Suggestions for February Backpacking in Yosemite?

[Paul Kilroy]

I will be in San Fransisco in the middle of February and have 4 days to get away and do some backpacking. I was thinking of driving to Badger Pass and hiking to Dewey Point, then up to Taft Point and Sentinel Dome via Pohono Trail and back to Badger Pass via Glacier Point Rd.

Here’s a link to the route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/27844550

Any other routes I should consider?

Any special gear I need to think about other than snowshoes?

Can I leave my car at Badger Pass’s parking lot?

Thanks!!

[Paul Kilroy]

Oops – wrong route:  https://ridewithgps.com/routes/29219172

 

[Paul McLaughlin]

Getting out to Dewey point should be easy peasy, very straightforward navigation. Getting over to Taft will require more careful navigation. I don’t know your level of familiarity with winter in the Sierra; but you should expect several feet of snow covering everything, so no sign of the trail and quite likely no sign of any trail signs. So be prepared to navigate as if there were no trails other than the Glacier point road. And though there may be tracks left by others, I would not trust them much.

Kept abreast of the forecast and be prepared to change your itinerary to suit; if you get significant snowfall while you are out there, getting back from Glacier point in soft deep snow will become a long, long, haul.

Badger pass has a webcam, so you can see what the current conditions are.

[Paul Kilroy]

Very helpful, thanks!!

[Paul Wagner]

Please be careful along the rim–people have fallen off both Dewey and Taft Points.  In the snow, it’s not always easy to see where the rock stops and the snow keeps going.  But you’ll know, as soon as you drop 1000 feet…

[Eric Blumensaadt]

Take snowshoes and XC ski poles. You’ll be glad you did. Jus’sayin’…

[Tjaard Breeuwer]

What about avalanches?

Here is an image I made from caltopo, all the red is avalanche terrain. Does your route cross any of that?

https://caltopo.com/map.html#ll=37.70416,-119.65304&z=14&b=mbt&a=sc_s25-50cFF0000-FF0000&cl=%7B%22cfglayers%22%3A%5B%7B%22properties%22%3A%7B%22title%22%3A%22Avy%22%2C%22alias%22%3A%22sc_s25-50cFF0000-FF0000%22%2C%22class%22%3A%22ConfiguredLayer%22%7D%2C%22id%22%3A%22c1b500b6-500d-47c4-90e2-937724e59d32%22%7D%5D%7D

 

[jscott]

and have you considered xc skis? In any case. poles for sure.

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