Re: Planning a trip to Mt Clark in Mid September

Hello fellow Yosemite enthusiast!

Just came down with pneumonia so backpacking season has ended for me. Was hoping to get out again in the fall and would like to try for Mt. Clark.
Since Happy Isles is difficult to get permits for, I was considering starting at Glacier Point heading towards Starr King then xc it to the base of Mt. Clark. My concern is water sources so I came up with some options to get to clark

http://caltopo.com/m/07K9
The golden line for day 2 is right I'm thinking about right now as it would get me to a body of water and the views from Clark Canyon looks stunning. We could also swoop south from that body of water and attempt to make it up the NW arete (w/o packs!) then back down and call it a day at the nearby water source.

So it would look like this
Day 1: BP campground in the Valley Or just leave the day of as we dont have a large window for this trip
Day 2: Depart GP and head for Camp 1 past Starr King
Day 3: Follow the golden line and aim for the body of water near Clark Canyon. Set up camp then climb the NW Arete. Call it a day
Day 4: Possibly exit or go back to the first campsite near Starr King

Also considered trying the east side as it looks like challenging.

Thoughts?



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 06/28/2016 09:18PM by KevinD.

East side is actually quite simple...
West side is class 3... maybe 4...

Anywho... please read this:
http://yosemitenews.info/forum/read.php?17,77862,77862#msg-77862

Ok, I was just pulling your leg there...

Try this:
http://yosemitenews.info/forum/read.php?3,44180,44180#msg-44180

and this:
http://yosemitenews.info/forum/read.php?3,37876,37876#msg-37876

Been all the way up it a couple of times... hmm...

More:
http://yosemitenews.info/forum/read.php?3,60845,60845#msg-60845

(yes, it's related)

There's more...

But in a nutshell... I wouldn't go anyway you drew...

Since you have time before September...

Ah... found blops TR
http://yosemitenews.info/forum/read.php?17,82008,82008#msg-82008

I have more... and since you are so kind to put up TR... will say a lot more...

Have fun planning tho

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My original inspiration for this trip was your http://yosemitenews.info/forum/read.php?17,82008,82008#msg-82008 Trip report!

I want to take that route but worried about permits. Coming in a monday so I'm hoping my chances of scoring a permit are high (only 4 walk ins )

The plan would then be to try to camp at two tenths lake the first night. If the elevation is too much, might have to camp somewhere near Echo and continue the climb afterwards.

Day2: Then go over the ridge to obelisk the next day and try to summit Clark. Regarding that ridge, is it possible to go over the saddle below Quartzite? Or would it be better to stay on top of the ridgeline and head to peak 10987 and work it from there? OR would that saddle between clark and 10987 be wiser? Hoping camp at Obelisk.
Third day, head down the "old" Clark trail and camp at Merced Lake. Exit next day.

Hastily drawn map
http://caltopo.com/m/SS0H

If the elevation gain proves too much for the misses, I may just have to resort to plan B which would be Townsley Lake/Lewis Creek area/ Lake WL10434 by Johnson Peak. (http://caltopo.com/m/4HVR). She tends to get grumpy going uphill...so 5900 feet in the first day could make for an angry one!

Appreciate the assistance!



Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 06/28/2016 11:52PM by KevinD.

First of all... that's basilbop's TR ...
All credit for that goes to him.
It was an awesome trip with JKW and him and I. I would do it all over again...
Including the "first touch" of the wall of Merced Lake boat-a-thon...


Do you want to summit Mt. Clark?

Both of those trips that you drew in have issues.

The Vogelsang area one... BIG BIG BIG BIG NO NO NO NO NO (is that emphatic enough) to
camp WEST of Johnson Peak at or near 10439 WL lake.

(I have never camped right by Gallison... it is VERY exposed)

Um... the Clark dealie you drew... um... there is a reason have hiked up Clark Canyon in it's
entirety a couple of times... (hint: it's that good)

And there is NO WAY you can actually follow the Day 2 that you drew in there.
well.. unless you can climb this:

(thats 10987 ... which is what have gone around and over a few times.. )

Quote
Kevin
Day2: Then go over the ridge to obelisk the next day and try to summit Clark. Regarding that ridge, is it possible to go over the saddle below Quartzite? Or would it be better to stay on top of the ridgeline and head to peak 10987 and work it from there? OR would that saddle between clark and 10987 be wiser?

