Loop in Yosemite / High Sierras – 6 days in early June?

[Kevin Holt]

We’re looking for a 6-day / 5-night loop starting June 5, ending June 10.  We live in Chicago and fly into SFO June 4th, out on the 11th.  Really anything in shooting distance is fair game, but here’s the options I was looking at:

Option A: Mono pass trailhead -> Parker Pass -> Thousand Island Lake -> Explore the Minarets, Ediza, Iceberg, Cecile -> Thousand Island Lake -> Lyell Fork -> Tuolumne Meadows

Option B: Tuolumne Meadows -> Glen Aulin -> Return Creek -> Rodgers Lake -> Pate Valley -> Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne -> Glen Aulin -> Tuolumne Meadows

Option C: Tuolumne Meadows -> Glen Aulin -> Polly Dome -> Ten Lakes -> White Wolf -> Pate Valley -> Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne -> Glen Aulin -> Tuolumne Meadows

I’m worried it may be too early in the year for these though, as it seems like it’s been a heavy snow year, and I’m not even confident Tioga Road will be open by then. For background, it would just be me and my girlfriend. I’ve been backpacking in one form or another for 20 years, ultralight for 6, and done a couple off-trail trips. My girlfriend is brand new to the hobby but we did the high sierra camps loop there in late September and she really enjoyed it. (Though we had a rough time with the altitude the first night in Vogelsang, which was a 10k elevation change from Chicago a day or two before).  I’ve done the grand canyon of the tuolumne once before, 20 years ago in a July trip, it was pretty and wouldn’t mind going back or sharing it, and I hear early June is the best time.  But I also really like the idea of thousand-island lake and the Minarets, especially if it won’t be crowded then. Pictures of the area look super gorgeous, but I don’t want to force it if the hiking will be treacherous or annoying. I’m sure we’ll go back.

So…  are any of these feasible?  In trail runners?  We’ll have hiking poles regardless, but do we need micro-spikes (or pocket cleats), gore-tex socks, or other snow/ice accessories?  Would we want ice axes? Neither of us has used one before. I’m not opposed to grabbing one for each of us (looking at Suluk46 TiCa, Camp Corsa, or BD Whippet), and we wouldn’t try anything over a class 2, maybe 3. I’ve read over and over that you need to practice with them first — I doubt we’ll have an opportunity to practice prior to the trip, but could practice self-arrest there if we can find a safe looking slope to play on mid-hike (or is that a bad idea?)

If it’s too early and none of these plans work, any other suggestions? Should we look to the Valley, or are there other good early-season options around?  I think we’d opt for being cold vs being in crowds, as long as the trails are still hikeable.

[Kenneth Keating]

This year the area has received a lot of snow.  In 2011 Tioga Pass Road opened June 18th, and there’s been more snow this year.  Per the NPS Yosemite Campground Estimated opening site Tuolumne Meadows camp  is scheduled to open August 1.

[Paul Wagner]

June 5th? We’re worried about a trip we have schedule for July 20th—and fear that we still might hit too much snow for comfort.

[Kevin Holt]

Heh, OK I’m bailing on high yosemite then, hadn’t realized what a bad year for snow this was when we started planning this.

Do you think Desolation would be reasonable then?  (with microspikes and poles)

Otherwise, what’s a good alternative?  It’s a total 180, but thinking about maybe Lost Coast instead…

[Paul Wagner]

Desolation is lower, but it also got more snow than Yosemite.

Lost Coast might be a good idea for early June…or a series of shorter and lower elevation hikes.

[jscott]

The only thing about Desolation is,it’s pretty manageable in snow. the trails into Lake Aloha, for example, aren’t steep at all. Plus there are no stream crossings. Even continuing on over Dicks Pass and out past Velma Lakes is easy in consolidated snow. So if you felt like spending a night or two or three in snow conditions, this would be safe and doable.

 

 

 

[Kevin Holt]

Thanks, that helps a bunch!  So…  if we did decide to do that Desolation route  (Echo -> Aloha -> Dick’s Pass -> Velma Lakes, and find a loop back), I know it’s hard to predict, but how much of that should we expect to be snow-covered?  100%?  50%?  I know the girlfriend isn’t opposed to some snow travel, but off-and-on snow would be an easier sell than spending the whole trip in it…

Other question…  Are there any 5-6 day hikes that would be reasonable from the valley without spending most of the trip above snow-line?  I’ve day-hiked there in January in snow, and done longer hikes at elevation that begin/end in the valley, but don’t really know if there are decent multi-day (say, 50-70 miles) low-elevation hikes in yosemite.

Thanks!

