Re: Cloud's Rest

Hi all,

I am interested in any information on the current trail conditions going up to Cloud's Rest. Three of us are planning on heading up there on Friday with snowshoes and crampons.

Thanks!

What trail?

There are no flags on that route, and it's all under snow. Up to the gate (mist trail is closed before you reach Vernal) and then up switchbacks to Clark Point and then down the trail to the top of Vernal to rejoin the Mist as the upper switchbacks of the JMT are closed... might be some good footprints to follow for a while. Beyond the top of Nevada, maybe, into Little Yosemite, maybe. I doubt many have made it as far as top of Vernal. After you reach Little Yosemite, no point in trying to find a trail, just snowshoe on up there. Don't forget a good topo map and compass. Will probably not need snowshoes til somewhere in Little Yosemite heading up. Weather has been pretty good, last couple weeks, probably some melting and re-freezing going on.

You're going overnight if you head in from Happy Isles, hope you were planning on it. 22 mile round trip mostly in deep snow with 4000 plus feet of gain in one day? Nope. Snowshoeing is hard. Snowshoeing with backpacks harder. That's a long, long hike. Don't forget to register for your wilderness permit.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/24/2011 06:48PM by AlmostThere.

You're not gonna get much better conditions so I don't know what you are looking for.
It's not like you're gonna be able to leave the snowshoes in the car if going that far.
If I was going I'd be bringing my spikies and zigging straight up the Mist all the
way to the top o Nevada (yes, I know it's "closed" ).
Prolly lots o snow beyond the bathroom at top thru LYV... and then if you're lucky the S facing
JMT b/t LYV and HD/CR has melted and you can take off ur snowshoes.
I wouldn't count on it though. You def. should not need snowshoes before top of Nevada.
I certainly wouldn't be putting them on.
If you can make it up Clouds (close to 6K up) in one day even with not having to put snowshoes on
until top o Nevada then kudos to you. And if you can make it up and down in a day
then you need to change your Ability to Super Chick-on. (I highly doubt it can be done
with the limited daylight hours). It'll help immensely with 3 people taking
turns in the front. Coming down will be a blast and lickity split though.
Maybe I'm telling you stuff you already know. If so, sorry... I personally never worry about
trail conditions and if the ranger says this or that we just say "that's nice, we'll see
it when we get there... we don't HAVE to get to xyz... it'll be there tomorrow...".
Also trail conditions can change, esp. with weather like we've been having.
You can take a look at the webcams too to get an idea. Someone here posted
about JMT trail conditions a couple weeks ago... and it hasn't snowed since then...
and at that time the Rangers at TM reported saying people were reporting snow
on Snow Creek at 6K then... well... we were on Snow Creek just then and there was snow
but it was a non issue due to traffic and we certainly didn't need anything until the rim.

Anyway, best of luck
Eat your Wheaties
Be Safe
Have fun
O, and don't go on any closed trails
I see you've been up HD >1 ...
if I just wasted my time... let me know... b/c seriously considering getting out of the business

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Quote
chick-on
if I just wasted my time... let me know... b/c seriously considering getting out of the business

Uh? Don't think I don't read every Chick-on post...you got fans here!!

Quote
chick-on

I see you've been up HD >1 ...
if I just wasted my time... let me know... b/c seriously considering getting out of the business

Chick-on, u get tired of old dude, just let me know. Got room in one o the front pockets o my Aarn pack.

Thanks for the info! We're planning on hitting the trail at Happy Isles around 3:30 and hoping to go up and back in one day. It's going to be a tough climb, but that's exactly the point, right? If we do it, I'll come back and change my ability to Super Chick-on (whatever the heck that means. What does it mean?!). We went up to Happy Isles and over to the base of Half Dome last spring, but there was only snow starting at the base of the Pinnacles so the snowshoes stayed in the backpack the whole hike. The view from the knife-edge summit was spectacular so it's calling us back!

The point is to enjoy, no? (one mans potion is another mans poison)

Worse case at least get up to the East Quarter Dome.
You won't need crampons to get there.

Enjoy and Have a blast. Tell us how it went... maybe post a picture.

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Crazy weather... sun cups starting to show from GP camera. Go figure.

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Quick trip report: Hit the trail at 3:40AM. Took JMT up to Clark Point--a couple dicey/icy points but nothing too bad. After a wrong turn and some searching around, caught the Mist Trail up to Little Yosemite Valley--used crampons some of the time. Put on snowshoes just after the Half Dome Trail junction. Made it up to about 8900' below the Pinnacles, but one person in our group only had Microspikes and didn't feel safe on the slushy incline. She had never been on a steep, snowy incline before. So, we turned around there and headed back down. We didn't get back to the car until 7:40PM. We didn't see a single person on the trail and zero footprints after the Half Dome Trail junction. It was an awesome day even though we failed to reach the summit.

It was certainly a long day. ;(

And just as well that someone in your group decided that was too much to tackle. If you hand't turned around then...when would you have done so? And when would you have reached your car--assuming nothing went wrong?

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Check our our website: http://www.backpackthesierra.com/
Or just read a good mystery novel set in the Sierra; https://www.amazon.com/Danger-Falling-Rocks-Paul-Wagner/dp/0984884963

You realize they started in the dark... so what's the difference if they ended in the dark?

Just saying

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Good deal.... not Super Chick-on Status... but close.
Seriously, you shoulda read what I wrotez above closer ... that
woulda given you more time to attack the summit.
After LYV I wouldn't have thought you'd need crampons until
the very very last portion and shoes woulda been just fine...
some shoes have more crampon/climb-a-bility than others tho.
But I get the area you are talking about... the portion after the
switchers where it crosses below Pinnacles.
Hope you realize that you had a great window of opportunity
with the weather we've had the last couple of weeks.
Glad you had a blast.

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