Yosemite!

[Quack]

Hi Everyone! I'm looking for some Yosemite advice. In mid June, my wife and I are taking two very fit, but inexperienced friends with us to the park and want to do a three day / two night backpacking trip. I'm wondering if anyone has experience in Yosemite and could recommend a specific route? We're thinking a loop hike that takes about three moderately difficult days would be perfect. Obviously views, swimming spots, etc. are the goal so if anyone has any ideas at all please let me know. Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[TCD]

I've only day hiked there, but I'll bet the water will be pretty cold in June for swimming!

As far as routes, it depends on what you like. Valley area is most crowded; Tuolomne less so; outlying areas (South or North) the least crowded. When picking a route for moderately difficult backpacking, you might not want to go up or down between Valley and Tuolomne (lots of steep vertical), but instead stay at one level.

That's pretty general, but maybe it will help some. Others will have good route recommendations.

 

[David Metsky]

Years (and years) ago I did a loop starting in Toulumne Meadows, going over Vogelsang Pass, over to Sunrise, and out via Cathedral Lakes. Excellent 3 day trip, lots of amazing scenery and some solitude.

 

[erugs]

Brian and I were in Yosemite last September and did two long day hikes to help us prep for Boundary Peak in Nevada, followed by Mt. Whitney. We stayed at a great campground, Crane Flats, just outside of the more crowded Yosemite Village. I'd be happy to share more information and tell you our secret of the best site there.

Last week I came across a fascinating trip in Yosemite, one for backpacking. Here's the link: http://www.backpacker.com/google_flyover_yosemite_national_park/videos/33

Perhaps it will give you a few ideas.

Also, there are several Podcasts from Yosemite that I highly recommend and think you might be interested in, if you haven't found them already: Yosemite Voices (done by a park ranger) and Yosemite Nature Notes (video podcast from the park).

Have a great trip. Let me know if you want more info.

 

[pudgy_groundhog]

We did a 4 day/3 night trip out of the valley and had intended to do a 3 day/2 night from the high country (through Tuolomne Meadows), but that didn't pan out due to conditions. If you end up doing a trip from the high country, see if you can squeeze in a visit to Mono Lake.

Our trip out of the valley hit a lot of the highlights, but I don't know how easily it could be condensed to three days. If you do want to see, we have pics and some trip notes posted: Yosemite

 

[jfb]

Some friends have hiked the High Sierra Camps.

Looking at their website, it looks like you'll need Wilderness Permits to camp in the backcountry.

 

[Quack]

Wow! Great tips from all. My wife and I will be there all week and have some day hikes planned, but our friends can only join us for a long weekend, which is why we're limiting the backpacking trip to 2 nights. I appreciate all the information. Keep it coming!

 

[TCD]

Day hikes:

Clouds Rest

Mt. Hoffman via May Lake

Tenaya Peak (bushwhack up the climber's descent trail from the SW end of Tenaya Lake up the ridge, mix of wooded and open rock areas)

(Note, my avatar is standing on Tenaya Peak.)

Mt. Dana (bushwhack from East Tuolomne entry booth, very direct, open and easy (but high at 13K, so acclimatize first on something else)

North Dome from Tuolomne Rd. (very smooth, makes a nice run if you're in the mood)

Of course out there you can't go wrong...have fun!

 

[Jazzbo]

Yosemite has snow in June.

This was a real long time ago back in the 70's, but I do remember it was in June. First time I'd ever dealt with deep snow. We hiked from north rim of Yosemite Valley over to falls next to El Capitan and hiked down. It was warm and nice, but we encountered long expanse of deep snow postholing up to our crotches. Might want to look further into what to expect for snow.

Another thing to take into account is car breakins are also common in Yosemite. Something to think aobut if you're expecting to leave luggage in your car.

 

[DougPaul]

Another thing to take into account is car breakins are also common in Yosemite. Something to think aobut if you're expecting to leave luggage in your car.

Or food...

Plenty of the break-ins are the work of bears. Check the regs--canisters are likely to be required for BC camping.

Doug

 

[TCD]

Some info from Supertopo.com:

A very large rock fall occurred from Ahwiyah Point near Half Dome at 5:26 am on the morning of March 28. The rock fall originated near the summit of Ahwiyah Point and fell roughly 1800 feet to the floor of Tenaya Canyon, striking ledges along the way. Debris extended well out into Tenaya Canyon, knocking down hundreds of trees and burying the southern portion of the Mirror Lake loop trail. Reminiscent of the 1996 Happy Isles rock fall, there appears to have been a small airblast associated with impact on the valley floor. Fortunately, due to the event occurring in the early morning, there were no injuries. The impact generated ground shaking that was recorded by numerous seismometers across California, registering as the equivalent of a local magnitude 2.5 earthquake:

http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/recenteqs/Quakes/nc40233925.htm

The volume of the Ahwiyah Point rock fall is still being determined, but it was clearly one of the largest rock falls in the past decade; for perspective this rock fall was many times the size of the recent October 2008 rock falls behind Curry Village. Numerous smaller rock falls have occurred from Ahwiyah Point since the initial failure, and the southern portion of the Mirror Lake loop trail remains closed until further notice.

