Re: Rainbow View and Ribbon Fall base

This past weekend, we had the chance to hike up to Rainbow View on one day and the base of Ribbon Fall the next day. Rainbow View was awesome. We saw two other groups all day. And on the way back, I counted the total number of wash-outs that require either minor or major bypasses around or through rockslides, and I found out there were 19 in total. Also, we successfully followed all three levels at the switchback section. I'm going to write up a trip report with more details and will post here when I am finished. While hiking down from Rainbow View, I spotted the trail to the base of Ribbon Fall, so the next day we hiked up to it, following the trail the entire way. We got a bit wet once we arrived at the base of Ribbon, but it was well worth it. We found that once we got to the back of the box canyon amphitheater there was less spray and mist. But again, more details later as I will write up a report and post it here. I wanted to take a moment to thank the members of this forum who provided help and information in carrying out both hikes. I appreciate all of the input shared (not just in my threads, but in others) and thank you for it. Until my TR's are finished, here are a couple of photos. I also put a video on youtube for Ribbon Fall from yesterday, but I'm not sure how to embed it.

Rainbow View--
http://www.panamintcity.com/yosemite/rainbowview.html

Ribbon Fall--
http://www.panamintcity.com/yosemite/ribbonfall.html

Looking up at the top of Ribbon Fall once we reached the base:


Looking out from Rainbow View:




Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 08/25/2012 10:53PM by SteveHall.

Cool.

If interested the old road has been talked about quite a lot recently. Including the switchback sections.

Probably more than what most are interested of stuff in that area:
http://yosemitenews.info/forum/read.php?3,46585

http://yosemitenews.info/forum/read.php?3,26668

http://yosemitenews.info/forum/read.php?3,48394

http://yosemitenews.info/forum/read.php?3,39010

I know someone who loves this stuff... so go crazy and post any additional photos and whatnot.

Thanks and Have fun

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I still need to go back and do that again. I turned around at the largest rock fall, not knowing about the switchbacks and not looking for them.

Wish I'd read your pre-report a little earlier. I was just up there today, figuring Rainbow View as being the turnaround point. (I'd hiked OBOFR a few years back, but turned around after getting tired of climbing over several large rockfalls, and not knowing how many were ahead.

This time I already knew about the scrambling, so figured I'd go back and finish it to Rainbow (I have a book, Trails and Tales of the Sierra, which makes no mention of anything other than going over a "few" (extremely under-exaggerated) rockfalls. I got pretty close, according to the GPS (1/2 mile at most) thinking there CAN'T be many more big rockfalls, and ran smack into a heavily-forested blockade, which I half-heartedly scrambled around trying to see past, but could find no trace of any road or trail beyond.

3-early twenties hikers ahead of me had turned back there, and being an older solo hiker that was hot and tired, I didn't feel so bad about turning around there. I just couldn't see pushing it, as I was exhausted from scrambling the numerous rockfalls. (it was hard enough finding my way back across some of them to where the road was, and not ending up too high or low with no clue of which way the road was).

Switchbacks? Never heard of 'em, but I guess that makes me feel better, because according to the book you just walk there, scrambling over a few rockfalls on the way. Nothing about an overgrown jungle blocking the trail with no (obvious) paths through or around. When you do your report, be sure to include where and how they're found.

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Gary
Yosemite Photo Galleries: http://www.pbase.com/roberthouse/yo

Sierrafan, I have that same book which led me to that trail several years ago. As I said above, I turned around where you did most likely.

I put many hours of preparation over the course of several years before doing this hike so that I would get everything just right and it would work out perfectly. And a majority of my research came from this forum and the helpful regular contributors on it. Actually, it was the regulars on this site that gave me the idea for this hike in the first place. So everything you need to properly prepare for this hike can be found here. I actually mainly cover Death Valley hikes on my site at panamintcity.com but occasionally cover other places that I love such as Yosemite. So I will be writing up a complete and detailed trip account with photos which hopefully will be helpful to others. It should be finished up soon.

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SteveHall
And on the way back, I counted the total number of wash-outs that require either minor or major bypasses around or through rockslides, and I found out there were 19 in total.

Sounds about right. I counted 20 last year. DavidK42 asked this question last year and I documented them for him.
The set of pictures and GPS tracks and waypoints are here for anyone else interested:
https://picasaweb.google.com/yosemite.chick.on/RockslidesWaypt?authkey=Gv1sRgCKml27bx0-PaLA

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/01/2012 09:35PM by chick-on.

