It came about because of this:
http://yosemitenews.info/forum/read.php?3,37948,37952#msg-37952

It worked out perfectly due to the fact that the Olmsted Pt. area was safe to
walk on yet the road wasn't open to traffic yet...
Added Merced Lake/Washburn/Triple Peak Fork Falls due to having a full extra day..

Here's some photos. There was little response on Ostrander/Hart/Edson... so .. I won't waste alot of time..

https://goo.gl/photos/ZYkmoUkzsr9GWL857

Here is another great waterfall along the route:



I took a LOT of photos... so if you have any questions along that route or whatnut... I'm all ears

Have fun

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/24/2019 07:52AM by chick-on.

Nice shots, thanks!

Looks like a great trip!

You did a lot of creek crossing. What was the worst side creek that you had to slog through? Long Meadow? Echo Fork? Or were there snow bridges wherever you needed them?

I can't tell from the map if your Merced crossings were all on official bridges....

Also, was this a solo hike? I only see one cup and one bowl.

Awesome trip. How much snow coverage was there going up to the Olmsted Point area? Looks like a decent amount. Also, how many days ago were these pics taken? I ask because it looks like the road's still closed in them.

Quote
KC2669
Awesome trip. How much snow coverage was there going up to the Olmsted Point area? Looks like a decent amount. Also, how many days ago were these pics taken? I ask because it looks like the road's still closed in them.

Thursday-Sunday.. if you use a web browser on the right you should see the date the picture was taken.
So yes, the road was still closed...
I took the route all the way up Snow Creek Trail to Tioga road near the Quarry.
Although this skips Watkins and Pywiack Cascade view... it avoids the trail that drops down
from Watkins area and kinda around Hidden lake to Olmsted. That area was 100% snow
coverage as I expected. It also includes a crossing of a creek which will be going.
On the Snow Creek Trail the snow started about 8K ft. So not really that much snow hiking to start
since jumped on the road there. There was still about 5ft. of snow right at the spur to the quarry.
You can see how much snow is around Cathedral and Echo Lake... coming down Cathedral Fork
the snow was nearly gone by Dolly Domes... present again in the flat area south of them...
and then completely gone by the time hit 8400 ft.
In the Merced Canyon there no snow to worry about on the trail all the way to as far up
as I went... The Triple Peak Fork Falls...
I would guess that mtc is gonna jump on the road eventually... hopefully just hike down from Olmsted Pt.
... the trail from Olmsted down to Sunrise TH is full snow and looked delicious...
the stream W of Murphy was wide and screaming...
Anyway... probably more than you asked.

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Quote
wherever
You did a lot of creek crossing. What was the worst side creek that you had to slog through? Long Meadow? Echo Fork? Or were there snow bridges wherever you needed them?
Also, was this a solo hike?

Actually... that route has very very few creek crossings. Remember the road was closed so I was able
to avoid a number of crossings and hike the road for about 8 miles. After stepping onto the snow
below Cathedral Lakes the first stream is the "Dolly Domes" Cascade (which comes from Long Meadow).
Most of those stream are quite dispersed, meaning instead of one big torrent there are a number of
smaller ones typically with logs. The snow hiking was actually dryer than hiking thru the Merced Canyon.
All crossings of the Merced in the canyon are bridged as are the crossings of Echo Creek (two).
I never had to walk thru a creek crossing and all the crossings I did you could have easily just walked
thru... nothing over the calf probably. The most challenging one to keep the feet dry was near the inlet of Washburn.
Yes, it was a solo hike.

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Actually I have pictures of nearly every bridge and creek crossing if you realllly want to see them...

And the route was down the Cathedral Fork of Echo Creek... not thru Long Meadow.
Long Meadow imo would not be a big deal... once in that canyon head due west... if can cross... cross..
if not go north... keep going... eventually you can jump over it... for sure..
Be sensitive of meadows if all the snow is gone... of course...

