Re: Tenaya canyon

Is this time of the year a good time to hike along tenaya canyon? Any suggestions?

Thanks

I'm assuming that by "along" you mean "through" the canyon. I would say it's a bit late in the season for three reasons:

1) There is no overnight parking on Tioga Road and none of the various busses are running, somewhat complicating transportation.
2) Overnight temperatures could freeze, resulting in icy conditions that could make the hike dangerous and the water cold.
3) The days are getting short and you'll most likely end up hiking in the shade or dark towards the end of the day.

But... if you do go for it, let us know how it went!

Z Stick N Fedders nailed it...

I will add the water WILL be COLD!
There could be significant ICE.
The water level will be up... which ... well.. let's say if it was attempted after
the last storm... yikes! You my want to go to the outlet of Tenaya and
assess the situation... then so on and so forth... and see how much
water is flowing...

And of course, Tioga is closed this second... but ... it has been just
gorgeous out there... between mini storms and such...

But... the canyon will be in the shade for a lot of the day...

Conclusion... I wouldn't recommend ... it's a bit late imo...

Be safe

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Ah yeah, just to be clear...what Basilbop and Chick-on refer to is the down climb of Tenaya Canyon, starting just below Tenaya Lake and ending in Yosemite Valley. Hardly a "hike".
It is a cross country route with serious route finding skills required, as well as 4 rappels requiring 200 feet of rope as I recall.
So even if you are a hard core climber or canyoneer, I would say it is too late to do that route, especially given the forecast.

Quote
basilbop
I'm assuming that by "along" you mean "through" the canyon. I would say it's a bit late in the season for three reasons:

1) There is no overnight parking on Tioga Road and none of the various busses are running, somewhat complicating transportation.
2) Overnight temperatures could freeze, resulting in icy conditions that could make the hike dangerous and the water cold.
3) The days are getting short and you'll most likely end up hiking in the shade or dark towards the end of the day.

But... if you do go for it, let us know how it went!

The Gorge is the toughest/technical zone, beyond my limits. But if that upper bowl area is icy/slick, perhaps that'd be enough to force someone to take that ugly Airplane Gully route. Yuck.

OR..... do you speak of a leisurely stroll "up" the canyon (and back) from the Valley? Same conditions but a much safer option.

That actually brings up something I've always wondered about...I don't expect to be back in Yosemite until late next spring but I would like to explore the Canyon one of these days. How far up Tenaya Canyon could I go without getting into any kind of technical climbing? Obviously, it's a cakewalk to go up to the bridge where the Mirror Lake loop trail crosses Tenaya Creek (just beyond the Snow Creek TH IIRC) but how much further could one go without significant risk of getting lost or into anything more technical than, say, going up the rockslides on the OBOFR?

Approx 1.6 miles and 1100 ft. climb... give or take a couple o tents...

There is a TRAIL on the north side of the creek... you want to stay on that...
until you are well up... probably close to a mile up...
You definitely do not want to hike IN the creek ... unless you have nothing
else better to do ... and the water is significantly low...
(until you are up a bit... and the trail disappears) (afaik it's the trail
used frequently by climbers to get to Watkins)
You MAY have trouble getting over Snow Creek which will put a kabosh
to your plans...
So... you can pretty much get INTO the Inner Gorge... for a distance...
but.. at the first rap point going up... good luck from there...

Gotta say tho... the Inner Gorge adventure is something...

(that's Bearproof)

Have fun

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/29/2015 08:23PM by chick-on.

Thank you, all-powerful and all-knowing pink one!

Thank all you guys for the valuable advice. I am not a technical canyoner and have never hiked in the canyon, but I was tempted by just looking at the pictures of the canyon. I was thinking a leisure hiking from Tenaya lake into the canyon to the point where one needs do rappel, and then return. The weather in Yosemite seems very friendly this weekend, and it may be similar to what we had last weekend when hiking in Mt Dana.

I think you could safely make it to the Lone Boulder, which is still several hundred feet above the first rappel. I wouldn't go past there--there's a steep friction climb (potentially icy) past here, and your best views are from the boulder. There is one section where you need to descend/climb steep granite, but it's south-facing so you should be able to find an ice-free route.

On the other hand, if you haven't done it, I'd recommend Clouds Rest from Tenaya Lake instead. You'll be more above than in the canyon, but unless the water is a lot higher than it's been recently, the falls and cascades in the canyon will not be at their prime.

Note that the Tioga Road is currently closed and snow is expected Sunday afternoon, so if the road does open Saturday is probably your best bet.

Weather forecast says sunny, 55-30 degree for this Saturday. Will be the granite icy in the day?

It's hard to say--I'd expect anything south-facing to melt out by mid-day, but north-facing or shaded areas could be icy all day.

This is an excellent resource:

http://www.outdoorproject.com/adventures/california/climbing/tenaya-canyon-descent

Very cool site with some stunning pictures. I would never dream of doing this route without an experienced guide and even then I'm not sure I could manage it (I kept picturing myself starting the hike and then, time and time again, getting to points where all I could think was "if I do this next bit, there's no going back!" ). As I scrolled through the pictures, I kept thinking "at least with a guide, and somebody to check my ropes for me, I could do that" and then I'd get two or three pictures further on and think "...or not..."

At any rate, thanks for the link and my hats off to those of you who are completely comfortable with these sorts of routes.

David, you can actually go all the way to the first rap pt... and then turn around...
beyond there... good luck... that is what I did the first time in the canyon...
got to the first rap pt.... looked at my watch... and said there was no way in heck
I was gonna be able to dayhike down the canyon... then back up Snow Creek
to my car in a day... so I went back up Airplane gully and enjoyed the domes...
Came back another day and only did the descent... much easier...

Even then... 1st rap pt. is non trivial as you have seen ...

Be safe

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Of course this all begs the question....
So... what did Richard Yu do?

I know what I did.... with the usual suspects... a bit o boating... and hiking...
and getting locked in ... due to pending storm... but what did R. Yu do?

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Finally, did the upper Tenaya canyon hiking last Saturday.The creek is dry, but it's still marvelous. Would like to do it again when water flowing.