Rancheria Falls overnighter 5/19-5/20

With Tioga pass road still closed to backpackers, went for an overnight trip to Rancheria Falls. First time ever around Hetch Hetchy and it is gorgeous, even if it's getting borderline too hot for me to backpack with the daytime high of 70.

Camped at the dome here below Le Conte Point - hat tip to basilbop - as mentioned in this post https://yosemitenews.info/forum/read.php?17,83825,83831#msg-83831.

With myself and a beginner, getting from the campground to our intended campsite 1000'-1200' up was a big chore and we got there around 4:30pm. There are 8-10 downed trees after the footbridge beyond Rancheria Falls and at least one of them is a bit gnarly to traverse. Was forewarned about this by one backpacker in an all-girls backpacker group that was camped at the Rancheria Falls. Thanks for the heads-up and really appreciate it, in case any of them is seeing this. I should have paid more attention and wasn't sure if they understood my destination with a 1-minute conversation. Bushwhacking from the trail to get to the designated site wasn't too bad.

Pics to follow...

Cool. Guess the atmo events in March and April did that work.

Did we mention they had to rescue group of Scouts at Rancheria Falls in April?
Hello! McFly! Uh... it was known that it was going to FLOOD THE VALLEY!
So why did you go beyond Wapama Falls Bridge!???!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!?!!!!!!!!

Anywho. There was no deadfall over that trail last Nov. Guess there gonna be a lot
of that stuff this year.

Ok, so ... question I have is... was the spillway overflowing? Please let me know
as I may want to check it out on way back after this coming weekend.
That is usually the case around Memorial Day... but ... you were just there...


Thanks

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chick-on
Did we mention they had to rescue group of Scouts at Rancheria Falls in April?

Wow! Didn't know about that one. Only knew about the guy from Oakland who was rescued after 4-5 days there.

It's interesting how we all, even the experienced ones, can have blind spots. One of my friend, who is reasonably experienced and used to be a part of some guide service in college, was camped next to Merced lake in Merced on that weekend and was well aware of floods expected in the Yosemite Valley. They woke up early morning to the voice of camp host yelling at them as no one was supposed to camp there on that weekend since the campground was evacuated.

Quote
chick-on
Ok, so ... question I have is... was the spillway overflowing?

Yup, it was. The one at the halfway point and the one that's near the very bottom and little farther from the wall.

Not the release points...

on the dam and down at river level...

looking at the reservoir... it's on the right... u can see the bridge over it on the right here... at the start of the road over the dam



the spillway is this:



was water flowing as such in this picture?

hope that makes sense...

Thanks

as a continuation of the rescue story... they couldn't find anyone to volunteer at Hetchy this year... so it was self-reg...
I'd never seen that before... so when I got a permit I didn't take a dealie to put on my rear view mirror...
(it was early and yadda yadda... hey.. I "knew" what I was doing... hahaha)
Anyway, ranger guy comes up to me at the parking lot and asks what I'm up to ... said doing Vernon Loop and
bit more and I figured that Falls Creek would be down in 2 days when I would go across it.
He says... "o no problem... just don't go across the bridge if it's not safe... we'll come and get u in our boat...
we're here to help.. " I was... uh... wow... well... it's not going to rain or anything from now until I plan on
getting across so it should be down by then.. so.. I should be ok... but thanks. He said he'd get a permit dealie
for me which was nice.
Got to Vernon and there was no way I was even crossing the Vernon bridge! by the next morning the
lake was down 2 feet and bridge was non issue. Kinda crazy. I was a bit concerned until I saw two guys in
the middle of Tiltill Valley ... which risked getting across the bridge .. said they had to brace themselves...
yikes. Wapama Falls bridge was non-issue when went over the following day...

Anyway, blah blah blah... guess the boy scouts got my ride.

Thanks for the info on the spillway

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chick-on
Not the release points...

Ha! I was gonna ask you about the spillway and then googled it instead. Google images just showed the release points. I did not notice the spillway and just asked my friend, she didn't notice it either. Her comments - No I don’t remember seeing any spillway overflowing. I don’t think the water level was that high

That's funny in hindsight about your ride. Sunday was really busy at Wapana and I didn't expect that many people on a Sunday. Sounds like you were at the bridge late in the morning if it was a non-issue next day in the morning or maybe the recent rain or warm weather had an imapct?

Wapana Falls - First Footbridge


Rancheria Falls Cascade


Sunset from the hammock around the camp spot




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/22/2018 04:36PM by nwhkr.

Cool.

Sorry if wasn't clear. Did Vernon loop last November.
And then another trip around Hetchy area in April when Yosemite Valley was closed
due to flooding...
Boy Scouts were rescued in the April flood.

Anyway, I've only seen the spillway spill a few times in a zillion times at Hetchy.
They can raise the louvers (?) to raise the lake... And obviously open bores
on the dam itself.
It's quite the operation.

Since it's not overflowin... I'll probably skip trying to see it. Used to be The Strawberry Festival
was at Mather over Memorial Day... then ... um... you want to see bizzee???
o the fun. Always enjoyed driving in and getting stopped at Evergreen Lodge and they
acted like they owned the darn road. No... I'm not going to your festival... Please just
let us drive thru now... thank you...

Ok. Have a nice Memorial Day

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/22/2018 06:42PM by chick-on.

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chick-on
Sorry if wasn't clear. Did Vernon loop last November. And then another trip around Hetchy area in April when Yosemite Valley was closed
due to flooding... Boy Scouts were rescued in the April flood.

Ahh ok...I thought you also did Vernon loop recently. I don't have a vivid memory, photographic or otherwise, like yours . Strawberry Festival sounds fun and thanks for the tip about the Evergreen.

Quote
chick-on
Ok. Have a nice Memorial Day

Thanks, you guys have a fun Memorial Day! I have permits for the Sunrise lakes and plan to do Sunrise to Cathedral loop as a two nighter. It should be fun unless the Tioga pass road is icy or dicey...

Enjoy!

w/r to The Strawberry Festival... it USED to be at Camp Mather/Evergreen Lodge area...
but with The Rim Fire and bark beetle infestation/tree mortality issue... they moved it...
So it's no longer there over Memorial Day...

Just did a search and they would like to return but... they can't yet.

https://strawberrymusic.com/6343-2/

As much as I love music. I'll take the peace and serenity of The Sierra backcountry.

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