Routing My Yosemite Trip
Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2019 5:13 pm
As the subject states, I'm in the process of routing some options through Yosemite and could use some feedback from those that have been through the area and are willing to help me out with some of their knowledge.
General pertinent hike info:
- Permit - already secured out of Agnew Meadow
- Length - A week long trip. Saturday we'll drive early to Reds Meadow. Enjoy an afternoon of light exploration and acclimation. No resupply at T. Meadows, will be carrying all food from the start. On-trail from Agnew Meadows on Sunday, with a 1/2 Dome summit permit on Thursday. With arranged pick-up scheduled for us off-trail Saturday morning if all goes to plan.
- Weight - Since not trying 20+ miles per day and not re-supplying in T.Meadows, my current rough estimate starting weight is around 47 lbs. This includes food + bear can, and 2-L of water in my pack bladder. Which will drop roughly 2 lbs per day of food. So a full week-long hiking pack and my camera gear.
Myself and the other hiker have solid on-trail experience and hiked the High Sierra Trail in early August-2017 on a casually-fun & challenging 7/8 day itinerary. We tend to try to keep daily mileage in the 6-10 mile range and enjoy the trip and daily destinations. But depending on weather, elevation, etc we've put in 10-15 miles before. Like 1/2 way through the Kern River up to Crabtree Meadows (~13 miles +4,000). We had our mountain legs acclimated by then! But we don't try to do that back-to-back-to-back days usually. We both grew up in the mid-west with cold/snowy winters and handled the snow-fields that were required crossings that year on the HST comfortably with hiking poles & boots without traction devices. (Kaweah Gap mostly & a little on Whitney).
I would say we are both comfortable with Class 1 & 2 and probably would only push into any 3+ for a short period if needed. We both took our full multi-day packs to the top of Whitney as a test/challenge and handled the summit run trail fine and the off-trail scramble to avoid the ice field at the summit with the full packs. But mostly on-trail Class 1-2 is what we've seen the most.
I have traveled off-trail on day-hike excursions from the front country many times when camping with family and friends. But have not ventured far from established trail systems when in remote back-country areas yet. And I am highly interested in attempting some x-country sections on the upcoming Yosemite trip.
My questions lie on the planned route and x-country choices to reach 1/2 Dome from Donahue Pass. Along with what would be a good match for us to maybe put a couple shorter mileage days in the middle of the trip that cover some x-country routes. Since I'm starting my exploration of x-country routes, I'd like to over plan and research a little for this trip.
I've done quite a bit of research on options and have a great understanding of it all. But hopefully those that have been in the area can give me a heads up on what could / could not be in our skill level.
The general rough itinerary I've been looking at is:
Day 1: Agnew Meadow to Thousand Island Lake or Rush Creek drainage.
- Maybe try to camp near ponds on Island Pass? I always read the lake being crowded and was thinking camping above would set us up for a quick approach across Rush Creek Drainage to Donahue Pass the next morning? Slightly worried this is to much of a climb to get to over Island Pass with full packs on day 1?
Day 2: Over Donahue and start x-country hooking off trail after pass / before foot-bridge and following route up Maclure Creek staying N of tributary to bench. Bend south around to lower un-named lakes to camp. Or head up incline behind these lakes to shelf below the pass S of Amelia Earheart Peak and camp along that shelf.
Day 3: Up the Class 2 pass S of Amelia Earheart Peak. Cut S-W across the ridge above Ireland Lake to what I read from my research as a somewhat steep 600' Class 2 descent off the ridge S-E of Parsons Peak. From photos of the area I've found, it looks like you can drop over about where the red-rock stain is and work your way down to the Gallison / Bernice Lake bench and camp anywhere along there. Potential to drop packs and summit Parsons before dropping down towards Bernice.
Day 4: High-tale it to Moraine Dome area to camp between 1/2 Dome and Clouds Rest to set up the summit day for 1/2 Dome. If at Bernice Lake area is the best route to drop down Lewis Creek to the Merced Lake and then back up and across is it the High Trail past Cathedral / Echo Creek to meet up with the JMT and bend S down to the Sunrise Creek / Clouds Rest junction to camp somewhere around there? That seems like a lot of miles that day with a couple good up-downs. Is there a better route from Bernice over to 1/2 Dome? Is that do-able in a long day?
In this section, I'm also concerned with the high snow year like 2017 and a lot of these being N-facing slopes. Is this something I'll need to read on the fly in late August this year? Or are these areas pretty melted out by then?
And if this route / x-country passes seem to difficult for our excursion level. Alternate options to cut off-trail and get that remote experience through the Cathedral Range to 1/2 Dome?