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O, by the way... valley flooded.... looked up and Lehemite was WAY down compared to prior weekend...
Got to the top of the Snow Creek switchers and talked to a lovely couple... asked about Indian
Canyon and Lehemite... and they almost didn't remember them... soooo... both those streams
are non issue now for sure... much like Yosemite Creek the watershed into them is not huge...
they run year round due to the fact that the ground soaks up a lot o water.
I guess they like cold water because they "swam" in Royal Arch Cascade... asked if I was going
to swin in Tenaya... I just laughed ... and said no friggin way... I'm no frogmom.

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So you parked the Chick-on mobile (giant twinkie on wheels) at the Olmstead parking lot?
This weekend I took a map / compass class at REI outdoer skool so's sumdaze i culd not onlee spel like chick-on butt hike lyke Chick-on

Quote
rroland
... so's sumdaze i culd not onlee spel like chick-on butt hike lyke Chick-on

Please see dictionary definition for "devolution."
(Supremely Yours)
The Marmots

P.S. Don't forget that the chikin doesn't do any hiking at all... he is carried by the Goatie.
P.P.S. Whatever happened to Goatie (bill-e-g... billy goat) anyway? WHAT HAS THE CHIKIN DONE WITH/TO HIM!?



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 06/21/2011 09:27AM by szalkowski.

It have this picture:
https://picasaweb.google.com/yosemite.chick.on/SnowCrkEchoHappyIsleLoopWashburn#5620382888286207762

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Twinkie Mobile... I like it!

No, the road wasn't open silly. So mobile parked down at Happy Isle TH park-on.

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Quote
chick-on
Twinkie Mobile... I like it!

or this:

http://www.cbsnews.com/2300-501465_162-10008258.html?tag=contentAux;cbsPostCarousel

Quote
rroland

Quote
chick-on
Twinkie Mobile... I like it!

or this:

http://www.cbsnews.com/2300-501465_162-10008258.html?tag=contentAux;cbsPostCarousel

AWESOME!

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Quote
rroland

Quote
chick-on
Twinkie Mobile... I like it!

or this:

http://www.cbsnews.com/2300-501465_162-10008258.html?tag=contentAux;cbsPostCarousel

... but does it come in PINK???

Quote
szalkowski

Quote
rroland

Quote
chick-on
Twinkie Mobile... I like it!

or this:

http://www.cbsnews.com/2300-501465_162-10008258.html?tag=contentAux;cbsPostCarousel

... but does it come in PINK???

noo but I found one for you!

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://xtinacooke.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/img_3558_2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://xtinacooke.wordpress.com/2009/09/08/back-up-and-running/&usg=__xXsWcpf6HugKqCCze9bVOmzn4yo=&h=2076&w=3085&sz=3027&hl=en&start=0&sig2=3_5GPOh-baDvAKT730Kymg&zoom=1&tbnid=l9iHVEic3TCEIM:&tbnh=156&tbnw=216&ei=JDYCTovVAovYiAKYu62kCA&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dgiant%2Brodent%2Bcar%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-us%26rlz%3D1I7RNSN_en%26biw%3D1125%26bih%3D774%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=453&page=1&ndsp=20&ved=1t:429,r:6,s:0&tx=114&ty=88

WIN-NING!

Marmut-Mobile

Nice teeth!
And he's even wearing a cape!

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Quote
chick-on
WIN-NING!

Marmut-Mobile

Nice teeth!
And he's even wearing a cape!

Actually, the
Mobile Marmot Rodent Racer
AKA
The Ratmobile
(Ratman, The Movie... now playing atop The Half Dome Theatre overlooking Beautiful Yosemite Valley)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/22/2011 05:36PM by szalkowski.

Priceless! So is the really short URL!

We put that Cascade video just for you....

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As always, it looks like it was a great trip--I'm envious. Thanks for sharing it with everyone! The Cathedral Range/Merced Lake area is a personal favorite--so many wonderful on-trail and cross-country routes with great scenery everywhere. (And is it me, or does it seem that no matter what trailhead you start at, it's about 14 miles to Merced Lake...)

You are welcome. Washburn was magical this time. The reflections pictures in that set
don't capture how much I loved it. I personally now like Washburn more than Merced.
And Triple Peak Falls... I had completely forgotten about that, having only been by there
once before...
Once again this showed me that it is far better hike to hike upstream than down...

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