planning mammoth to tuolumne

I want to do the JMT from Mammoth to Tuolume in late August or early Sept.

scenario: park toyota at Tuolume, take Yarts to Mammoth. Hike back to Tuolume.

Q: how many days should I allow, also where do I get a trialhead near Mammoth to go to Devils Postpile and hook up w/ JMT.

Any help is appreciated!

James

You can easilyt do that as a day hike, it's about 26 miles. I have done this as a "flip flop" many times... park the car at Agnew Meadows and hike to TM, sleep over, then hike back the next day and the car is waiting for you where you left it. That eliminates YARTS altogether. And you can drive your car up there as long as it's prior to 7:00 am and pay a $7 fee upon exiting the Devils Postpile area.

If you're looking to backpack, then allow two days from Mammoth to TM, but no more.

You should allow as many days as it will take you. There is no real way for me (or anyone who has no idea what your hiking speed or your miles per day or anything else is like) to tell you that.

I hiked with a group of varying abilities and ages, and we went from TM to Agnew in four days. Our fifth day was supposed to put us in Reds Meadow but it began to snow and some were not prepared for that temperature drop.

You have an idea of how you do at elevation?

Hiking back to the car is good. You will be dropped off in Mammoth by YARTS and need to get on the town trolley, ride to Mammoth Ski Resort, get on the Reds Meadow shuttle (was seven bucks a person last year) and ride down to the trailhead of your choice. There are several trailheads in the area that will connect you with the JMT one way or the other.

When I did the JMT I flew through this stretch in two days. Last year I went back to enjoy it at a more leisurely pace - 5 days. The time it takes you depends entirely on your goals and hiking ability/style. This is a great trip - we took our time to explore some off-trail lakes and enjoy the area. YARTS worked out better for us going Tuolumne to Mammoth since it runs infrequently (i.e. once a day). We went with this itinerary:

Day 0: Drove out to mammoth from San Jose after work. Pulled off 395 and car camped outside of mammoth that night. You could also stay in a hotel in town.

Day 1: Woke up at stupid-o-clock and drove into Mammoth, pick up coffee, dropped car and caught YARTS bus (7 AM SHARP! from Mammoth Mountain. You can leave a car long-term there). YARTS got to Tuolumne around 9:30 am-ish. Picked up permit. Hit the trail. Hiked to just below Donohue Pass.
Trip report, GPS track, and photos from this day

Day 2: Donohue Pass to Thousand Island Lake
Trip report, track, photos

Day 3: Thousand Island Lake to Shadow Creek
Trip report, track, photos

Day 4: Extra day to play around in that area

Day 5: Hike out to Agnew meadows and catch the shuttle back to Mammoth where we left the car.
Note: We originally planned on coming out at DPP/Red's, but I did that stretch when I hiked the JMT a few years ago and remember it just being hot and dry and dusty. So we cut some of the miles and exited at Agnew.
Trip report, track, photos from day 4/5

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http://www.calipidder.com



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/19/2010 03:46PM by calipidder.

I have done this hike 5 times as many other hikes and climbs in the area.

Personally, I think the anticipation and views are better going southbound: Tuolumne to Mammoth.

Agnew Meadows is on the Postpile Shuttle bus route, or as mentioned you can leave a car there before 7am, after 7pm.
From Agnew, you can connect to the River Trail, the JMT, or the High Trail /PCT which gets you to views much quicker .All join into same trail at Thousand Island Lake.
I'd recommend Agnew rather than Reds Meadow for this trip -agree not much to see down there in the heat and dust (despite the vaunted Postpile itself)

Hey Calipidder,

Do you know if I can enter at Big Oak flat 120 before dawn and drive 120 to 365 to Mammoth to get the YARTS at 7am back to TM to hike JMT from TM to Mammoth via Agnes?
Thanks. just trying to plan this all out....
James

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rroland
Do you know if I can enter at Big Oak flat 120 before dawn and drive 120 to 365 to Mammoth to get the YARTS at 7am back to TM to hike JMT from TM to Mammoth via Agnes?

What would stop you?

A big metal gate? Do they have a ranger on post all night?

James

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rroland
A big metal gate? Do they have a ranger on post all night?

James

The park entrances/exits are open 24 hours/day. If nobody is at the kiosk, just drive through.

Thanks. I am going to trim my pack down to 40lbs., and allow 5 days to go from TM to Agnes. This will be the most strenous hike I have attempted, and it looks like it will be solo, but I am super excited!!!

