After spending the better part of the year planning for the JMT I develop HAPE going over the first pass - Donahue. Luckily it is a mild case and I should be out of the Mammoth hospital today.

So obviously bummed, but have all my gear and the rest of July to play if I feel better. Considering doing a different trip on the west coast. Anything with altitude is out for now I think. Any suggestions?

Coastal....Ventana Wilderness, Big Basin, Point Reyes. Those are ranging from the Monterey area up to just north of San Francisco. I am sure others have suggestions

Trinity Alps - peaks get up to 8000 or 9000 feet but lots of nice lakes at more like 7000 feet

Lost Coast - South of Eureka

recent trip reports for both of these here and on portlandhikers.org

I have two kids who get altitude sickness. Hamilton Lakes in Sequoia National Park goes up to about 8k'. There are some nice hikes around Hetch Hetchy (Yosemite). I am a big fan of slot canyons throughout the southwest plus it's a great change of scenery from Southern California. There are a lot of great places to go at lower altitude. Best wishes - Jon

Like Ken already said, lots of great coastal hiking options from Big Sur north.

You could also look at some lower elevation trails around the Sierra. The southwestern corner of the Sierra (Golden Trout Wilderness behind Porterville) has some nice trails and stays relatively low <8,000', hiking along the Kern or Little Kern Rivers.

Best of luck. Hope you find some great hikes to make up the rest of your trip.

That's too bad Kirsten - a scary thing to happen to anyone on a mountain pass - but at least it didn't happen halfway through your hike out in the middle of the high Sierra!

Check out my site for lots of other California hikes w/ pix: http://150mph.planetrambler.com/

Edited by 150mph on 07/09/2012 11:09:32 MDT.

Olympic National Park is stunning and most alpine lakes and passes top out around 5k -6k feet. Quite a ways from Mammoth, but maybe a few days road trip would be a nice transition.

Good luck!

Thanks folks. After being released and getting my head together seems all I really feel like doing is returning home to Alaska. A little girlie I guess, but that's where I'm at. Thanks for all the suggestions, a great list to start with for future adventures.