If the drop to Gallison / Bernice bench from Parsons S-E ridge is to difficult. Then I was probably considering 2 options. Both going through Maclure drainage, over "A-E Pass," then either cutting straight across upper Ireland Lake area and either walking Parsons Plateau W and coming down to Vogelsang Pass or going N of Parsons and dropping into the upper Fletcher / Hanging Basket area and coming out at the junction.
Either of these 2 options could eventually drop me back down Lewis Creek towards Bernice / Merced and over to 1/2 Dome. But I'm curious if I do one of those options (Parsons Plateau to Vogelsang or down past Upper Fletcher), is it adding a lot of miles and up/down to come back down Lewis Creek. It seems like if we do one of these 2, we should then head from Vogelsang towards Fletcher Creek. Head SW down there and hop over to Echo Creek and hook up to the Cathedral coming S down to the High Trail Junction coming up from Merced Lake? This would cut some mileage and up/down off this long day maybe? My goal was to slow down and enjoy traversing the Cathedral range as we make our way to 1/2 Dome and maybe get some x-country experience. I've read this is possible, but would like a little route planning help since I'm starting to want to plan off-trail sections.
Depending on the route, we camp near Moraine Dome / Sunrise Creek / Clouds Rest Junction that night. It seems like there will be plenty of spots along that section we could use as a base camp?
Day 5: Pending weather cooperates. Up early with summit packs & permit to head up 1/2 Dome. Back down to base camp to take a break, re-fuel, pack up camp. Head up and over Clouds Rest headed towards Sunrise Lakes. Hopeful goal of camping at Sunrise Lakes if it all goes well on a big day or en-route as possible. Otherwise we could be at base-camp for night 2 if weather doesn't work out and we sit around waiting to summit. Or if it's clear in the morning, but we can't make it over Clouds Rest, we just hike the low-road along Sunrise Creek toward the lakes and camp.
Day 6: Generally Sunrise Lakes to Cathedral Lakes
Day 7: Out to the trail heads & picked up for lunch.
Well, that would be it minus the car ride home and the night car camping as we head back. I really appreciate everyone's thoughts, input, and expertise they're will to share on the area with me. With wanting to explore some x-country, I'm probably over planning and researching a little. But I'd rather be to prepared and it just seem easy and fun.
Kind of like the High Sierra Trail did ;-)
Thanks!
General pertinent hike info:
- Permit - already secured out of Agnew Meadow
- Length - A week long trip. Saturday we'll drive early to Reds Meadow. Enjoy an afternoon of light exploration and acclimation. No resupply at T. Meadows, will be carrying all food from the start. On-trail from Agnew Meadows on Sunday, with a 1/2 Dome summit permit on Thursday. With arranged pick-up scheduled for us off-trail Saturday morning if all goes to plan.
- Weight - Since not trying 20+ miles per day and not re-supplying in T.Meadows, my current rough estimate starting weight is around 47 lbs. This includes food + bear can, and 2-L of water in my pack bladder. Which will drop roughly 2 lbs per day of food. So a full week-long hiking pack and my camera gear.
Myself and the other hiker have solid on-trail experience and hiked the High Sierra Trail in early August-2017 on a casually-fun & challenging 7/8 day itinerary. We tend to try to keep daily mileage in the 6-10 mile range and enjoy the trip and daily destinations. But depending on weather, elevation, etc we've put in 10-15 miles before. Like 1/2 way through the Kern River up to Crabtree Meadows (~13 miles +4,000). We had our mountain legs acclimated by then! But we don't try to do that back-to-back-to-back days usually. We both grew up in the mid-west with cold/snowy winters and handled the snow-fields that were required crossings that year on the HST comfortably with hiking poles & boots without traction devices. (Kaweah Gap mostly & a little on Whitney).
I would say we are both comfortable with Class 1 & 2 and probably would only push into any 3+ for a short period if needed. We both took our full multi-day packs to the top of Whitney as a test/challenge and handled the summit run trail fine and the off-trail scramble to avoid the ice field at the summit with the full packs. But mostly on-trail Class 1-2 is what we've seen the most.
I have traveled off-trail on day-hike excursions from the front country many times when camping with family and friends. But have not ventured far from established trail systems when in remote back-country areas yet. And I am highly interested in attempting some x-country sections on the upcoming Yosemite trip.
My questions lie on the planned route and x-country choices to reach 1/2 Dome from Donahue Pass. Along with what would be a good match for us to maybe put a couple shorter mileage days in the middle of the trip that cover some x-country routes. Since I'm starting my exploration of x-country routes, I'd like to over plan and research a little for this trip.
