Route: Bear Creek Trailhead to Seven Gables, out & back
Distance: 12.2 miles
Including Seven Gables Summit: 28.4 miles
Total Elevation Gain: 5,592 feet
It almost goes without saying that the best trails are those less travelled. If I have to, I'm happy to make some sacrifices to be on a trail where I see little to no people outside of the group I’m traveling with. And California’s John Muir Wilderness offers such solitude, if you know where to look. Err, hike. On a recent long weekend, aside from several miles on the PCT seeing a fair amount of traffic, the majority of the trail we chose was uncrowded. In fact, once we got up to the Seven Gables area we only saw two other people.
The hike to Seven Gables can either start out of Lake Thomas Edison or you can trim some elevation and a few miles by starting at the Bear Diversion Dam, which is what we opted for, leaving us just over a six mile hike in. Mind you, if you opt for a Bear Division Dam start, be prepared to drive a couple of miles on a pretty legit granite lined OHV trail—proceed with caution.