Kings Canyon (Running short on time)

Need some help planning a trip to Kings Canyon, have very little time to plan it. Will be a group of us going, decent hikers not the best. Looking at leaving Sacramento early Friday morning. Want to be back in Sacramento by about 8pm on Sunday at the latest. Looking at doing about 4-6 miles a day. Also looking at doing a loop. Would like to get into the valley or wouldn't mind just staying on the ridges. I have never been there before, so I don't really know what to expect.

Thanks!

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Do you intend to backpack? Here are the most recent trail conditions. http://www.nps.gov/seki/planyourvisit/trailcond.htm

Best bet, I think, would be to hike out of Cedar Grove, though I'd call the park ranger for advice.

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You really don't have much time for a hike. With that short a time schedule, you better stick to the west side. If by "the valley", you mean Yosemite Valley, it really is not practical to do both Kings Canyon and Yosemite in that short a time. steve t's suggestion of heading for Cedar Grove is a good one. Consider heading up into Paradise Valley (low altitude, so minimal altitude adjustment, but LOTS of rattlesnakes at this time of year) or taking the branch toward the Sphinx. You might also consider heading up to Shaver Lake and going out of the Dinky Ranger Station into the Dinky Lakes area ("Dinky" was the name of a horsepacker's "dinky" dog) - a very nice area.

You will have to check out at the ranger station to get your permits (both fire and wilderness - and be sure you understand which applies to which part of your trip).

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By valley I was meaning paradise valley. I know I have so little time, and the people I am going with are going to slow me down. If it was just my girlfriend and I, we could manage 7-9 miles a day without much trouble.

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You might also consider going out of Mineral King to the Kaweahs. Red Kaweah, Black Kaweah, and Mount Kaweah are basically walk-ups, but offer interesting views. I kind of hate to mention this area on the web, since it is so nice and uncrowded. But 40 years ago, we fought a hard battle to keep Disney from turning Mineral King into a ski resort a la Disneyland. It did eventually get incorporated into Sequoia NP (now Sequoia-Kings Canyon NP)

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Bill S,

Thanks for the help! Might try out that trip another time. Tables turned on me for this trip. We made a mid-winter assault on Castle Crags but got bogged down in a freakishly low snow fall.

We are heading out there for some day hiking on the crags, next friday morning, planning on spending the night there. In the morning we are pushing on to an early assault of mount shasta. Not try for the summit, but just want to get a taste of the early climb.

I'll post pictures and a trip report when we get back.

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