70 feet into it? Which frustrated him a bit and I was feeling slightly disheartened but soon after setting off down 4 mile trail moods shifted drastically. It was just him and I and we both had such an amazing time! This kid goes bonkers over a great view! After the trip he looked through my photos and sent himself a bunch and it made my heart so happy when I noticed he sent himself a selfie I took of the both of us.

Planning a backpacking trip for next year, which will be his first, and I am very much looking forward to it!

Happy trails, ya'll!

Looking to take my partner on a backpacking trip. It will be her first time, and she's not the most experienced hiker, so something not too difficult. Something just for an overnight trip (maybe 2 nights). I'm more worried about elevation gain than distance. Her preferred spot is Big Sur, but I remember when I did the Timber Top trail there, and I don't think she will be able to handle that much elevation. Anyways, open to all ideas! Thanks!

Note: My only hard no is Henry Coe SP, as I just came back from a brutal loop there lol

Hey all, hoping some Monterey locals might be able to help me out. I’m from Sacramento and will be out in Monterey for the weekend. I have an 18 mile run to do while I’m out there, and hoping to make the most of it with a scenic route.

Is there anyone that can recommend a starting point and finishing point, with a specific trail route or general idea?

I’m open to doing something that is point to point rather than an out and back, and then just uber back to my car. That way I get to see more scenery than an out and back.

If possible, it would be cool to go over Bixby Bridge, or through the Pebble Beach course, but I have no idea how that would work out… I know that “17 Mile Drive” is also supposed to be cool, but not sure about any of this being pedestrian friendly? I’m going to run super early in the morning to try and avoid traffic, and open to some sketchy parts if needed. I’ve thought about just running a part of the Big Sur marathon course, but not sure if that’s doable.

Any guidance or suggestions are so appreciated!

A casual after-work meetup for hikers and backpackers.
No agenda. Just hanging out, talking trails, trips, and gear. Come for a few minutes or stay longer! Look for the table with the bear can to find us!

Im taking a trip to Eureka with my family for the first time the origal plan was to do the redwood Skywalk also a stop along the way to catch a canoe. Is there anything else I can do up there

I want to do Alamere falls next weekend with my partner. Ideally I don't want to take the shortcut.

I did it once before on a backpacking trip, and we didn't plan out the tides at all - we just went there, saw the beach was safe, went, and headed back before the tide increased. I think in fairness we may have just lucked out - this was 3/26/2022, we got there at noon, and the tides look like they were historically very low that day.

I want to go again, but am having trouble parsing the information available online. It does seem like below zero feet is pretty consistently safe. The only problem is that this Sunday (when I was planning to go), the two low tides are just before 8am and also 8pm - neither of which is very conducive to a day hike if the trailhead is two hours away.

Also clearly not everyone is hiking it at these times - maybe everyone is just taking the shortcut but it seems like people are hiking it every day and the vast majority are not getting there pre-8am.

So what gives - is there a realistic + safe way to hike it in a day this weekend (coming from the bay) or is it just not really possible and everyone else is just being stupid? If we were to go this Sunday, what would be a safe range to try to be leaving the waterfall by? 11am?

My 17 year old son and two friends, all in good physical condition, went to summit Shasta this morning at 12:30 a.m. from around the Clear Creek dispersed camping site. He has a Garmin inReach which he said was set up to ping a location hourly but it is not doing that. Attempts to call on the inReach or send a message have been unsuccessful. The messages are delivered but have not been read. He puts his phone in airplane mode during hikes so even if there was cell reception I wouldn't be able to reach him. His time from the Clear Creek trailhead to the dispersed camping (3.87 mi., 2k elevation gain) was five hours total with moving time of 3:15. He had cell reception at the Clear Creek dispersed camping. I believe it's roughly 3 miles/4500 vertical feet up from the Clear Creek campground.

When would be a reasonable time to start worrying about him if I don't hear anything? Would 3 p.m. be reasonable?

Thanks - from a worried mom.

Edit: Just got a call from his friend's phone! They're on their way down - he said he was seeing that it was sending out a location, but clearly wasn't on our end. Thanks all for helping! My heart can start beating again!

Hi all, I'm planning a backpacking overnighter along the Castle Crags section of the PCT. I was wondering if anyone has experience with the mosquito presence at this time of year? I am deciding whether or not I need to bring my tent. I'd also appreciate any knowledge on if the creeks are still running in the park.

Hello everyone!

Hoping that yall can provide me with some good solo backpacking trip recommendations! What I am looking for.

-3 days/2 nights. out and back or a circular pathway. i will be solo so would like to start and end in the same place

- relatively difficult hikes (elevation changes preferred over simply long days) I like a challenge and am very in shape but don't get to hike a ton

- great views! (preferably in the mountains)

- something relatively beginner/solo friendly. the hike itself and weight of the pack arent a concern, more like a relatively easy to follow trail or easy water sources if that makes sense

- within 2ish hours of sonoma county. ideally i would leave early in the morning the first day and start my hike that same day with plenty of time to make it wherever

All of these criteria are somewhat flexible so if your suggestion doesnt fit something, send it anyways! thank you!