I have gone between Quartzite and 10987, over 10987, and between 10987 and Clark... so they are all do-able...
Getting around 10987 is non-trivial... but once to south it's ez pz.

Maybe I should just put all the routes have taken on a map... here


But even then... you have to figure it out for yourself... b/c well... sometimes I have to backtrack and say
lemme go ahead and scout... or tell Bearpoof "great" ... I gotta jump that?
Or have to hear Bearpoof or AndrewF whine about my stellar "side-hillin" route...



Have fun plannin

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For fun...

(I don't recall if did much of TR for Clark/Adair trip w/Bearpoof ... (like I ever do))

Not a bad way to wake up / wake up to...


And for perspective.... sucked Bearpoof had vertigo... and hung out at Arete below...


Be safe (and watch out fur da wawa buffalo)

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Alright alright I won't do Johnson peak haha

Would still prefer doing Clark but to make the elevation a bit easier for the misses, what if I did the trip in reverse and stayed at Merced the first night? Then go up the "old" trail the next morning to Obelisk, set up camp then summit clark from the east. Next day more over the ridge to two-tenth lake and call it a day. Finally exit going down the slope by Bunnell.

Or since the HSC is closed by then, am I allowed to camp somwhere slightly past Bunnell? The Yosemite trailhead map shows the Happy Isles/Merced Lake Lass pass-through as requiring you to go to a point slightly before Bunnell before setting camp. Then go up the slope to the right of Bunnell the next morning? That would remove about 2k of elevation for day 1 to a more acceptable 4k.

Also what do you think the chances are for grabbing a permit on a monday or tuesday afternoon? The latest I can start on the trail would be Thursday so I could grab a permit for it Wednesday.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/29/2016 02:34PM by KevinD.

You can do Johnson Peak... you just have to camp EAST of the crest... or SOUTH of the crest of Elizabeth.
So you cannot camp at the lakes West of Johnson Peak...

You can camp wherever you like anywhere East of "Moraine Dome Campground" which is here:
https://mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4.php?ll=37.736376,-119.482971&z=15&t=t4

With the Meadow Fire... that "campground" pretty much blows... so... um... yeah... I wouldn't camp
until the bridges over the Merced area... (before the Bunnell Switchers)

Anywho... I would recommend you start at Mono Meadow and take one of these:





I can figure out the elevation if you need...
Um.. I would not recommend camping at "Two Tents" lake... the backdrop is nice... but .. Clark Canyon is spectacular and... o so close...

Obviously abuse those routes at your own risk...

All those creeks will have water... but... there is much goodness on those routes... and far far far far superior to the views from along any of those creeks...
You can dayhike to Clark and back from near Starr King... it is what I did the first time did Clark.

Best of luck.

Ask more if you like.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/29/2016 03:02PM by chick-on.

Liking the first idea departing from Mono. Don't think I'm brave enough to go from East to the NW arete haha. Will probably play around Starr King the first day and go as far as we can, maybe starr king meadow, camp it then day hike to clark the next day. Sounds like a nice "relaxed" day 2. If the misses is up for it, I'd love to try to camp at Clark Canyon but I'm thinking dayhiking it will be more enjoyable for her. ...But...I might be able to encourage her to carry on to the lake just above two tents for the second day...3rd day day hike up clark...would give us 2 nights around Clark ^_^....only if.....



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/29/2016 03:35PM by KevinD.

Quote
KevinD
Liking the first idea departing from Mono. Don't think I'm brave enough to go from East to the NW arete haha. Will probably play around Starr King the first day and go as far as we can, maybe starr king meadow, camp it then day hike to clark the next day. Sounds like a nice "relaxed" day 2. If the misses is up for it, I'd love to try to camp at Clark Canyon but I'm thinking dayhiking it will be more enjoyable for her. ...But...I might be able to encourage her to carry on to the lake just above two tents for the second day...3rd day day hike up clark...would give us 2 nights around Clark ^_^....only if.....

