Dewey Point SnowCamp MLK Weekend

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Bearproof

Dewey Point SnowCamp MLK Weekend
January 17, 2017 06:18PM

Registered: 14 years ago
Posts: 675

My annual snow camping trip to Dewey Point on MLK day was approaching and I was excited to actually get there this year for the first time since 2011. In the snowless years, we were constantly having to organize summer type backpacking trips…Old Big Oak Flat Road, Half Dome with the cables down, Yosemite Point and the Diving Board were all great trips, but I was anxious to actually see some snow!

As the day approached a problem arose…perhaps too much snow. Roads were closed, rocks were falling off of cliffs, and the folks who were excited about Badger Pass Ski Area finally opening for the season were now not so sure that the NPS folks would have the manpower to get the road to Badger Pass ready.

We drove up Friday afternoon, leaving the Bay Area about noon, and we got to the Valley just as the sun was going done. I had to make the short detour to Tunnel View to check out the million-dollar view and the seemingly millions of dollars’ worth of nice cameras there to record it…always impressive to see so much nice glass. We got out and took a couple of quick snaps with our phones and point-and-shoots

Black and White doesn't show the burnt orange of all of the dead pines killed by the bark beetles crying

I was inclined to stay there until the sun was off of the tops of El Cap and Clouds Rest for what I thought would be a better picture, but was overruled, and it was getting cold, so we continued on to Half Curry Dome Village and checked in. This car in the lot gave us the impression of what the week had been like on the Valley.

And the Pizza was much better than the first time I had tried it after Aramark took over…a pleasant surprise.

The next morning, we were a bit on the slow side getting going, and the other car in our party stopped for an hour to check out the frazil ice at Yosemite Falls, so we were a bit later getting on the trail than I had hoped, which was probably a good thing, as the trail breaking on the ridge trail was already done by some earlier party.

Conditions were amazing…snow everywhere

Views to the west all the way to Mt Diablo

And shortly thereafter Clark came into view to the east

We stopped for lunch about halfway out, and a good looking group of 4 came along…it was Kevind! We had a nice chat…great to meet him and hopefully we will see each other on the trail sometime in the future.

Crossing the little creek just before the rise to Dewey gave an indication of the amount of snow…4 feet at least

We had decided at the parking lot to leave our tents behind and build snow shelters, which we did at the high point just to the west of Dewey. Here are the boys creating blocks for their shelters

We had great views of Dewey, and across the Valley to Rainbow Falls and El Cap

The moon on the breast of the new fallen snow gave the luster of mid-day to snowcaves below

Sunday morning there were folks out at Dewey for the first light

The cinnamon rolls were tasty,

followed by breakfast burritos…the recipe taught to me by Chick-on, JKW and Basilbop.

After clearing out our snow structures we tested their structural integrity…some passed the test

And some did not

We headed back via the meadow route…gorgeous

And were quickly back at Summit Meadow.

Lots of folks were out, great to see so many people enjoying the park. And nice to finally see the white stuff on the ground, with more on the way!