Island Lake is a great place for an easy overnighter, as Calipidder documented the other day.
Here’s a pic from an overnighter I did near there a couple summers back:
It’s just a mile and a half past the Carr Lake Trailhead. It gets a bit crowded on summer weekends, but if you’re craving solitude you can just hike deeper into the backcountry nearby. Carr Lake is nice for car camping, but you’ll want to get there early on a Friday, if possible, to secure a site.
Here’s a Google map of the Carr Lake Trailhead; Island Lake is over to the right:
This would make a nice place for a day hike, if you didn’t mind the drive up from the Bay Area.
More from Gorp’s Tahoe National Forest hiking page.
Thanks for the link. Island Lake is generally what I try to escape when backpacking – namely crowds and backcountry incompetence. But, in many ways it’s still a great place to go. For beginners, it’s a safe overnighter. The car is close enough for that security blanket safety net, and there are enough people around that you don’t have to deal with that utterly alone feeling – a good place to build skills and confidence. I know that I’ve had a great time on my many visits, but I’ve never gone there with the intention of getting a quiet backcountry weekend.