Recently in Yosemite Category

We seem to be on the right track for snowcamping this year. Two years ago it stormed every time we tried to get out. Last year there was just no snow. This year we've already gotten out on two great overnights.

This past weekend we headed into a classic California snowshoe destination: Dewey Point in Yosemite National Park. This point is an easy day trip from the Badger Pass Ski Area, but the true beauty comes out at sunset, making it a worthwhile overnight destination. We met Paige, Pavla, and Greg from Northern California Hikers and joined the hordes of people heading to the point on Saturday.

We found a nice campsite near but not too close to the rim, and then spent the rest of the day eating and enjoying the scenery. A typical outing. The only downside to Dewey Point is that other people generally have the same idea - it's a popular destination for snowcamping outings, especially for first-timers. We had our general area to ourselves until a large group stomped in just before sunset (we had seen them about six hours earlier two miles back - must have been a long day for them) and set up camp within a couple hundred yards of us. They weren't terribly annoying, but still - when there is snow on the ground, you can set up camp anywhere. Why choose a location so close to others? I dubbed them the VonLoudendorks 2 (they reminded me of a group I encountered on the JMT this summer).

On our way out we had lunch at the Iron Door Saloon in Groveland (always good for bar food and a beer after a visit to Yosemite), and then got lightly rear ended on our trip down Old Priest Grade on the way out. Luckily there was no body damage to the truck, but it seems to have knocked out the 4WD - hopefully just the switch; it will be checked tomorrow, courtesy of our rear-ender's auto insurance.

Click here or on the photo above for my album. Here are Paige's Photos, Greg's Photos, and Pavla's Photos.

We spent the weekend in Yosemite Valley visiting the tourist sights with Paige and Theresa. Winter is the best time to visit the Valley, assuming that you're not bothered by snow and cold. This weekend was perfect - the weather was just bad enough that it kept people away, but the sun poked through long enough on Saturday for some nice views and photography. We got to play tourist and stay at Curry Village, and we even stuffed ourselves with the outstanding Ahwahnee brunch.

Click here or on the photo above for my album.

Click here for Paige's photos.

Click here for Theresa's photos.

And so it begins...

On Saturday, August 4th, the six of us (me, Mary, Andrea, Anna Marie, Michael, and Kerry) set off on the John Muir Trail from Tuolumne Meadows. The advantage to starting in Tuolumne is that the trail goes along Lyell Canyon, which is quite possibly the flattest stretch of trail in the Sierra. The first-day hiker is lulled into a false sense of 'this is easy!' and 'pfft, bring on the switchbacks!' that they will be regretting as soon as they begin the climb to Donohue Pass.

We took our time meandering down the canyon, stopping to enjoy a lovely lunch break along the Lyell Fork of the Tuolumne River. We decided to give ourselves a head start on Donohue Pass by adding an extra mile and a half and 700 ft climb to the day's itinerary. This ended up being a very wise decision.

This day's stats:

• Mileage: 10.64 mi
  
• Ascending: 1163 ft
  
• Descending:173 ft
  
• Cumulative Mileage: 10.64 mi
  
• Cumulative Ascending: 1163 ft
  
• Cumulative Descending:173 ft
  

Yesterday I returned from two weeks on the John Muir Trail. If I ignore the ~8 miles or so between Yosemite Valley and Tuolumne that I haven't hiked, I've now completed the trail. At the very least, I've walked every mile of the trail between Tuolumne and Whitney over two hikes - the stretch from Kearsarge to Muir Trail Ranch was completed last summer, and the past two weeks were spent on the stretches between Tuolumne and North Lake and then Kearsarge to Whitney.

As usual, I had an amazing time on the trail and it was with hesitation that I headed home. I started off on Saturday, August 4th with an enthusiastic group of hikers - Mary, our fearless leader, and Michael, Kerry, Anna Marie, and Andrea. The group slowly shrunk as people left the trail at various points along the way, and I said goodbye to Mary, Michael, and Kerry on the 13th when I headed up Piute canyon. They should be summiting Mt Whitney today or tomorrow - I hope they have as beautiful a climb as I did! I enjoyed nearly every step of the hike - although there were definitely times when I would have liked to have been somewhere else (like that hot descent into MTR, or the last 1000 feet of the 6000 ft descent of Mt Whitney).

I have thousands of photos to sort through, so I'll likely be posting them one 'trail day' at a time, with separate blog entries per day. At first glance I'm happy with the snapshots I got - although the smoke blowing over the Sierra from the Zaca fire didn't help matters much. It did help create a nice sunset from places like Humphrey's Basin and Guitar Lake.

I'll link the following to their respective blog entries when I'm able to put them up.