I've done quite a bit of research on options and have a great understanding of it all. But hopefully those that have been in the area can give me a heads up on what could / could not be in our skill level.
The general rough itinerary I've been looking at is:
Day 1: Agnew Meadow to Thousand Island Lake or Rush Creek drainage.
- Maybe try to camp near ponds on Island Pass? I always read the lake being crowded and was thinking camping above would set us up for a quick approach across Rush Creek Drainage to Donahue Pass the next morning? Slightly worried this is to much of a climb to get to over Island Pass with full packs on day 1?
Day 2: Over Donahue and start x-country hooking off trail after pass / before foot-bridge and following route up Maclure Creek staying N of tributary to bench. Bend south around to lower un-named lakes to camp. Or head up incline behind these lakes to shelf below the pass S of Amelia Earheart Peak and camp along that shelf.
Day 3: Up the Class 2 pass S of Amelia Earheart Peak. Cut S-W across the ridge above Ireland Lake to what I read from my research as a somewhat steep 600' Class 2 descent off the ridge S-E of Parsons Peak. From photos of the area I've found, it looks like you can drop over about where the red-rock stain is and work your way down to the Gallison / Bernice Lake bench and camp anywhere along there. Potential to drop packs and summit Parsons before dropping down towards Bernice.
Day 4: High-tale it to Moraine Dome area to camp between 1/2 Dome and Clouds Rest to set up the summit day for 1/2 Dome. If at Bernice Lake area is the best route to drop down Lewis Creek to the Merced Lake and then back up and across is it the High Trail past Cathedral / Echo Creek to meet up with the JMT and bend S down to the Sunrise Creek / Clouds Rest junction to camp somewhere around there? That seems like a lot of miles that day with a couple good up-downs. Is there a better route from Bernice over to 1/2 Dome? Is that do-able in a long day?
In this section, I'm also concerned with the high snow year like 2017 and a lot of these being N-facing slopes. Is this something I'll need to read on the fly in late August this year? Or are these areas pretty melted out by then?
And if this route / x-country passes seem to difficult for our excursion level. Alternate options to cut off-trail and get that remote experience through the Cathedral Range to 1/2 Dome?
If the drop to Gallison / Bernice bench from Parsons S-E ridge is to difficult. Then I was probably considering 2 options. Both going through Maclure drainage, over "A-E Pass," then either cutting straight across upper Ireland Lake area and either walking Parsons Plateau W and coming down to Vogelsang Pass or going N of Parsons and dropping into the upper Fletcher / Hanging Basket area and coming out at the junction.
Either of these 2 options could eventually drop me back down Lewis Creek towards Bernice / Merced and over to 1/2 Dome. But I'm curious if I do one of those options (Parsons Plateau to Vogelsang or down past Upper Fletcher), is it adding a lot of miles and up/down to come back down Lewis Creek. It seems like if we do one of these 2, we should then head from Vogelsang towards Fletcher Creek. Head SW down there and hop over to Echo Creek and hook up to the Cathedral coming S down to the High Trail Junction coming up from Merced Lake? This would cut some mileage and up/down off this long day maybe? My goal was to slow down and enjoy traversing the Cathedral range as we make our way to 1/2 Dome and maybe get some x-country experience. I've read this is possible, but would like a little route planning help since I'm starting to want to plan off-trail sections.
Depending on the route, we camp near Moraine Dome / Sunrise Creek / Clouds Rest Junction that night. It seems like there will be plenty of spots along that section we could use as a base camp?
Day 5: Pending weather cooperates. Up early with summit packs & permit to head up 1/2 Dome. Back down to base camp to take a break, re-fuel, pack up camp. Head up and over Clouds Rest headed towards Sunrise Lakes. Hopeful goal of camping at Sunrise Lakes if it all goes well on a big day or en-route as possible. Otherwise we could be at base-camp for night 2 if weather doesn't work out and we sit around waiting to summit. Or if it's clear in the morning, but we can't make it over Clouds Rest, we just hike the low-road along Sunrise Creek toward the lakes and camp.
Day 6: Generally Sunrise Lakes to Cathedral Lakes
Day 7: Out to the trail heads & picked up for lunch.
Well, that would be it minus the car ride home and the night car camping as we head back. I really appreciate everyone's thoughts, input, and expertise they're will to share on the area with me. With wanting to explore some x-country, I'm probably over planning and researching a little. But I'd rather be to prepared and it just seem easy and fun.
Kind of like the High Sierra Trail did ;-)
Thanks!