Summer is the perfect season to visit the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The famous Range of Light, as John Muir called it, is 400 miles long -- from Tehachapi Pass in Kern County to the south, to Fredonyer Pass in Lassen County to the north. The Sierra is home to three national parks (Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon), 20 wilderness areas, and many notable features, including Lake Tahoe and Mount Whitney (highest point in the contiguous US).

For a buck like me, exploring the Sierra is like going home. Much of the range is mule deer habitat, so traveling around the mountains with E+J didn't turn any heads -- though I did have to pack away my smoking jacket for this trip.

We spent 10 days backpacking, camping and hiking three parts of the Sierra over late July and early August, starting with a 5-day backpacking trip in Yosemite's high country. From there, we spent a couple of days in the Mammoth Lakes area, hiking and soaking in natural hot springs. To close out the trip, we spent the last two days in Onion Valley to hike the trail to Kearsarge Pass, which straddles Kings Canyon National Park and the John Muir Wilderness.

To share more about our recent trip, here are a few photos accompanied by pages from Edith's travel journal. For even more photos, visit Instagram.

Yosemite

Sunrise at Sunrise Lakes meadow.

Hiking from Sunrise Lakes to our next stop at Merced Lakes (10 miles away), we were greeted by dramatic landscapes like this one.

A dead tree leans against the clouds and wildfire smoke.

A wildfire smoke-filled lunch break along the 10 miles from Sunrise Lakes to Merced Lake.

Hiking from Sunrise Lakes to Merced Lake.

On the shore of Merced Lake, looking inland.

On the shore of Merced Lake, looking the other way.

The hike from Merced Lake (elevation ~7,000 ft.) to Vogelsang (elev. ~10,000 ft.) is the most challenging. Luckily, it's also gorgeous. Here we had a much-needed break from the ascent, along a meadow.

Fletcher Lake -- just a few dozen yards away from Vogelsang backpackers' camp.

The view from Vogelsang Pass.

Doing some writing by Fletcher Lake, following dinner on the lakeshore.

Sunset at Vogelsang.

Mammoth Lakes and Onion Valley

The Minarets, a series of jagged peaks in the Ritter Range within the Ansel Adams Wilderness, rise 13,000 feet above sea level.

Devil's Postpile, protected by national monument status, is a fascinating example of columnar basalt (or, in plain English, columns made when cooling lava cracked vertically).

The Mammoth Lakes region is replete with hot springs. We found two off-the-beaten-path springs. Our favorite was Crowley Hot Springs.

The Pacific Crest Trail runs more than 2,600 miles from Mexico to Canada.

Onion Valley Road starts in the town of Independence in the Owens Valley and over 12 miles climbs over 5,000 feet into the Eastern Sierra. Here you see Owens Valley thousands of feet below.