Re: Hetch Hetchy Valley; the Native history

Interesting article. It got me looking into hiking and exploring the Hetch Hetchy area. Anyone have comments about hiking this region?

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The cure for a fallacious argument is a better argument, not the suppression of ideas.
-- Carl Sagan

If you look back at previous posts there is alot of discussion about
trails out of Hetch Hetchy.

If you only hike then you should hike:
- Wapama Falls bridge (99% of people only do this)
- Smith Peak
- Rancheria Falls in spring

If you backpack you owe it to yourself to check out:
- Tiltill Valley
- Lake Vernon
- Jack Main Canyon

Jack Main Canyon rivals any of the other canyons in the park for
pure beauty. It's definitely my favorite canyon in the park for
various reasons... some nostalgic...

If you really want more info Mike or I can provide it. We've been here
more times than we can count.

Here it is:

http://yosemitenews.info/forum/read.php?f=1&i=5390&t=5390

You can see from this post that opinons vary.

Seems like a war of words by Pauite representatives claiming that their history has been misappropriated by the Sierra Miwoks. I remember one Miwok representative who thought that it might have been a strange exercise given that a good many (possibly most) of the current native people of the area are of mixed Pauite, Miwok, and Chukchansi extraction.

Bill-e-g: >Here it is: http://yosemitenews.info/forum/read.php?f=1&i=5390&t=5390 You can see from this post that opinons vary.<

I read thru the whole thread and picked up some interesting tips, but I am curious about what routes you guys took when you went thru Jack Main Canyon. I am looking at the topo and I can see several obvious destinations: Vernon, Tilden lakes down to Rancheria falls and Wapama Falls for a loop or cutting over to the PCT and making a huge loop -- endless possibilities! I don't see taking this on by myself, but I find the remoteness of the area incredibly alluring.

B



Post Edited (03-18-09 00:44)

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The body betrays and the weather conspires, hopefully, not on the same day.

>what routes you guys took when you went thru Jack Main Canyon

Bee, I guess what you have to understand is that Mike and I have done
99% of the trails in the park. And many many many of them, um, many
times...

So, probably if you can think of way into Jack Main I or Mike have probably
been there, done that... (I dropped into it last year from Ardeth...)
Something like 7 times in Jack Main but I could be off by 1 or 2...
And all the loops you can think of... we've done those too...
(yes, endless possibilities... it's how I hibernate... )

The most direct route... and the one you should take if you've never been
there is to go thru Beehive and up Moraine Ridge and then into the Canyon. That's about 12 miles.

If you go other routes on trail its 20+ miles.

If you've never been to Vernon you should go into Vernon first and spend
your time there and save Jack Main for some other time. Get a feel
of the place and whatnot... Vernon has some great stuff to check out...
alot of open granite and a beautiful lake and some easy walking down
falls creek for some distance in open granite... and some nice falls along the creek...

Dale,

Some of us might be willing to trade the last 5 years of our life to do half what you and Mike have done in Yosemite. I'm jealous! Never should have left California in '75.

I have not yet informed my wife but when I'm old enough to draw SS (2 years, 3 months) there will be more than one trip each summer to Yosemite or else one very long liesurely one. Got to support the Lee Vining, Mariposa, Oakhurst economy.

Jim

Jim,
Hope you have an incredible trip!
I've been pretty lucky that Mike was kind enough to introduce myself
and the misses to backpacking. Although at times I'm not sure
if Mike feels the same...
And I'm incredibly lucky the wife lets me run off to my mistress on a regular
basis and doesn't get too jealous...

I think Bee is probably looking at her maps now going "where the h! is
the trail to Ardeth!" or throwing another book against the wall...
Bee, the ultimo guide is Schaffers book. Mine is pretty dog-eared and
worn at this point...
Maybe eeek can throw in a link to it on Amazon and get a kickback?
if you buy it via the link???

Dale,

I got out my Hetch Hetchy National Geo Trails Illus. map to check out the routes that have been mentioned. I've not had the Hetch Hetchy map for long, having purchased it primarily for the corner missing to Ten Lakes.

Now that the discussion steered me to the Lake Vernon--Morraine Ridge--Jack Main Canyon I realize there's more to add to my Yosemite trails wish list for later years. I also want some time to do the Clark Range/Red Peak loop, the Grand Canyon/Rodgers Canyon, PCT loop and the Robinson Creek/Peeler Lake/Matterhorn Canyon/Rancheria Creek loop.

If I die of old age in Yosemite just skip the medivac. Give me a Viking funeral on a mountain lake. O.K., that's a bit too messy for the environment. Just tuck me under a pine tree and take my gear. Oh, and call my wife. LOL

Jim

bill-e-g: I think Bee is probably looking at her maps now going "where the h! is
the trail to Ardeth!" or throwing another book against the wall...



heee heeeh heeh hah ha haa!!! The best post of the day that I stop with so that I leave with a smile.

Honestly, I had been toying with starting a "best of the guides" thread, but I was afraid that due to my past history of causing rancor and marathon threads that someone would throw ME at the wall!!!!

(There is a HUGE pile of maps and books on my drafting table and there are question marks all over the place....maybe you will have a seminar someday?)

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeee