Just a brief report since I know others might be interested.
I'll post pics/video later.
Day 1: camp 9 off 120 (great suggestion!)
Day 2: Dog lake trail to middle young lake
-first 3 miles perhaps 10% snow coverage. Beyond that was 95% coverage and combination of ice and post holing. 2 tricky ice bridge crossings. No trail to be found. All young lakes frozen and beautiful as heck. :)
Day 3 middle young lake to upper, then up to Conness. Witnessed several mini avalanches on the north facing slopes….so from upper young lake I dropped into the valley then up, and rode the south facing slope all the way to the plateau below the summit.
Much of the south facing slope was melted out. Lots of loose scree until the last 1500 ft or so. Then lots of ice and snow. Ice axe/microspikes absolutely necessary. Didn't summit due to time constraints, a small potential avalanche chute, and some menacing clouds that turned out to be nothing. Kind of regret it….but was the safe thing to do.
Day 4. Upper young lake to the car at tuolumne meadows.
2 days of sun melted out the snow significantly making it MUCH easier. Much of the trail became exposed, and the ice bridges were gone. I suspect next weekend or later would be safer.
Weather: Felt like 75-ish during day, then high 20's at night
Mosquitos: mostly non existent
Crowds: mostly non existent. Met 1 group of 4 half way up. Then 1 group of 2 up at the lakes. Each night I had a lake to myself. :)
Snow: Debated for a while…but left the snow shoes in the car. Glad I did. Post holed a bit…but that's better than lugging around the snow shoes. Again….microspikes/ice axe were vital, but the snow was melting quick.
Lakes: Found campsites on exposed ground at each lake. So no snow stakes necessary.
