TR: Murphy Creek trail to Glen Aulin (and waterfalls) - July 29-31, 2020

[c9h13no3]

That's the one I know...it cuts two miles off because you don't have to hike all the way to the Dog Lake/Tuolumne Meadows parking areas

The views from the PCT of the Cathedral range & the Tuolumne River are superior though. They're flat miles, they go fast.

[brianA]

Grampy, the short cut does not skirt the east side of Pothole Dome, rather the west side. I suppose you could take the east side, but you'd be adding some mileage going around it, but it would be easier than going down the shoot. And it's the hard short cut that skirts the west side. The easy short cut is a pass beyond a large dome next to Pothole. I don't know the name that dome, so I'll call it the 2nd dome. I'm including my gps map of that day. The loop to the right is going down on the hard trail, and the loop to the left is coming back on the easy trail with that kind couple that let me tag along. The trail to the right, near Pothole, goes down a steep shoot in between Pothole, and the 2nd dome. I actually had to put my hand on the 2nd dome to keep from falling several times. You are that close to it. The trail to the left is the easy trail that goes beyond the 2nd dome. Just beyond Pothole on Highway 120 there's a pull out (north side) to park about 3 or 4 cars for the hard short cut. Down the road, not too far, is another pull out for 2 cars on each side of 120. I imagine going early might be a plus. If you want the hard short cut, stay to the right of the little lake near Pothole, up a granite outcropping, and down the shoot. Good luck? Sometimes it's easy to spot the trail, sometimes not. If you want the easy short cut stay to the left another little lake (off trail) about 1/4 of a mile, and you'll run into the trail. Go left. Once you get down below the domes, since there are two short cuts, there are sometimes two trails to choose from down there. They all lead to Glen Aulin. Just be careful coming back, and make sure you stay to the right at the cutoff.