Jim, all the areas I can think of are snow-bound in winter. Somewhere in the desert maybe, but I don't know of any.
I just day-hiked Kaiser Peak (almost) due to the dry winter, and climbing part way up and camping might be fun. Until near the top, you could find dry ground to camp, and snow to melt for water. Kaiser Pk is east of Fresno, at 10,000' elevation. But there isn't a lot of miles where you could backpack for more than a day.
...Oh, there is a low-elevation trail in Sequoia National Park, that follows the Middle Fork Kaweah River (near the Three Rivers entrance). I don't know anything about backpacking that trail, though.