I looked at my track this morning. The dayhike near Starr King was "only" about 16 miles and 5000 ft. elevation gain.
I went up the West face ... along the NW Arete... and back down the East Face..
(well.. u can see the track above)
Anywho.. if you don't want to go UP to the tippy top... you should not go to the East Side...
go at it from the NNW ... and/or Clark Canyon...

Enjoy

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I've seen people that have camped at that lake up near Johnson. Even at Elizabeth, seriously. They weigh the odds and risks of getting caught. Must be low.

Speaking of Clark: the side with the class 4 and gendarme, which direction is that facing? Is that called the west face, or SW face?

Yea just figured the Johnson area was off-limits. Knew the Elizabeth was off-limits. Makes sense though! Actually shocked to hear people camping at Elizabeth :/



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/29/2016 04:59PM by KevinD.

Quote
KevinD
Yea just figured the Johnson area was off-limits. Knew the Elizabeth was off-limits. Makes sense though! Actually shocked to hear people camping at Elizabeth :/

WHAT THE H***????

Have I missed something here?? Has someone here camped at Elizabeth Lake??? Where did you hear this? Was that person roundly rebuked???

The entire Elizabeth Lake drainage is off-limits to camping!!!!

How hard is that or any of the other off-limit rules to follow?

I'm sputtering.

This on top of idiots making firerings everywhere. Flaunting the rules. Don't care what they do to the environment....As long as they get to have their version of fun. Why not ruin it for everyone else? Entitled selfish cretins.

NO NEW FIRERINGS!!! How the f hard is that to understand??!!

Don't camp in certain areas!!! They make it clear!!

The rules are dirt simple.

And why not follow LEAVE NO TRACE guidelines so that future visitors get the same experience you were able to enjoy???

Sorry.. I guess I've been at boiling point over the lack of respect to the environment and others we have seen...

I hope those of you here who read the trip reports posted here and go backpacking respect and care for the land as much as we do and do not just take them as destination points to exploit.

You wouldn't believe how many tents I saw around Nevada falls when I went in March. ..sad

Quote
KevinD
You wouldn't believe how many tents I saw around Nevada falls when I went in March. ..sad

Ugh! Have seen them AT Vernal Falls... RIGHT NEXT TO TRAIL...
and the bozo say "the trail is right there"

No !#$!

So... yeah, big reason why don't detail where go now. Sick of new rings everywhere.
One new one RIGHT NEXT to Raisin Lake. And ... really... literally ducks/cairns
EVERYWHERE on way to Polly Dome. Can no one follow an OUTLET of a LAKE
to the LAKE? Sigh

Anyway, if you follow the route... you will find a ridiculous campsite.

So ridiculous I left it alone. I actually posted it before...

Anywho... from the EAST side of Clark is easy class 3 at most ... to the Arete.
From the WEST side is prolly close to class 4 ...
The Arete itself is class 3 at most ... imo...

Be safe. Have fun.
And please... LNT

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Ok Nevada Falls is slightly more "understandable" But really, around Vernal?? No shame!
When I went in March, there were quite a few tents literally only 10 feet off the trail!

Quote
chick-on
<snip>
And ... really... literally ducks/cairns
EVERYWHERE on way to Polly Dome. Can no one follow an OUTLET of a LAKE
to the LAKE? Sigh
<snip>
Be safe. Have fun.
And please... LNT

I was in the Carson Pass area a few weeks ago, in the Stanislaus/Eldorado Nat'l Forest. Decided to take a xc hike up towards a high ridge over Silver Lake. I realize that people have been stomping around there for many years without the typical wilderness and/or NPS regulations (it was developed as places for summer cabins for city folk to visit in the summer to escape the heat in the central valley, I presume).

I was never in a place where I couldn't find a cairn. It was frustrating. I decided that that best route was actually to try to avoid them. Ended up giving up and just went back on the trails. Oh well.

Ugh. I feel your pain.

