Early sierra trip…

Well, I'm headed out to the Chilnualna Falls area that weekend (posted in group hikes forum). Trail starts in Wawona (Yosemite) at 4000ft and climbs to around 8500ft in a bit less than 10mi (it goes higher and further, but I figure there could be a good bit of snow beyond that point). Looks like there's some cool stuff up there to explore. Unfortunately I can't leave until Friday evening, so a 4-day trip is a no-go for me. But if you want to meet up out there, or maybe just make it into an overnighter, I'd be happy to have someone to hike with!

There's also Rancheria Falls and the surrounding area. That would be fun to explore for a few days too

Not sure how much of Hetch-hetchy is open these days…but I think the trail to Rancheria is open. Beehive and beyond I believe is closed….but check with the rangers

The other option would be the North Rim of the Valley, either via the Old Big Oak Flat Road or Yosemite Falls, up and over, down past North Dome to SNow Creek…

Ah. I might be down for that. which post was it? I can't find it. Another option is that I can just shift it and leave Friday and then come back on Tue/Wed and stay longer by myself.

This was another thread for someone wanting to start early:

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=88667

yeah.. the problem is I've already done that route. Ha. I was also thinking of checking out other regions just to change it up.

Here's the thread I posted:

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=88828

I have to work Friday :( so I'll just be driving to the TH that day. I'll start hiking on Sat AM. If you want to meet up for hiking Saturday/Sunday I'm down.

Thanks Kevin for the heads up but I can't join you that weekend.
From the web cam you can see that most of the snow has melted off, just perfect conditions for a trip. Enjoy your trek.

Check out the Emigrant Wilderness. That wilderness area is typicaly open and pretty accesable in the early season. I have done some trips there in early May and have had to deal with very little snow.

You're right about it being open…but some of the trailheads are hard to access.

Carson-Iceberg is also an option. Both are off 108. The Crabtree trailhead behind Dodge Ridge opens earlier than the Gianelli…But Clarks Fork area usually opens before that. We have lots of trip reports from the 108 corridor on our website:

backpackthesierra.com

At the moment, further south equals less snow. from tahoe south to northern yosemite has the most snow, southern areas show less on the sensors.

GOOD point. I forgot about this.

We could try Kings Canyon or Sequoia NP area.. We might have to look for the right access point though as inside Kings Canyon might not have access since it goes over a pass.

It's also somewhat higher elevation around there.

I think this is probably a good idea and I've also done most of Yosemite at this point so it's a do over for me and not as fun