In the early 1940s, the owner of Maltby’s Resort at Upper Twin Lakes in Mono County, California, ventured high into the Sierra mountains. Hal Maltby, on a scouting trip for deer to benefit his lodge’s customers, stumbled upon a hidden gem: a pristine lake sitting above 9,000 feet that wasn’t marked on any Forest Service map.
Fast forward 81 years, Hal’s great-grandson, Carson, undertook the same challenging trek to locate this family legacy, now known as Maltby Lake. This journey not only retraced Hal’s footsteps but also forged a new chapter in their family’s history.
Watch the video, edited and narrated by me, to delve deeper into Hal’s discovery and Carson’s epic, albeit arduous, journey to Maltby Lake.
My time is getting short in California! In between all of the house projects for the upcoming sale of the ranch and move to New Mexico, I’m trying to find some time to get Sierra hiking in. Here is a trail near South Lake Tahoe that I haven’t done before! This trail is considered moderate at 7.2 miles round trip and 1300 feet of elevation gain, but you are rewarded a nice cool lake to take a dip!
Even if I’m doing an easy 5 miler in the wilderness, I always carry the 10 essentials and MORE! After having to almost spend the night in the Lassen National Park wilderness completely unprepared after a short hike to a lookout tower, I learned a hard lesson! I now carry items to sustain me in the wilderness until help arrives. This could be hours or even days! Disclaimer: This is what I carry. You may have different ideas! I’d love to hear them!
Here is the link to the fiasco I was involved in a few years ago where I almost had to spend the night in the freezing cold forest!
My Day pack is an REI Trail 40 and Here’s what’s in it! (NONE of the links are affiliate. All are non-sponsored)
First Aid kit: Put together what you like. I also add Leuko tape for blisters.
Fire Starting Materials (Cotton Balls soaked in Petroleum Jelly work great) Don’t forget the lighter or waterproof matches. Even though a fire could save you from freezing to death, you could possibly start a devastating forest fire, even in winter so be very careful! Learn how to start, maintain, and extinguish a life-saving survival fire. There are many videos on Youtube!
Tyvek Sheet (5×5 ft) : https://rb.gy/arbnl5 This is super light (weighs nothing), waterproof, and can be used as a ground sheet, wind block, shelter, etc. I’ve used this to sit in the snow!
Bug Spray with Deet. Good luck using the foo foo kind with no Deet. These mountain skeeters mean business and laugh at your feel-good perfume as they bite the living hell out of you. Trust me, I’ve tried everything!
FOOD! Pack extra in case you get stuck for a while!
A word about navigation apps and what I use:
I rely on a few essential navigation apps, tested and trusted by hardcore mountaineers and thru-hikers. These apps provide reliable navigation and have been field-tested by the toughest adventurers. Here are my go-to primary choices:
Gaia GPSis a powerful app offering detailed topographical maps, weather data, fire information, private property boundaries, and many other useful layers. It’s widely used by serious backcountry hikers. While the free version offers many features, the paid version is highly recommended for those who frequently venture into remote areas.
FarOut: FarOut is particularly valuable for the three long trails: the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), Continental Divide Trail (CDT), and Appalachian Trail (AT). A one-time fee allows you to download the trail you hike most often—for me, that’s the PCT.
These are my secondary apps:
AllTrails: AllTrails is excellent for researching and finding hiking trails. The paid version includes a cool 3D animated feature, plus up-to-date trail data from recent hikers, which is especially helpful during the spring thaw. However, be cautious with the navigation feature, as it has been known to be unreliable on backcountry trails.
Wikiloc: Wikiloc is another useful app for researching trails and discovering new hiking destinations.
PeakFinder: PeakFinder can be hit or miss when identifying peaks. It’s great when it works, but don’t rely on it in a moving car. The app is free.
Other Things I take:
Hiking Umbrella – Trekking Poles- Water Bladder-Cell Phone- Hat- hiking gloves- roll of duct tape wrapped around chapstick, garbage bag, toilet paper (pack out used!), Hand warmer, Smart water bottle, it fits the water filter, and A FRIEND! Don’t hike alone!
Here is what’s in my multi-night (backpacking) bag!
Take a hike with us among the Grizzlies deep in the bush of Katmai National Park. We took a bear viewing flight with Sasquatch Alaska Adventure, donned hip waders and started hiking into the bush. It didn’t take long to see a whole bunch of bears fishing in the river and coastal waters for Salmon. This is a once in a lifetime bucket list experience, and if you have a trip planned for Alaska, definitely save your coffee money for a while and DO THIS!
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The Sierra saw huge snows in December and the back Country is another world. Huge granite boulders and outcroppings that are impossible to traverse the summer. In the summer, the trail makes switchbacks around this rough terrain. In the winter, the terrain is transformed to rolling hills of snow high above the granite. This is a portion of the Pacific Crest Trail that is just south of I-80 near Boreal Ski Resort. We pretty much went way around where the PCT that sits under 15 feet of snow and forged our own path to an awesome overlook of Donner Lake. The hike was hard and very slow going through the thick powder, but it was worth it! Head over to my YOUTUBE CHANNEL and subscribe and don’t forget to hit the notification bell!
With my heat related issues, I’ve had to scale down my summer hiking. In the summer months the sun is almost straight above at 9:00am! The temps are already climbing into the 80s and it’s not even noon. In the high country where it’s nothing but granite and lots of uphill, its HOT! So, that means I need to be at the trail head at sunrise which is 5:30am, and that means leaving my house at 4:00am! If that’s what I have to do to keep hiking in the summer, then so be it! I’ll also be doing more Kayaking!
Advantages of the early morning mountain hike: No people and more wildlife! Win Win!
***There were a few trails which I hadn’t done before which are highlighted.
During all of my hikes over the Sierra the past few years, I’ve had soooo many questions about how and why things are the way there are, geologically speaking. I’d see a huge lava outcropping and I’d wonder when that got there and how? Was it blown to it’s current resting place from a distant volcano? Did it pop out of the ground from an ancient fissure? Just how old are the Sierra anyway?
I’m finally taking some time to seriously study Geology. I have some answers and my hikes are that much more interesting! This Earth has been evolving for 4.6 billion years and we’ve only been here 200,000 years of it. Heating up, cooling down, over and over again with many variations of life forms that have come and gone over the millions of years. Continents moving around, and still on the move. The Hawaiian Islands are moving in a Northwest direction about 4 inches a year! Eventually, they will join up with Japan! Australia is moving Northward about 2.7 inches a year. All the plates are moving, some faster than others. Don’t believe me? Study Geology! I would love to drive to Australia.. Mountains pushing up and STILL getting higher. Think Everest is high now? Just you wait! What will be here a million years from now? Us? Something else? Nothing? Hmmm….. things I think about when I hike! Geology is COOL!
Today, we take a short hike up to an ancient lava flow plateau that was formed during the creation of the Sierra Nevada when the entire range was bubbling with volcanoes and molten lava being pushed up everywhere!! Here is some interesting reading about the Sierra.
With winter around the corner, the trees are singing their songs and a warning that a big change is soon to come.
This wonderful trail in the Northern California Sierra, with abundant spectacular views is a must-do if you traverse around Donner Summit. The trail starts on the PCT just down the road from Donner Ski Ranch. You then take the Mount Judah loop trail from the PCT. Don’t forget to hike up to the summit of Donner Peak while on your way around and look out the “window” onto Donner Lake! WOW!
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