I know SEKI had been telling people point-blank ... DO NOT PUT UP CAIRNS.
I wish Yosemite would do the same. And also point out that you shound NEVER
need a campfire in the backcountry.
Stick N Fedders ran into a left smoldering one near Polly Dome Lake last weekend.
And JKW and I ran into one IN LYV last April. (along with about 10 illegal...
"I need to build a fire ring next to my tent even though it clearly states that
only the group rings are allowed to be used" )
grrrr...

Along the way into Polly Dome Lakes.. Larry giggled at us... we knocked all the ducks over...
and he says "you guys are funny... you follow them... but you are knocking them over" ...
It didn't take long before he realized that, no, we weren't really following them...
b/c they were ridiculously ALL over... we were simply trying to rid the forest of them.

JKW ran into some more on a ridge. It's always "ok, we can see EVERYTHING from here
why u need a duck HERE?" or "let's see... we are following a creek... is this duck
marking the creek?"

Please. People. LNT
Please.

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Quote
chick-on

JKW ran into some more on a ridge. It's always "ok, we can see EVERYTHING from here
why u need a duck HERE?" or "let's see... we are following a creek... is this duck
marking the creek?"

I'm not nearly as skilled as Chick-on and Basilbop at XC, but i'm working on it... but even I don't need NOR want to see ducks.

First - great, you just marred the landscape, it's obviously NOT natural. Thank you so much for leaving an obvious human trace. The idea of XC, I think, is to see and explore the country as untouched and untrammeled as possible!

Second - WTH? Why? If you need ducks to follow, or need to leave breadcrumbs so you can find your way back, you have NO business doing what you are doing. Stick to the trails and VERY EASY XC until you develop your orienteering skills. Sheesh.

Third - WHY THE HE** are you putting up ducks ALONG A TRAIL? Seriously, along the Yosemite Creek trail there was one section, at a distance of no more than 10' apart were ducks all along the side of the trail! Don't tell me it's to find the trail if it snows. They were only inches tall and the existing trail was obvious with the line of big rocks the trail crews had obviously left, not to mention the depression in the ground! OMG. I've seen so much idiocy with little ducks and rock piles and rock "art" some want to call them. ART is human creation. Leave it to areas dedicated to displaying art. The wilderness is NOT the place!

And you may or may not agree, but those rocks that have been there for a long time... Lichens, mosses, micro-environments grow on and under them. Disturbing them disturbs the natural patterns. If a huge gully-washer moves them, ok. A human moving them to say "I was here!" is NOT OK in my book.

Maybe somewhere along the line my definition of wilderness got lost??? What are we teaching kids nowadays?

I'm really sorry, folks, I love this site. I love the sharing with like-minded folks. I don't want to upset anyone who values and respects the land. But I want to smack the disrespectful ones upside the head, plain and simple!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/30/2016 11:06AM by JustKeepWalking.

I presume the "monument" (it's far too big to be called a duck/cairn IMO) at the top of El Cap is still there. Wonder if that was first created by the Camp 4 crowd, or spectators, or tourists. It's among the biggest I've seen (I did see another even bigger one on the Esplanade of Grand Canyon in the vicinity of the Bill Hall trail...)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/30/2016 01:38PM by ags.

I think they are probably just trying to be helpful, telling others "this is a good, or the best, way to go." Almost as if they're building their own trail. Majority of the ducks are silly, if not all. Some get placed at trailheads, on top of the distance signs, even at serene locations such as GA HSC. There were probably over a dozen of them to the left of those benches in front of White Cascade, placed on one of the reddish boulders. Largest one I've seen was at El Cap, at least 3 feet tall.

Quote
chick-on
And also point out that you shound NEVER
need a campfire in the backcountry.
.

Unfortunately there are a lot of images and references to camp fires. People think that a fire is part of the experience. If people thought about it a little bit, they would realize a fire isn't necessary. Maybe Smokey Bear could ask if you really need that camp fire. It doesn't help that Survivorman and Bear Grylls are always starting fires.

Cairns and rock art are getting pretty bad at Lassen too!
Guess you need one to mark where the Volcano Crater is



FYI...we destroyed most of it.