Heya,

I'm headed on 8/24 to Tuolumne Meadows for 2 days, and wanted to ask for hiking suggestions. I've been to Cathedral Lakes, Sunrise, Glen Aulin, Murphy Creek, May Lake, Mt. Hoffman, North Dome, top of Lembert Dome, top of Mt. Watkins from Olmstead Point, Mt. Dana, Gaylor Lakes, and Rafferty Creek, and I'm looking for something new to explore, maybe a 6 - 8 mile round trip solo overnight or 4 -6 mile day hike, that has sunset / sunrise views of nearby ranges. I'm headed to Mt. Whitney on Thursday, so I don't want to push it with 8-10 hours of hiking. I'm thinking also of trying to get a site at Sawmill Walk-in or Saddlebag Lake and making an excursion to Mt. Conness.

I'm considering Dog Lake, Elizabeth Lake (and beyond via cross country maybe?), a circle of Tenaya Lake and out a bit toward Pywiack, a return trip to May Lake, Parker Pass Creek towards Mono Pass, or maybe out along Lyell Canyon (is the NE side hikable?). Would any of you veterans care to comment, or offer other ideas?
,
I'm fairly fit, very familiar with the Wilderness rules (how far you must be from road before camping, etc.); and comfortable navigating off trail with GPS and topo. Thanks!

My suggestion for overnight is Tuolumne Peak area.
There are tarns you can camp by right off the trail at 9800 ft.
NE of Tuolumne Peak.
It's a very nice spot with spectacular view of Conness.
PLEASE, for the love of Chick-on, DO NOT have a fire there.
The last time we were there last year there was fire scars and rings!
It's >9600 ft.!
If you see a fire ring please eradicate it.
It's a fairly simple hike up to the top of Tuolumne Peak from there.
(I drug two buddies up there who had NO experience so... so pretty simple)
Sorry, someone (or a Marmot) either stole, ate, chucked over the edge,
or other-thing-a-ding .. the registry up on the peak.

You can get there a number of ways... via May... via Murphy...
or ... via Wegner is u like lots o xcountry.

Conness is most easily done from Young Lakes (there used to be a
maintained trail all the way... ) (it's a use trail now).

Have fun

btw.. if u want to see pix. of Tuolumne Peak take a look at Google Earth photos.

Unfortunately (maybe Vince works there?) they've nixed a number of peak and lake
photos of lately.... so I guess his bird is cooked.

That sounds pretty yummy - thanks! Anyone else want to throw in an idea?

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vdrummer
Heya,

.... I'm looking for something new to explore, maybe a 6 - 8 mile round trip solo overnight or 4 -6 mile day hike, that has sunset / sunrise views of nearby ranges. I'm headed to Mt. Whitney on Thursday, so I don't want to push it with 8-10 hours of hiking......

If it's the day hike, then consider one I took from the Tuolumne Lodge about ten days ago. I had a sore foot, so we kept the distance down. The goal is peak 10410 above Dog Lake. Take the Young Lakes Trail, then head off-trail after you cross the meadow at Delaney Creek. The peak is a nice granite dome with easy access from the east. Head up towards the ridge, but then just walk up to the peak on ledges and boulders just before you get to the ridge. Nice views. Much better, in fact than you get by grunging the steep dirt and scree around Ragged Peak, which is a bit to the northwest.

We descended via ridge and the meadow to the west side of the peak, to see some wildflowers and make a loop of it, but you don't have to do that.

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wherever

If it's the day hike, then consider one I took from the Tuolumne Lodge about ten days ago. I had a sore foot, so we kept the distance down. The goal is peak 10410 above Dog Lake. Take the Young Lakes Trail, then head off-trail after you cross the meadow at Delaney Creek. The peak is a nice granite dome with easy access from the east. Head up towards the ridge, but then just walk up to the peak on ledges and boulders just before you get to the ridge. Nice views. Much better, in fact than you get by grunging the steep dirt and scree around Ragged Peak, which is a bit to the northwest.

We descended via ridge and the meadow to the west side of the peak, to see some wildflowers and make a loop of it, but you don't have to do that.

Got that printed and in the bag - muchas gracias!

NOOOOO!!!!!

That's Marmut Rock!

cereal-lessly... you can hike Delaney all the way to Skeleton Lakes as another option from there...
The lowest one is beautiful... and the upper two are rock-hopping fun..
Great meadows on the way there...

---

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chick-on
NOOOOO!!!!!

That's Marmut Rock!

cereal-lessly... you can hike Delaney all the way to Skeleton Lakes as another option from there...
The lowest one is beautiful... and the upper two are rock-hopping fun..
Great meadows on the way there...

Mmmm . . . me likey the sound of that one too!

I chose the Peak 10,410 excursion, and it was fabulous. 1,800' of altitude gain to that elevation isn't easy after driving up from sea level, and I think I underdosed my Diamox and had a bit of a headache through the night.

Wayfinding off-trail was easy, and I always love hiking around on granite domes. I hiked up the eastern side on arrival, then down the western side the next morning, as the west side was in the shade and at a more comfortable temperature.

Here's a Photoshop photomerge of the terrific view of the Cathedral Range (3.2Mb file, 10002x800 pixels - super wide! - you'll want view at full height and scroll across):

morning panoramic view



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/06/2010 03:32PM by vdrummer.