James

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rroland
A big metal gate?

No.

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Do they have a ranger on post all night?

Probably not.

Just remember that YARTS runs on weekends after Labor day.
Take your time on the hike and enjoy the scenery. My son and I did that hike in 4 days.

Thanks all. I am a pretty slow hiker, usually toteing about 50lbs. I like to take my time and be nice to my 55 y/o knees. As far as elevation goes, up at Cloud's rest last week I just got thirstier and took a few more breaks.... So I'll plan on 3 days. I like the Mammoth parking scenario alot. If I go at the end of August I am hoping I won't be fording any major creeks...

Thanks again...love this board!!
James

rroland

Why are you toting 50 lbs for a 4-day trip? Last year (age 64) I had 40-lbs and determined it was way too much. Got it down to just under 30-lbs for this year. That required lots of gear changes and a very hard look at what I was packing that one can do without. I could still get it down another 5-lbs if I was willing to give up some creature comforts.

50 lbs over Donahue? I would have died... oh, at least 10 times. My legs would have never made it.

This year, I might could do - been hiking real regular, every week usually, with some weight in the pack. But I will still do my best to keep it under 30 lbs - I could probably be out for a week with 30 lbs, and by the end of it be under 20 (most of that would be food).

Hey Tom and Almost there.

I have a Kelty Coyote pack. The REI Crysalis one man tent, a Kelty sleeping bag, Jet Boil stove, head lamp, little brunton lantern, coleman cook stuff, 3 lb bear can, three pairs o socks, steripen, three liters of water ... My mistake is usually bringing too much food as somehow my appetite drops big time.

If I could get it down to 35lbs i could fly like a bird! Gotta work on that..

James

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rroland
Hey Tom and Almost there.

I have a Kelty Coyote pack. The REI Crysalis one man tent, a Kelty sleeping bag, Jet Boil stove, head lamp, little brunton lantern, coleman cook stuff, 3 lb bear can, three pairs o socks, steripen, three liters of water ... My mistake is usually bringing too much food as somehow my appetite drops big time.

If I could get it down to 35lbs i could fly like a bird! Gotta work on that..

James

Start weighing things. The Kelty by itself weighs 4 lbs 9 oz. The sleeping bag probably weighs 3-4 lbs (down or synthetic?) The Chrysalis is a 3 lb tent, not bad for freestanding and 3 season.

I have a 20F (accurate for this cold sleeper) down quilt that weighs 20 oz, and a pack that weighs 3 lbs and carries up to 40 (because I need the extra sometimes in food for longer trips, sometimes in gear for SAR). I have another backpack that weighs 22 oz and carries up to 30 lbs. You could reduce the shelter weight some by looking at tarptents, or just a tarp (I do that sometimes too tho I really enjoy and love my hammock).

3 lb bear can!!!!! OMG. You need to look at the Bearikade. I rent the Weekender for myself for a week trip. The Bearikades have the best volume to weight ratio of all the canisters. For weekends I have the smaller Bare Boxer, the lightest can on the market, they sell them in Yosemite in the stores for 42 bucks, great bargain.

Carry a liter on the trail when there are going to be plenty of sources. Two if you're heading over a pass or extended dry stretch. Water is the heaviest thing in the pack.

Leave the lantern, take a headlamp. Leave the "cook stuff" and take a small pot or kettle of about 4-5 oz, switch to easy to do boil-and-add-water method (trailcooking.com is the best example, and a great place for recipes), take a minimalist stove (a 3 oz snowpeak or a free and easy to make supercat stove that weighs in the grams).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/20/2010 11:46AM by AlmostThere.

Thanks for the response Almosthere,

My son also feels I should lose the lantern, I'll run down that Berikade can, gotta have a tent though. As far as water goes, I did Sunrise TH via Cloud's rest to Happy Isles Thurs thru Sat. last week and I was drinking about 3 liters a day, at least.

I am not that versed on gear as until a couple of years back I was using the old metal frame kelty pack.

Thanks again!

James

You can still drink 3 liters a day. I'm just saying you don't need to carry it the whole way. Just a liter at a time. How many creeks did you cross on the long hike?

