From
personal experience, many times I have wanted to discover a new backcountry place
for a weekend trip or longer, but I simply didn't know where start. The so-called
"planning" usually took place the day before the trip. As a result, I was either
prompted to buy a backcountry guide or I was forced to ask a friend. This latter
method seemed to work best for me, and this is the intent of Northern California
Backcountry Pages (NCBP) -- to pass along valuable backcountry suggestions that
a friend might offer you. With the Internet, I can do this by giving you many
trailhead details, showing you pictures and even maps. Please don't rely entirely
on this information, however, because it is limited to only my perspective. These
pages are only intended to give you some ideas and important information, and
I encourage you to research these places further by writing or calling those official
people who can give you more accurate details, listed in the "important addresses"
section of each place.
In presenting these "cool" places to the world, I potentially increase the impact of such places. Therefore, as one of these backcountry users we must be exceptionally responsible hikers and campers, exercising common courtesy and low-impact camping. Pack-out everything, even burnt foil from the fire ring, bury your bowels, don't build extra fire rings, keep the noise down... and you know the rest.
One last observation: When I was a Wilderness Ranger in the Trinity Alps, I found the backcountry kept incredibly clean--cleaner than our normal living environment. Only a few irresponsible campers took advantage of such freedom, and I'm sure you are not one of them. The most important philosophy of NCBP is to encourage preservations of such special places that we are blessed with in Northern California.
If outdoor enthusiasts like ourselves don't care about the wilderness, who will?
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