Re: Cathedral Lake Updates???

Anyone make it to Cathedral Lakes area this past weekend or week? Just looking for the most current info I can find as we finalize equipment, etc... for our trip this weekend, thanks!

Hi Creakyknees, I just saw this review on AllTrails from a guy that was just there. He even has a picture of himself IN the partially frozen lake! I'm feeling better about things after seeing this.

Jose Banales
hiking17 hours ago
Awesome trail with trees, creeks and extraordinary view of the cathedral peak and the granite rocks than surround the lakes. On the way up we encountered the trail covered of snow but easy to follow. At the end the spectacular and frozen cathedral lake. Quiet and relaxing. I couldn't resist the temptation to jump in the water. We rest a little and enjoy the most exquisite view in front of us. Beautifully amazing.

Got my permit for this Friday for Cathedral Lakes, ranger told me there were 11 openings this morning, must be a lot of cancellations. Any more updates for this trail?

I was up there Saturday and Sunday. On the trail to the upper lake there is very little snow but a lot of water but nothing too hard to handle IMO. There were plenty of dayhikers. On the way to and past the lower lake there is more snow especially going south of the lower lake, but again, nothing that requires any special equipment. On the way to Cathedral pass there WAS a lot of snow-I was descending and had no poles, crampons, microspikes. The snow is melting very quickly so by this Friday conditions should be that much less snowy but just as wet.

Thanks for the update, sounds pretty doable if you ask me. My wife is going with me this trip and really dislikes hiking on any snow. Hopefully she won't kill me while we up there for taking her through a small amount of snow. I think 2-4 miles of snow over a 35 mile or so trip is not bad, we will have trekking poles.

Whoops--I mixed up upper and lower in the above post.
Here is the area south of the Upper lake on Saturday 7/15:



Further south past the Upper lake:




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/19/2017 09:29AM by fitzhugh.

Hi All!

I'm brand new to this forum, but not brand new to backpacking

I'm doing the JMT from Tuolumne to Happy Isles with a side trip up Half Dome this next week. Does anyone happen to have a mosquito update for Cathedral Lakes, and the Long Meadow?

I was there a few years ago in July and it was REALLY bad. I hoped to avoid that by going in late August, but with the late thaw I'm afraid it'll be murder.

Any insights would be greatly appreciated.

THANKS!!

Thanks for the update, I'm not able to see the photos, they are not showing up. I would love to see them.

I think I fixed it. Can you see them now?

Yes, thanks

Just curious how were the parking lots? has anyone been into May Lake and Mt Hofmann?

I was up there this past week, and those pictures look exactly like mine. The biggest issue is not the snow, but downed trees, and the combination thereof. I saw almost as many trees across the trail as tall snow patches when I went through the Cathedral area into Tuolumne Meadows on July 16. The good news is I met a trail crew as I arrived at Tuolumne Meadows heading out to cut the trees and clear the trail, so it should be clear of downed trees by now. Mosquitoes were not bad during the middle of the day due to the heat wave, but after 5 pm when it started to cool down, they were a big problem. The Cathedral area has a lot of standing and running water right now in the meadows, so mosquitoes are really bad from the upper lake to Sunrise HSC. I didn't rest for more than a minute at a time along that entire stretch, since they would find me almost instantly after I stopped moving.

As for May Lake, the road to the trailhead was not open as of July 17, so everyone was parking along 120 and walking in from there. There was some heavy equipment parked there as well, but I didn't see anyone doing work on the road to the trailhead. There is still a very solid snow field on the side of Mt Hoffman you need to walk up, so I recommend you take poles, crampons, or whatever else you like to use in snow. This area of the park is typically colder than the surrounding areas, in part due to the wind that always seems to blowing there, so it retains snow a little longer.

I'm on Clouds Rest as I type this, we went through Cathedral Lake area with just a few patches of snow and no downed trees, all clear already. We then hiked to Sunrise HSC with only a few more patches of snow and only a couple of trees. Mosquitos we horrible at Sunrise HSC, as bad as I've ever seen mosquitos, we mostly stayed in our tent. From Sunrise HSC we hiked by the Sunrise lakes on our way to Cloud Rest. There was more snow near the Sunrise Lakes then the Cathedral Lakes. I'm now waiting for the sunset on top of Clouds Rest with my son, we are camped about a half mile from the top of Clouds Rest on the Tenya Lake side. Tomorrow we hike out to Yosemite Valley for Pizza and a shower.