I got water from the little Sunrise lake, the creek between the trailmarker at Sunrise on the way to Cloud's rest, no water sources at all until this spring coming out from under a boulder on the way down from Cloud's rest (the best water of the trip) then the creek right before the cutoff to Halfdome on the JMT down to Little Yosemite. The scariest part was up at Cloud's when I was down to about a 1/4 of a liter and on the way down, heavy pack, altitude, 80 to 90 degrees...lucky that spring was running!

James



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/20/2010 01:30PM by rroland.

Last year I had a 20 degree synthetic bag instead of higher temp down, the heavy Baltoro 70 pack, 3-piece cookset when one pot would do, full size Garcia canister and more food than needed, heavy LED flashlight when a tiny hat clip light would do, more clothing than necessary including a vinyl rainsuit, and usually carried 2 liters of water when 1 would have been fine except for a dry campsite. A lot of my equipment has changed for this year including much lighter weight hiking boots and a more proactive approach to foot care. One creature comfort I've not been able to give up is the inflatable sleeping pad. It's one of the lighter ones but is still full length. I too would die with 50-lbs. I hear and see younger guys carrying 70-lbs or more, especially thru hikers. Don't know how they do it. I wouldn't last 5 miles that way.

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tomdisco
Last year I had a 20 degree synthetic bag instead of higher temp down, the heavy Baltoro 70 pack, 3-piece cookset when one pot would do, full size Garcia canister and more food than needed, heavy LED flashlight when a tiny hat clip light would do, more clothing than necessary including a vinyl rainsuit, and usually carried 2 liters of water when 1 would have been fine except for a dry campsite. A lot of my equipment has changed for this year including much lighter weight hiking boots and a more proactive approach to foot care. One creature comfort I've not been able to give up is the inflatable sleeping pad. It's one of the lighter ones but is still full length. I too would die with 50-lbs. I hear and see younger guys carrying 70-lbs or more, especially thru hikers. Don't know how they do it. I wouldn't last 5 miles that way.

We take it that you are once again withdrawing your name from the current year's competition for the Norman Clyde Pack-It-Up Award:
http://www.nps.gov/seki/historyculture/clyde.htm
(FleetFootsie-ly Yours)
The Marmots

Quote
szalkowski
We take it that you are once again withdrawing your name from the current year's competition for the Norman Clyde Pack-It-Up Award:
http://www.nps.gov/seki/historyculture/clyde.htm
(FleetFootsie-ly Yours)
The Marmots

Norman's Favorite pack item:

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Quit human-being so sirius.

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chick-on

Quote
szalkowski
We take it that you are once again withdrawing your name from the current year's competition for the Norman Clyde Pack-It-Up Award:
http://www.nps.gov/seki/historyculture/clyde.htm
(FleetFootsie-ly Yours)
The Marmots

Norman's Favorite pack item:

You guys are real cut ups.

Quote
szalkowski

Quote
tomdisco
Last year I had a 20 degree synthetic bag instead of higher temp down, the heavy Baltoro 70 pack, 3-piece cookset when one pot would do, full size Garcia canister and more food than needed, heavy LED flashlight when a tiny hat clip light would do, more clothing than necessary including a vinyl rainsuit, and usually carried 2 liters of water when 1 would have been fine except for a dry campsite. A lot of my equipment has changed for this year including much lighter weight hiking boots and a more proactive approach to foot care. One creature comfort I've not been able to give up is the inflatable sleeping pad. It's one of the lighter ones but is still full length. I too would die with 50-lbs. I hear and see younger guys carrying 70-lbs or more, especially thru hikers. Don't know how they do it. I wouldn't last 5 miles that way.

We take it that you are once again withdrawing your name from the current year's competition for the Norman Clyde Pack-It-Up Award:
http://www.nps.gov/seki/historyculture/clyde.htm
(FleetFootsie-ly Yours)
The Marmots

Oh damn! I forgot to include the weight of my 12" iron skillet.

Quote
tomdisco
One creature comfort I've not been able to give up is the inflatable sleeping pad. It's one of the lighter ones but is still full length.

You can save a bit of weight here by buying a women's regular size, which is 66" long rather than the 72" of the men's regular size.

I use a closed-cell foam pad myself, but bought a Therm-A-Rest Prolite Plus self-inflating air mattress last year for use by a person that has started backpacking with me several times a year (and, so, had occasion to peruse the commercial offerings).

At 47" long, the short size is great if one is masochistic. If you use a pillow fashioned from your extra clothing encased in a stuff sack, you don't need a 72" length. It would be even better if a 60" size was available.

Norman Clyde- "The pack that walked like a man."



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