North Dome Loop, 10-6-07

Thanks to mrcondron for the beta regarding Indian Ridge. After a tough start at 4 a.m. Saturday (spotted some bright green eyes checking me out just past the stables that wouldn't scare off right away), ascended the trail near Snow Creek to reach the rim before sunrise. Snow level Saturday was about 5500ftm around switcher #79 or so. Primarily dusting, at deepest 2 inches along the trail. Because of snow and possibly ice, stayed on trail around Indian Ridge and climbed south from there. By noon, snow was significantly melting off and rapidly returning to summer/fall conditions. By mid-afternoon (reached Yosemite Point by around 2:15), no further traces of snow were evident.

Indian Rock was a real treat, with icicles dripping off the back side, precluding a scramble up top. Bit of a bushwack across to Basket Dome through the forested saddle, and a little slick from snow/ice. Trace snow/ice on North Dome by noon.

Water situation is a bit better than anticipated. Snow Creek has good flow, higher than what I would consider seasonal, so don't worry about carrying a ton of water. While lower, both Lehamite and Indian Canyon Creeks also had decent flow away from the more stagnant pools. Probably would work best with a smaller (20oz) Gatorade bottle or the like with a wide mouth to collect efficiently. Beyond that, Yosemite Creek is barren: it was impressive to see the flume channel completely exposed and imagine that high of a volume of water flowing thru. Long story short: I carried a gallon with me, went thru about 2/3 of it, and could have left the Steri-pen at home.

Pics are posted at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/moosepics621/sets/72157602335503438/

Again, thanks, Mike, for the beta. Looking forward to hitting more of the high country in the coming year.

-Laura



Post Edited (10-11-07 15:12)

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"Why do I climb? Quite simply because the mountains and I had to meet." -Colette Richard

Hi Laura.

You're welcome. I'm glad you got up to Indian Rock. It probably overlooked by most hikers as its uniqueness isn't touted much.

Your picture taking rivals that of my hiking buddy. He shoots about 150 to 200 a day. What a joy it is though to get back to camp at the end of a long day and have all that recharging fluid available!

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Old Dude

Hey, Mike. I have to admit I had never heard of Indian Rock, nor the arch that was there, and that's with 20 years of Valley visits under my belt!

Believe it or not, compared to my usual hiking partner, I don't take that many pics! He'll come home from a weekend like this with upwards of 600 pics to sort thru, and narrow it down to 1/3 of that. Amazing.

As for the recharging fluid, ab-so-LUTE-ly! Gotta keep both the inside and the outside warm!

Cheers,
L

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"Why do I climb? Quite simply because the mountains and I had to meet." -Colette Richard