[Matthew / BPL]

How about the Coastal Redwood Trail? It goes from Crescent City to Patrick’s Point State Park. It’s about 75 miles in length and all at low elevation. June is a pleasant month (relatively speaking) in that area.

I’ve not backpacked it but I’ve camped at PPSP and spent time hiking around Prairie Creeks Redwoods State Park. The area is just heaven to me as an Arizona resident. It’s lush, green and foggy with temperate weather. I’ll be camping at PPSP in mid/late June this year :)

I’ve got a GPX file from a guy in the JMT Facebook group and I’m pretty sure I have a pdf/txt writeup of the hike somewhere. I’ve purchased some paper maps of the hike as well. PM me if you want more info.

[Matthew / BPL]

Another option is the Bigfoot Trail.

[Matthew / BPL]

More on the Coastal Trail.

[jscott]

From Yosemite Valley: Happy Isles to the top of Nevada Falls and then on to Merced Lake. From there, you have a bunch of options. (Or rather, in that vicinity you have options.) This is actually a sweet hike in what is normally early spring. It melts out fast because much of the route is on granite. There is one very brief ‘tricky’ part on the switchbacks above the two bridge crossing of the Merced–Bunnel Point. It’s north facing; usually melted out before June–it’s not that high, about 6800–but who knows this year. It is not a problem really, but with microspikes it would be easy. It’s only about 30 feet of steep snow. You may be able to edge through a gap next to the rock face–I’ve seen people do this. No danger at all. From there it’s a cakewalk. There may be a lot of people funneled in to this trail this year–no options. to avoid them somewhat, you could camp in Pate Valley, which is little known and a sweet campsite. Or go to Washburn for fewer people. Or hike a mile above Washburn and find the very sweet campsite down by the river (entirely legal). Not well known at all. Hiking up the Merced towards Triple divide is a possibility. Or, hiking in snow up to Babcock Lake is entirely safe, but steep–as in, switchbacks. I’ve day hiked this a million times in the early spring in snow and it’s a joy. Most people won’t go there in snow. Who knows, this trail will probably be melted out in the sun exposed granite spots, which is the majority of the hike. finally, you could come back out on the High Route back to the Valley–probably there will be snow but again nothing technical or even near technical. Route finding on the high route might be an issue–maybe bring a gps.

My guess is that most of this hike will be melted out in June–it’s below 7000 feet. The remaining snow might be in the flat forested areas. Everything else is exposed granite and melts fast.

This is a really beautiful hike–lots of cascading rivers and water off of cliffs. Maybe hard to get a permit this year–start early! I would much prefer this to Desolation.

[Kevin Holt]

matthew – Thanks for the links!  Those are brand new to me so will do some reading.

jeffrey – that hike sounds a lot like what I was originally hoping for, thanks! But you were right about permits — the Happy Isles reservations are all gone (well, there happens to be a spot for 1 person on the right day, but not for both of us). Strange though that even some of the Tioga Road trailheads (Sunrise Lakes, WhiteWolf, May Lake) have some days in early June where they’re fully reserved. It looks like the road won’t be open until at least mid-to-late June, so how do people even get to those trailheads?  Or are those likely wasted reservations?

For our plan…  I like the idea of trying for walkup permits for Happy Isles as a first choice, but I still want to reserve something else as a backup plan. There are still permits available for Yosemite Falls as well as for Mirror Lake > Snow Creek.  I know with either of those the first day will be pretty brutal, but are they safe in early June (with microspikes)?  I’m thinking once we make it up, we could loop around and do your suggestion in reverse, coming back down through Merced and little yosemite.  Maybe even push up towards Pate and Tuolumne mid-loop if we’re making good time.  Does that seem reasonable?  I’ve done the Falls trail before, but not Snow Creak, so I’m tempted to try that for something new – I think it’d cut a few miles off the loop as well.

[jscott]

Get to the permit office at least an hour before they open. You should be able to get a permit.

It’s really hard to say what snow will be like this far out. Yosemite Falls is entirely non-technical to the top of the falls in snow, but steep as you say. It should be mostly snow free in June until near the top, but who knows. I haven’t hiked beyond that. Snow Creek is supposed to be steep but I’ve never hiked it. Yosemitenenews.info is a great site with very knowledgeable people who will gladly answer your questions; they will also have up to the minute info on conditions as the date nears.

Look at Cherry Creek, which is just outside of the park, for another lower elevation option. And Hetch Hetchy. But I think you’ll be pleased with the Merced hike, although again there may be a lot of people. This hike just keeps getting better the further you go–especially up towards Babcock and Emeric. Again, this makes a good day hike too. I mis-stated Pate valley–I mean the little valley on the Merced just before the trail junction to Sunrise and Half Dome. It’s usually unnamed on maps. the campsite is really nice but not obvious.

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