Summer Camping in the Sierras, Meteors, Hikes, Hot Springs, Potluck, and More!
Details
I got four campsites at one of our favorite campgrounds: Four Jeffrey, by South Lake in the Sierras. And this year we are in luck, because we will have two good weekends to catch the Perseid meteor shower. On the weekend of the 7th, we’ll be at Annie’s with a small group. Then, on the weekend of the 14th, we’ll go camping in the sierras, one of the places with the darkest skies in the universe! The sky in the Sierras gets so dark, you can see the end of the universe. That’s a proven fact, verified by the Flat Earth Society!
Four Jeffrey’s is close to Bishop and close to many amazing hikes, including Bishop Pass and many others with different difficulty levels.
The Perseids are one of the brightest and most prolific annual meteor showers, peaking in mid-August. They are famous for producing 50 to 100 swift meteors per hour, along with colorful, long-lasting streaks called fireballs, as Earth passes through the dusty debris of Comet Swift-Tuttle.
THE PLAN
We’ll have the campsites starting Friday at 2:00 PM, so we can arrive any time after that. I’m planning on heading out around 12:00 PM and getting there around 5:00 PM. I can take up to three people with me.
On Friday, we’ll just hang out by the campfire. At 8,300 feet of elevation, Four Jeffrey will probably be nice and cool even in the middle of August, and we should be allowed to have a fire. If not, we’ll sit around a lamp and pretend it’s a fire.
The meteor shower is going to be amazing both Friday and Saturday night. The moon will be setting at around 9:00 PM on both nights, so we should have a completely dark sky, with meteors coming down at a rate of 50–100 per hour. At around 10:00 PM both nights, we’ll set up our chairs, make some hot cocoa with brandy, and enjoy one of the most beautiful shows in nature.
On Saturday, we’ll have breakfast and go on a hike. Those of us who want to tackle Bishop Pass can do so. That’s a strenuous hike: 11 miles round trip, with 2,300 feet of elevation gain, and it should take 5–7 hours total. Those who don’t want to go all the way can stop at Long Lake, which is only 2 miles in. It’s beautiful, and you can actually jump in.
I might choose to do that myself, because I’ll be recovering from shoulder surgery last week, and might not be up for a steep hike if I still can’t move my arm very well. Either way, there will be options for all tastes.
We can also go to Keough’s Hot Springs, which has the largest natural hot springs pool in the Eastern Sierra.
In the evening, we’ll do our traditional potluck dinner, which is always super fun, and then get ready to lie back and enjoy another amazing meteor show.
Sunday we’ll play things by ear. We are only about an hour away from Mammoth, so we could break down camp and head up there. We’ll see how we feel. A stop at Erick Schat’s Bakery is always a must whenever we are close to Bishop, no matter what else we decide to do.
IMPORTANT STUFF
- Group size: 16–20 people. I don’t put more than four tents per campsite, so the final number will depend on how many couples or people sharing tents we have.
- Cost: $30 per person.
- Carpooling is highly recommended, as each campsite has only two parking spots. I'll put up a carpool sheet closer to the date.
All right, let’s have all the fun we can handle camping, hiking, and watching meteor showers in the Sierras!
Eduardo