My itinerary was:

• Day 1, August 4th:Tuolumne to the Footbridge at Lyell Creek
  
• Day 2, August 5th: Footbridge to Garnet Lake
  
• Day 3, August 6th: Garnet Lake to Red's Meadow
  
• Day 4: August 7th: Red's Meadow to Deer Creek
  
• Day 5: August 8th: Deer Creek to Cascade Valley
  
• Day 6: August 9th: Cascade Valley to Vermillion Valley Resort
  
• Day 7: August 10th: Layover at VVR
  
• Day 8: August 11th: VVR to Rosemarie Meadow
  
• Day 9: August 12th: Rosemarie Meadow to Piute Creek Bridge
  
• Day 10: August 13th: Piute Creek Bridge to Upper Golden Trout Lake
  
• Day 11: August 14th: Upper Golden Trout Lake to North Lake (and into Bishop)
  
• Day 12: August 15th: Car shuttling, then Onion Valley to Vidette Meadow
  
• Day 13: August 16th: Vidette Meadow, over Forester Pass and to Tyndall Creek
  
• Day 14: August 17th: Tyndall Creek to Guitar Lake
  
• Day 15: August 18th: Guitar Lake to Whitney Portal, with the side trip to the summit of Mt Whitney.

Next weekend I start the John Muir Trail. As part of my preparation for the hike I wanted to spend the previous weekend at altitude, but not overdo myself as far as physical exertion. The result was a weekend of car camping at Sawmill walk-in campground to the east of Tioga pass and three stunning dayhikes in the Tioga/Tuolumne region.

On Saturday we arrived around noon and set up our campsite. After claiming our spot we headed down the road to Saddlebag Lake where we hiked a ~8 mile loop through a beautiful basin - obviously named 20 Lakes Basin for a reason. Following a delicious dinner at Tioga Pass Resort we settled in for the night at Sawmill, watching the nearly full moon rise over the Dana Crest.

On Sunday we dayhiked up to Gaylor Lake (the trailhead right by the Tioga Pass entrance station) and kept going to the Great Sierra Mine ruins. Back at the car before noon, we drove down to the May Lake trailhead and bagged Mt Hoffmann. We were out of the park by 6:30 and even had time to grab a yummy bite at the 50's Roadhouse in Knight's Ferry.

A couple of years ago a hike was profiled in Backpacker Magazine (or maybe it was Outside, I don't know), and it was said to be one of Yosemite's unknown and hidden gems where one could get away from the crowds. Of course, by publicizing such a hike, one can no longer expect solitude. Still, I decided it would be a fun and scenic hike to do over five days, and hoped that it would still be less busy than many other trails over the week of July 4th.

The hike is referred to as the 'Yosemite High Passes Loop', but it isn't well known. The core of the hike is a ~35 mile loop that goes over four passes: Merced Pass, Red Peak Pass, Post Peak Pass, and Fernandez Pass. Depending on what trailhead is used for access, one can also throw in another pass or two. We headed in on Saturday, June 30, from the Quartz Mountain Trailhead, making a ~50 mile 'lollipop' loop out of the hike, and adding Chiquito Pass to the list.

I took away two main memories from the hike. First, the mosquitoes this year simply suck. I don't know if it has to do with the strange winter, but I have never encountered the swarms that we found below treeline. Fortunately, the other vivid memory is the stunning views from around the passes. Once above treeline the mosquitoes disappeared and suddenly didn't seem so bad in exchange for the sweeping views.

After this trip and last year's hike along the JMT, I'm finding myself drawn to these passes - even the climbs up the rocky switchbacks at altitude don't seem so bad when accompanied by such scenery. The High Sierra is certainly a wonderful place to have in our 'backyard'.

Pictures are available by clicking on the thumbnail photo above.

I headed off to Ten Lakes in Yosemite for an overnight this weekend. It is already so dry, I can't believe that it is still only June! My new Tarptent Rainbow performed perfectly once again, and I scarfed down a yummy home-dehydrated meal of soft tacos for dinner. Saturday started off a bit cloudy, but it cleared up and got hot as the day progressed. Lots of wind on the lake at night, but my campsite was a bit tucked away and it was calm and not even buggy. Plus, the view toward the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne was pretty darn nice. Not a bad way to spend a weekend. Click on photo for the full album.

My sister came to visit over the past week, and we spent Tuesday checking out all the tourist sites in Yosemite. It was nice to get to all the viewpoints on a weekday in the spring - the crowds weren't bad and the falls and wildlife were putting on quite a show. We spent a long time watching a bear graze at Crane Flat, and the marmot even popped out to say hi at Olmstead Point.

I had a chance to check out the snow conditions at Tioga Pass. There is spotty snow along the road and in the woods above 8000 ft, but I didn't encounter regular snow coverage until Dana Meadows, at about 9700 ft. Even then, it was a rapidly melting ~3 feet, so it isn't going to be around much longer!

All my touristy photos can be found here: Yosemite

I am woefully out of date in updating this website. Today (May 7) I'm finally getting around to posting some photos from a ski trip two weeks ago. We went to Yosemite and skied in along Glacier Point road to McGurk meadow, where we stayed up chatting in our snow kitchen in the true Northern CA hiking group fashion. Click on the photo to the left for the album.

The forecast was for rain and snow. So what did we do? We decided to go gear testing! We picked a relatively mild low elevation hike to Tiltill Valley in the Hetch Hetchy Region of Yosemite. It rained on us a bit during the drive in, but by the time we hit the trail the sky was clearing. Once we were in camp and had our tents set up it rained a bit more, but cleared up for a nice sunset and night sky viewing. Sunday was a perfect summerlike day - warm and sunny, but not *too* warm and sunny. So much for that storm...

** Our pictures have been posted here.

** Steve posted his pictures here.