Finally finished up 1 of my 2 reports. Will get Rainbow View done as soon as I can get to it. Hopefully this one for Ribbon Fall will give those who are curious an idea of what the actual hike up is like.

Ribbon Fall trip report and photos--
http://www.panamintcity.com/yosemite/ribbonfall.html

Thanks to the link to your trip report. Loved all those photos of Ribbon Fall from different angles and viewpoints.
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Yes, thanks.

Also...from there (and off-topic) I poked around and saw your write-up on Death Valley's Owlshead Mtns. I may have a couple questions later if you don't mind, In planning a trip this winter those mountains looked pretty appealing for a two-night backpack, so I was happy to see your page.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/31/2012 06:29PM by ttilley.

Sure, I'd be happy to answer any questions about the Owlshead Mountains. The Owlsheads are the least visited range in the park. Keep in mind that all water must be carried in when backpacking the Owlsheads, so winter would be the time to do it when you would have to carry less.

Well, it took me about 3 months but I finished up my 2nd of the 2 reports. I hope you enjoy it and thanks to all the regular Yosemite hikers who helped me out with this hike.

Rainbow View hiking report and photos--
http://www.panamintcity.com/yosemite/rainbowview.html

Thanks for the link to your trip report and photos.

This photo of yours brings back some memories for me:


It was at this exact point, after I finished crossing the two logs in February of (IIRC) either 2003 or 2004, that I spotted a mountain lion ahead on the old road, just a bit closer than where your friend is in your photo. The mountain lion, of all things, was grazing on some of the shrubs or wild grasses on the side of the road. I stood still observing the mountain lion for about three minutes until the mountain lion decided to continue up the old road. The mountain lion never turned his/her head towards me so I don't know if it was aware of my presence. But as soon as it vanished out of my view, I decided it was probably wise for me to turn back and head back down since I was hiking solo.

That's been the only time I've seen a mountain lion out in the wild.

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Really nice write-up, Steve. In spite of the work it takes (at least for some of us!) to get past all the rockslides and washouts, this is one of my favorite hikes in the Valley. I was up this way once on Memorial Day weekend. We looked down to see that all the roads in the Valley were veritable parking lots and cars (and buses) as far as the eye could see were lined up to get in to the Tunnel View lot. We saw literally not a single person on the old road, though. Although much of Yosemite can be horrendously crowded, this is a perfect example of how easy it is to find relative solitude on a day hike that begins right in the Valley.

BTW, I went through your pictures fairly quickly (I'll go back and spend more time with them later) but I think I noticed a couple of spots where you refer to the rockslides having taken out the old road but these are actually fairly stable areas of talus. If you see a nice row of "edging" done in boulders on the downslope side of the road, those are not the rockslides that took out the old road (in fact, the road is at close to it's original width in at least 2 or 3 of these stretches). It was the major slide at the zig-zag that actually closed the road for good in 1945 (although, by that point, this was an infrequently used "scenic route" that, IIRC, was only driveable in the downhill direction...most traffic was using the new (i.e., the current) road at that point)). Most of those other smaller slides, debris fields and washouts have happened since the 1945 closing when the park stopped maintaining the road.

Loved the pictures and write-up though. Thanks for taking the time!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/26/2012 05:40PM by DavidK42.

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DavidK42

Although much of Yosemite can be horrendously crowded, this is a perfect example of how easy it is to find relative solitude on a day hike that begins right in the Valley.

I got to disagree with this statement that “much of Yosemite can be horrendously crowded”. Only an extremely small portion of Yosemite (and even of Yosemite Valley itself) can be horrendously crowded: the valley roadways and and just a few of the trails leading out of the valley. That many people behave like lemmings and don't venture beyond these roadways and these few trails just boggles my mind at times. But it's their loss, not mine.

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plawrence

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DavidK42
Although much of Yosemite can be horrendously crowded, this is a perfect example of how easy it is to find relative solitude on a day hike that begins right in the Valley.

I got to disagree with this statement that “much of Yosemite can be horrendously crowded”. Only an extremely small portion of Yosemite (and even of Yosemite Valley itself) can be horrendously crowded: the valley roadways and and just a few of the trails leading out of the valley. That many people behave like lemmings and don't venture beyond these roadways and these few trails just boggles my mind at times. But it's their loss, not mine.
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I completely agree and I actually meant to type "Although much of the Valley..." rather than "...much of Yosemite" in my post. Seeing your response, though, I'm reminded that, even without hiking out of the Valley, you can find a reasonable amount of solitude there. You may not be able to GET to that "point of solitude" if there's one of those horrendously crowded areas between you and the other area but that's another issue!