Quote
Riley
I'm planning a 3-day, 2-night backpack trip to Clouds Rest from Tenaya Lake, and looking for the best place to set up camp along the way. The plan is: (day 1) hike from Tenaya to wherever we make camp somewhere between Sunrise Lakes and Clouds Rest trail and set up camp, (day 2) hike summit of Clouds Rest then back to camp, (day 3) pack out to Tenaya.
I understand there are essentially 2 reliable camping options and I'd like to hear which one folks think would be best, (1) around Sunrise Lakes or (2) in the valley north of Clouds Rest along the Forsythe Trail before it meets the CR trail.
Since you got good advice on the parallel posting of this question (
http://yosemitenews.info/forum/read.php?3,29548,32319#msg-32319 ), there is no need to add anything re. the camping spot.
Thought that it might be worthwhile, though, to mention a possible option for your trip.
Assuming that you mean that you are starting from the Sunrise Lakes trailhead at the W end of Tenaya, the planar trail distance to the first lake is about 3 miles. Since the 8 mile RT dayhike to Coulds Rest doesn't involve a backpack, you will actually be backpacking a total of 6 miles over a 3 day period. This may qualify you to win the "Annual Yosemite Minimalist Backpack Trip Competition." If you wish to be removed from that competition, continue reading.
Don't know if you have any time restrictions on travel to and from the park, but if you have at least half a day available on your first and last days then you might want to consider an alternative route which will involve about 16 miles of packing plus the 8 mile RT dayhike:
- Day 1.
Park and begin your trip NW of Medicott Dome around the BM8543 benchmark that is shown on the USGS topo maps. This benchmark is closer to the Sunrise Lakes trailhead than it is to the Cathedral Lakes trailhead, so your Wilderness Permit will still be in compliance with the rules. Follow the trail on the S side of the road; it goes around the S side of Tenaya and intersects with the trail from the Sunrise Lakes Trailhead. Total distance to the first lake will be about 6.2 miles.
- Day 2.
Do the dayhike to Clouds Rest. Since you will have lots of daylight left, break camp, hike over to the John Muir Trail (JMT) intersection (near the Sunrise High Sierra Camp), and go N toward Cathedral Lakes. If you camp in the woods at the N edge of the meadow (just S of Columbia Finger), the distance is about 2.8 miles from your previous campsite and you will have a water source in the stream that runs through the meadow.
- Day 3.
Continue following the JMT past Cathedral Lakes to the point where it crosses Cathedral Creek just S of Fairview Dome. Strike out cross-country, following the creek for approx. 0.5 mile. Then turn due W and you will intersect the trail from which you began the hike after approx. 1.0 mile. At this point you should be less than 0.5 mile NNE of your car. Distance covered on this day will be 7.0 miles.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/23/2011 12:30PM by szalkowski.
