TR: Lyell Fork from Tuolumne 9/16-9/21

[druid]

I just completed a five-night trip with my daughter and son from Tuolumne Meadows to the Lyell Fork of the Merced. Our trip covers a lot of the same ground that Wandering Daisy describes in her recent report, but I guess that's not too surprising given that everyone has been crowded into Yosemite recently due to closures and fires. I decided to post a quick TR anyway in case anyone is interested in recent smoke conditions.

We drove up to Tuolumne, picked up our permit and hiked up to Nelson Lake. There were quite a few more parties at Nelson than I had ever seen in the past, but it's a big lake and we didn't feel particularly crowded. The winds were much more calm in the late afternoon than is usually the case.

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The next day we used wildhiker's excellent beta to head cross country to Emeric Lake. Descending the slabs above Emeric was easy.

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However, as forecast, the winds had shifted to blow in from the south, bringing in the KNP Complex and Windy fire smoke. On more than one day of our trip, skies in one direction would be almost completely clear while in the other direction views would be partially or completely obscured.

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The Tuolumne rangers had informed us that probably none of the creeks that cross the high trail above the Merced would still be flowing, so we stopped for the night at Lewis Creek. That evening during dinner, our tents were quickly coated with ash that was floating down like a flurry of snow. We decided if conditions didn't improve by the next morning we would head back home early. As a consolation we were treated to the sight of a dipper cavorting in and around the creek (no photos as it was too dark).

The next morning the ash fall had stopped, the wind had shifted somewhat and the skies had begun to clear, so we soldiered on. As it turned out, two of the creeks in the side drainages of the high trail were still flowing nicely, including the second one at Cony Crags. By the time we reached the western meadow of the Lyell Fork, the skies to the north and east were completely clear although there was still a fair amount of smoke to the west. This is an incredibly gorgeous area which my photography skills don't come close to doing justice to.

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We decided to abandon our plan to cross over into the Hutchings Creek basin and instead took a layover day and day hiked into the upper Lyell Fork, making it as far as lake 10999. The gods must have been smiling us as we had our clearest skies of the trip that day, although I agree with Daisy's assessment of the uppermost portions of the basin as being a little too austere.

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The following morning as we were heading back the skies were still clear to the west and we got some of our best views of the Clark Range.

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We made it to our final camp at Bernice Lake just as the smoke from the south was starting to drift in again.

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By the next morning, the smoke had settled in leaving us with a long smoky trudge down Rafferty Creek back to the car.

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On the way down, we passed the usual assortment of unprepared Rafferty Creek hikers asking questions like "where is the next stagnant pothole we can filter water out of". It wasn't the most pleasant hike out, but all in all we felt lucky to have had some very nice days in a spectacular part of Yosemite, especially given the iffy fire season conditions.

[wildhiker]

Nice report of an imaginative route! Glad you got some clear days in this season of smoke. What were the temperatures like?

As you note, everyone was probably crowding into Yosemite Park as one of the few areas currently open. I've camped at Nelson Lake 7 or 8 times in the past 30 years and only once did I have to share it with anyone else. But those trips were all pre-smoke, either in years of little fire or early in the season before the fires came.

-Phil

[neil d]

Cool report, and great photos! I'm somewhat surprised by the persistent smoke. We were north of TM during the same period, and had that 'wall of smoke' that blow in the afternoon of Friday, Sept. 17, and persist overnight. Then we had two days of very strong winds and bluebird skies. We hiked out via Glen Aulin on Monday, Sept. 20.

[druid]

What were the temperatures like?

Pleasant. Highs in the high 50s to low 60s, lows in the high 30s.

I'm somewhat surprised by the persistent smoke. We were north of TM during the same period, and had that 'wall of smoke' that blow in the afternoon of Friday, Sept. 17, and persist overnight. Then we had two days of very strong winds and bluebird skies. We hiked out via Glen Aulin on Monday, Sept. 20.

We also had essentially clear days from Saturday midday until Monday afternoon. Friday and Tuesday were the worst days by far. Interesting about the winds, as they were light to non-existent where we were.

[druid]

By the way, there's a purpleair sensor at Tuolumne Meadows, which you can view with https://map.purpleair.com/1/i/mAQI/a10/ ... /-119.4486
or any other map region that includes that area. There's no forecast but it gives you the current PM2.5 reading. If you click on the circle (the Tuolumne sensor is unhelpfully named "YOSE_PA_II_SD_004") you can see a chart of the previous week's readings, in case you're morbidly curious about what you just suffered through.

[Harlen]

Nice route, nice report. We're trying to pick a location just now (for the 7th of Oct), and it is a bit baffling where to expect the smoke. It surprised us to hear that you guys got smoke and ash up from the KNP. I don't doubt it, but it confounds our plan to hit the Ritter Range area, which we thought looked good, and avoid the original plan to go in Shepherd Pass, closer to the fire and smoke. Thanks for telling us about the conditions you experienced Druid, and congratulations a nice trip.

p.s. How much did you have to pay your son and daughter to backpack with you?

[druid]

We're trying to pick a location just now (for the 7th of Oct), and it is a bit baffling where to expect the smoke. It surprised us to hear that you guys got smoke and ash up from the KNP. I don't doubt it, but it confounds our plan to hit the Ritter Range area, which we thought looked good, and avoid the original plan to go in Shepherd Pass, closer to the fire and smoke.

Yeah, it's next to impossible to predict. We had both great days and poor days and all it seemed to take to switch from one to the other was a slight shift in wind direction. Looking at the purpleair charts, Mammoth and June Lake experienced almost the same variable conditions as Tuolumne over the last week. With any luck the two southern sierra fires will be dying down by Oct 7 and you'll have clear skies.

p.s. How much did you have to pay your son and daughter to backpack with you?

They're easy, all it took was free food.