Greg Stock
Park Geologist
(209) 379-1420
[email protected]

Clarification on closures: The Slabs approach to Half Dome will not be affected by the Southern portion of Mirror Lake loop trail closure. There will be general closure signs, and interpretive signs at the Tenaya Bridge (paved bridge) before the Mirror Lake loop. The Slabs access will remain open.

That said, remember that there has been a lot of rockfall off of the NWF face of Half Dome above the slabs over the last few years. So precede with caution, and consider going the long way through Little Yosemite Valley and up the Half Dome trail.

Another clarification: Peter stated, "Looks like the rockfall will result in a lot more closures around the valley..." This rockfall has not caused any more campground or lodging closures in the Valley. All Yosemite Valley campgrounds are open.

Its great to be back, and I look forward to another season of great threads on the Supertopian forum!

Jesse McGahey
Lead Climbing Ranger
Yosemite Wilderness Management
(209) 372-0360
[email protected]

TCD

 

[Quack]

Thanks for the tips on the snow, after looking into it further, we pushed the trip back a few weeks to make sure Tioga road would be open. We found out there is a shuttle bus from the village to Tuolumne Meadow so now we're thinking about extending the backpacking trip by a day so we can leave our car in the village and hike back to it from the bus stop at the Tuolumne Ranger Station. We're renting bear canisters at the ranger station as well and getting the correct backcountry permits. The problem now is picking a route! I want to hike them all but need to choose just one. It's not fair!

 

[Tuco]

Its not a loop but how about from Tuolomnne Meadows to Reds Meadow. You can stay a night below Donohue Pass ( a location I highly recommend), a night around Garnet Lake, and one at the Meadows or in the backcountry and then take a bus from Reds Meadow to Mammoth and then the Yarts from Mammoth to Yosemite. A lot of bus riding but some great stuff in between, Lyell Canyon (swimming and fishing in the Lyell, cold!), a number of Passes , a number of beautiful lakes and the Devils Postpile Monument near the end. Banner and Ritter Peaks along the way offer great views as well as the views from Donohue Pass.

Whatever you do, enjoy.

Edit- I realize none of this touches Yosemite Village- of course you could start from the Village to Reds Meadow but note its a heck of a climb out of the Valley to start with.

 

[rup]

I hear it is near impossible to get a hotel room, or even a campground site, there. Is that true? Someone must get them.

 

[erugs]

Near impossible is right. A friend of mine was able to get a campsite in the valley, about a month ago. When are you going? We were able to get a mid-week campsite without trouble, arriving mid-day at Crane Flats. On our return end we hoped to stay again but the official campsites were all full. Camp 4 is a fun-looking, but not quiet or remote tenting campground. It's a traditional spot for rock climbers and does not take reservations, but rather is a "walk-in"
site. From what I gather, if you can park your car in the parking lot for Camp 4, in an official parking spot, then you can also pitch your tent.

 

[TCD]

Summer is very busy. Both our trips were consciously scheduled the week after Labor Day so we didn't have any problem. We stayed in a hotel first trip, and camped at Tuolomne second trip.

Closer to the Valley is always more crowded. I don't know, but I have read that there are very attractive trips that can be put together in the northern part of the park, north from Tuolomne, or even up by Hetch Hetchy. Depends on your priority of seeing the sights vs. getting away from the crowd. If you are only going to get there once, don't miss the Valley, even if you just drive there after your pack trip.

 

[mirabela]

If your friends are not very experienced or fit, you might have a good time on the loop to Kibbie Lake. The trailhead is up near the northwest corner of the park, in the neighborhood of Cherry Lake. I think the first little bit is part of the Emigrant Wilderness, and then you dip into the park. Elevations are in the 5,000 - 7,000' range so acclimation won't be much of an issue. The whole loop is something like fifteen miles around, through pretty country -- open forests, then up into the granite mountain/lake world -- and the trail is generally easy. There are a couple of stream crossings, lots of good camping possibilities out on open slabs, generally no snow by early June ... seems to have a lot to recommend it, given your parameters. I've done the loop a couple of times with newbie backpackers, and it worked out very well.