I've been to Yosemite Valley a number of times but never to the Tioga Pass area. I plan to be there this weekend.

Was looking at the following hikes:
* Gaylor Lakes
* Cathedral Lakes
* May Lake & Mt Hoffmann

Will I need to walk thru water / marsh / slush for any of these hikes?
Is there snow / ice on any of the trails for these hikes?

Any other hike recommendations instead of the ones listed above? I'm in pretty decent shape. And yes, am planning to walk around Tenaya Lake, Tioga Lake, Tuolumne Meadows, Olmsted Point.

Finally, what are some good sunrise & sunset spots? Will be there for two sunrises and one sunset.

I'd expect snow and slush for all those hikes.. and water...

Sorry haven't done any of those this year yet... Only have headed north...

And not north to Gaylor/Granite ... really there's not a huge amount of snow... but I'd expect
some on all 3 of those hikes... May Lake Road is not open yet...
O and not north to Hoffmann... May Lake typically holds snow much later... and you can see snow
on Hoff on your way to Tioga Pass/TM ...

Looking to Cathedral Range from near Glen Aulin trail last Friday...



Have fun

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/13/2016 01:54PM by chick-on.

Thanks for the info.

So looks like Mt Hoffmann is out. Would Cloud's Rest be accessible at this time? My brother is flying in for this trip and he wants to go one good long hike.

Also, are there mosquitoes out and about already in the High Sierras?

We headed out for Cloud's Rest on June 5 but ended up going to the Sunrise Lakes instead due to a late start and snow covering parts of the trail and slowing us down. I would expect that by next weekend much of that would have melted off. Serious mosquitoes at the Tenaya Lake outlet crossing at the beginning of the hike (and the water was up to our thighs, don't know if the water level is lower now), although they bothered my brother-in-law far more than they bothered me, and they disappeared as we gained altitude.

If approaching Cloud's Rest from the north (Tenaya Lake), two weeks ago there was up to 3-4 feet of snow in drifts, with no visible trail markings other than tree slashes. Much of that may have melted out already, but expect some route finding due to lingering snow in the trees on the final approach, and some snow on the spine leading to the summit. Coming from the south (Valley) the trail will be clear.





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/14/2016 11:22AM by OL.

I would definitely expect mosquitoes in early season Sierra.

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lschaaf
I would definitely expect mosquitoes in early season Sierra.

There were about 5 total I saw from Friday thru Sunday...
Zero in TM...
Zero all the way to Young...
Zero all the way thru Alkali Creek into Cold Canyon...

A scant few near Cold Canyon...

Conditions and skeeters vary greatly by water, elevation, yadda yadda...

It was colder this past weekend tho... and rainy sunday...

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My niece did a solo hike to Clouds Rest yesterday. I haven't really talked to her about it yet, but other than some snow on the trail I don't think she had any issues.

Hi JasonS,

Which trailhead did your niece take to get to CR? We’ll be hiking to CR starting at Sunrise trailhead mid next week and I was looking to confirm there weren’t any impassable snow issues on the trail.

Quote
Bachus
Hi JasonS,

Which trailhead did your niece take to get to CR? We’ll be hiking to CR starting at Sunrise trailhead mid next week and I was looking to confirm there weren’t any impassable snow issues on the trail.

She started from Sunrise as well. I didn't get the feeling that it was overly difficult. She's not a mountaineer (yet?) by any means, but your mileage may very.

This is great, I appreciate the quick response.

Additional question. Did she happen to share what the water depth and stream width was for the Tenaya Lake outlet trail crossing was?

She said the water was mostly ankle to mid-calf deep, but some spots were a little above the knee.

Any sunrise & sunset photo location suggestions?

Any advice on how your trip went? Specifically the cathedral area?