Re: Rafferty Creek or Vogelsang Reports???

I'm heading out to Yosemite for an 9 day backpacking trip and hoping to get some firsthand knowledge in the next couple weeks from anyone trying/checking out these trails, thanks!!!

With Tioga Rd just now opened and this being a holiday weekend, there are going to be tons of people up there over the next few days. Look for beta reports to start trickling in around Wednesday after the holiday...

Yep, as soon as I saw the road opened I was hoping some folks might be headed down Lyell and Rafferty this weekend or next week.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/01/2017 10:18AM by Creakyknees.

What are you looking for?



(we went up Vogelsang Pass on the 2nd)

Cathedral Pass - 100% snow
Tuolumne Pass - 99.9% snow

Ireland Plateau (trail under lots o snow)
Evelyn Platea (trail under lots o snow)

Budd, Lower Cathedral, Upper Cathedral, Echo, Matthes, Townsley, Fletcher,
Ireland, Vogelsang Lakes... pretty much still all frozen over...

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Hot damn that is a lot of snow! I look forward to that trip report!

Ok I did it. Stick N Fedders wuz playing in SEKI... so ...

I can just wait for him to post a TR (he's still like 10 behind in 2017)

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Here is what the area around Fletcher Lake and Vogelsang HSC looked like last Wednesday (7/12):




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/22/2017 05:39PM by fitzhugh.

Thanks for the updates! How were the mosquitoes?

The mosquitoes were OK unless you got within 15 feet of the shore of Fletcher then they were horrible. i walked around quite a bit up there without a problem.

If you still need beta, I went up Rafferty on Monday, stayed Vogelsang that nite and down Lyell Tues. Much wetness, snow fields and patches above 10k. The immediate meadow area at the Vogelsang trail junction (backpacker's campground) is snow-free. Plenty of blood suckers.

P.S. will post some pics when I get the chance.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/21/2017 02:58PM by JRinGeorgia.

Just got back from trip up Rafferty, over Vogelsang Pass, down to the high trail and up Hutchings and Lyell Fork. What snow was near Tuolumne Pass should be gone. Vogelsang Pass was about 90% snow cover above the lake and nearly snow free on Lewis Creek side (this was the 13th). Given the rate of snow melt, it is probably already just patches left. Didn't hit snow in Hutchings or Lyell Fork until above 10,000'. Mosquitoes, as always, were very variable, but not bad around Vogelsang Lake or the Tuolumne Pass area. Gallison Lake and Bernice more or less bug free. Bad further down Lewis creek. Few up on the high trail. Tolerable up in Lyell Fork. They were out around Babcock, Emeric and Boothe Lakes, but very tolerable. YMMV.

I went up Rafferty Creek on July 12 and through Tuolumne Pass on July 13. Snow coverage was about 10% in the pass, with the longest field less than 100 feet long on the trail. It was very shallow, so it is probably all gone by now due to the heat wave in Southern California. I would expect most of the remaining patches of snow to be above 10K feet, but there are some well shaded areas under 10K feet that could still have a patch or two. Mosquitoes were light in the morning and midday, in part due to the heat, but after 5 pm they became a significant problem until after dark. The best area for minimal mosquitoes during my trip was around Tuolumne Pass and Echo Creek (off trail), and the worst was at Emeric Lake, where they managed to harrass me all day long even 400 feet from the water. The snow patches, except in passes and meadows, were very high, so getting up and over them was a bit dangerous at times due to their steepness, so often I went around them. The downed trees are a bigger problem than snow or mosquitoes right now, as the trail crews were just getting started this week on cutting them up. Nearly a quarter of the trees look dead or nearly dead, so this problem will be ongoing for years. Another item of note was that the day I left Tuolumne Meadows, July 12, none of the trailheads were even close to full for that day, about two weeks after 120 opened. This was in part due to no services there (and unlikely that there will be any until August) and in part due to the number of backpackers scared away by the snow and high water warnings given out in May/June. The creeks and rivers were at levels I saw in early June of 2016, so they were at full capacity, but not above flood stage. It is safe to cross anything that is normally safe to cross in June, and nothing I crossed on my trip was over my knees or in any way difficult for someone with experience.

Hello!

I'm wondering if anyone has info on the trail up Rafferty Creek over Tuolumne Pass to Volgesang. I gambled on the permit lottery a week or so ago and we have a permit heading out on July 1. Trying to now determine on-the-ground conditions (snow, downed trees, creek crossings) given that we actually won the gamble and we're closer to the departure date. Looking at previous posts, it looks like there is typically minimal snow by late July but we're going a few weeks prior to that. Perhaps counteracted by 2020 being a lighter snow year?

Thanks in advance for any insight,
ben

I'm heading to that general area this weekend and will try to remember to post a conditions update when I return on Monday.

Based on the previous three weeks' trips (it's good to be back!), I don't think you'll have any problem with snow or creek crossings from Tuolumne to Vogelsang--except perhaps a few sections on the traverse above Boothe Lake. Unfortunately "Choo Choo Ridge" blocked my telephoto views of the Fletcher/Vogelsang area, but what I could see had only patchy snow from 10,000' - 11,000' on north-facing slopes in general. I would expect a few snowfields approaching Vogelsang Pass from the north. Meadow areas will likely be muddy, and if you are heading down Fletcher Creek the crossing below Vogelsang might be more than a rock-hop.

As of 6/28/2020, there was no snow on the trail along the upper part of the Rafferty Creek trail to Tuolumne Pass, nor any to the (closed) Vogelsang High Sierra Camp and beyond to Vogelsang Pass. Have a safe and fun trip!