Pacific Crest Trail: Carson Pass

Day hike: 7 kilometre round-trip: Penny Pines to Garnet Peak

Backpack: 18 kilometre round-trip: Storm Canyon Vista to Kwaaymii Point

One of the easiest and most rewarding places to access the PCT in Southern California is in the rugged Laguna Mountains in eastern San Diego County. The PCT runs roughly parallel to the Sunrise Scenic Byway (Route S-1), which bisects the small mountain range. People unfamiliar with San Diego’s backcountry will be surprised to know that the elevation here is 1,830m—roughly the same as Lake Tahoe—so you won’t see any palm trees. In winter, snow falls here, and year-round the Laguna ridgeline provides astonishing vistas from every high point—especially of the Anza-Borrego Desert to the east, 1,520m below. Plan a sunrise hike here—or spend the night in a tent and get up early—and you’ll witness a Kodachrome sky turn gold and pink in the dawn light.

For an easy PCT day hike, start at the Penny Pines trailhead on Sunrise Highway (make sure you purchase a National Forest Adventure Pass and hang it from your rear-view mirror). Follow the PCT north (left) toward Garnet Peak. The trail hugs the Laguna Mountains rim, offering nearly nonstop views of Storm Canyon and the Anza-Borrego Desert. A few short spur trails lead to viewpoints that broaden the vistas, but the big payoff comes at a junction about 2.5km from your car, where you leave the mostly level PCT and go right and uphill to Garnet Peak’s summit. In less than a one-and-a-half kilometres, you’re on top of the jagged, 1,800m summit, and your reward is a full 360—and it’s not just the massive desert thousands of metres below, but also Mount San Jacinto and Mount San Gorgonio, the Cuyamaca Mountains, the Salton Sea, the “white golf ball” of the Palomar Observatory, and more. Look closely at Garnet Peak’s rocks and you may see the tiny reddish-coloured crystals that give this mountain its name.

Backpackers who want to take advantage of the Laguna Mountains’ unique beauty can do an extended version of this day-hike. First, obtain a Cleveland National Forest visitor’s overnight permit. Then start your trip at Storm Canyon Vista Point along the Sunrise Highway and follow the PCT north. You’ll join the day hikers on the trail from Penny Pines to Garnet Peak, then continue onward to Pioneer Mail Picnic Area, the site of a historic stagecoach route. Your destination is Kwaaymii Point, one of the best spots in the Lagunas for knock-your-socks-off views of the Anza-Borrego Desert. The wide, 800m stretch of trail chiseled into the cliff was once the roadbed of the Sunrise Highway. Choose a wind-protected spot to set up camp—you’re going to want to stay up late and enjoy the astonishing star show.

Day hike: 23 kilometres round-trip to Garnet Lake

Backpack: 50 kilometres one way to Tuolumne Meadows (3 days)

This section of the PCT near Mammoth Lakes doubles as a big chunk of the John Muir Trail, a 346-kiloemetre trail stretching from Yosemite Valley to the Lower 48’s highest peak, Mount Whitney. Day hikers will tackle only the approach to the PCT, enjoying glacially carved lakes and breathtaking views of the Minaret Range. Backpackers will share the same approach trails, plus 32 kilometres on the PCT (make sure you have secured a wilderness permit in advance).

Begin your trip at Agnew Meadows in Devils Postpile National Monument, heading into an eye-candy region of the Ansel Adams Wilderness. Follow the River Trail (not the High Trail) along the Middle Fork San Joaquin River for 3.2 kilometres to tiny Olaine Lake, then bear left and climb uphill to tree-edged Shadow Lake. Join the John Muir Trail on its far side and continue north and upward for about 5 kilometres to reach a high point overlooking stunning Garnet Lake. If this glacially sculpted landscape looks like Ansel Adams’ photographs in real life, that’s because it is. Framed by Banner and Ritter Peaks (both at nearly 3,962 metres in elevation), Garnet Lake boasts one of the most photogenic settings in the Sierra.

Drop down to the lakeshore and soak in the beauty. Day hikers should retrace their steps for an epic 22-km day; backpackers continue another 4km to Thousand Island Lake, another showstopper. Here the John Muir Trail and Pacific Crest Trail join as one for the next 32km. Find a camp spot, soak in the scenery, and be sure to get up early to snap sunrise shots of Banner Peak. 

From Thousand Island Lake, the PCT makes a moderate climb over 3,108m Island Pass, then drops down into the headwaters of Rush Creek. A steady ascent up above tree line leads to 3,369m Donahue Pass, the southern border of Yosemite National Park and the heart and soul of Ansel Adams’ “Range of Light.” From boulder-lined Donohue Pass, you descend to the headwaters of the Lyell Fork, a pretzel-like, meandering stream. It pours all the way to Tuolumne Meadows, and the PCT traces alongside it for more than 6.5km. At Tuolumne Meadows, you’ll need to have a car shuttle waiting for you, or you can arrange transportation on the YARTS bus from Tuolumne Meadows to Mammoth Lakes, where you can pick up the Devils Postpile shuttle bus to get back to Agnew Meadows.

Day hike: 10 kilometres round-trip to Middle Deadfall Lake

Backpack: 17 kilometres round-trip to Middle Deadfall Lake and Mount Eddy

This PCT hike takes you into a sparkling lake basin in the Klamath Range, with an option to climb the tallest mountain in the region, 2750-metre Mount Eddy. It’s a perfect trail for a day-hike or a beginner’s backpacking trip—suitable even for families with young children—since it requires only 5 kilometres of walking to reach the Deadfall Lakes basin.

From the Parks Creek trailhead, the PCT travels southeast through a dense conifer forest cloaking Mount Eddy’s northwest shoulder. The path skirts wildflower-dotted meadows, offering postcard views of the Trinity Alps and the Klamath Mountains. At 4.2 kilometres, leave the PCT and go left, starting to climb on the Sisson-Callahan Trail. In about 10 minutes, you’ll see a path branching off to the right—follow it to Middle Deadfall Lake, the largest of the five lakes in this basin. Day hikers will soon be swimming in its inviting waters or sunning themselves on boulder-lined shores, and backpackers can choose their lake-view campsites.

By late afternoon, day-hikers must head for home, and overnighters will have this lovely lake themselves—with plenty of time to fish for trout, cook them up for dinner, and study the constellations before bedtime. The next morning, get up early and continue on the Sisson-Callahan Trail on the middle lake’s north side. In a kilometre-and-a-half you’ll reach scenic Upper Deadfall Lake, set in a forest of foxtail pines and western white pines.

Follow the trail past the lake and through its upper meadow, heading southwest and uphill until you reach a junction at a saddle. Go left here and begin a memorably steep climb up Mount Eddy’s south shoulder. The peak looks like a nondescript lump from the east (it’s dwarfed by nearby 4,316-metre Mount Shasta, California’s tallest volcano), but when viewed from this perspective, it’s easy to believe this is the highest peak west of Interstate 5 and the tallest peak in the Klamath Mountains. Your reward for the effort? A mesmerising view of Mount Shasta, Black Butte, the Trinity Alps, and much of the Cascade Range.