Re: Ten Lakes: anyone know current conditions?

Likely headed into Ten Lakes area in the next day or so - anyone ventured up there in the last week or two? Expecting much snow, of course, and not sure if we'd find

1) 3-10 (or more) feet of snow all over, or

2) 1-2' of snow in patches, which would allow cross-country travel over granite.

May just stick to cross-country across upper Yosemite Creek area south of Ten Lakes and just west of Mt. Hoffman.

I drove by the trailhead yesterday, and at 7500 it was relatively free from snow. However, since you gain close to 2000 feet, I would expect that you will encounter significant snow further up the trail. There was a good amount of snow at 9000' on Hwy 120 and the Sonora Pass. Also, there weren't many cars in the trailhead parking lot...

Not sure if this answer comes to late, you might have left already. Was in Yosemite for the last few days. Hiked from Tuolomne to Glen Aulin and onwards towards May Lake on July 10th. Ran into a party of four who had planned to go to Ten Lakes. They entered at the Murphy Creek trailhead and only made it a couple of miles the first day due to snow. I ran into them on the afternoon of their second day, they had scouted out the Ten Lakes trail and decided it was altogether too much snow for their taste. They took one look at the snow covered pass ahead of them and decided it was beyond them to figure out how the switch backs went and how to avoid getting themselves into real danger. So they were headed to Glen Aulin instead. Your skill level may be much different so take this info for what it is worth.

I attempted to hike Ten Lakes this morning. I was surprised to see the parking lot on the other side of the trailhead closed, and there were no cars in the Ten Lakes parking lot. This is unhead of in July.

Sadly, I got 1.05 miles onto the trail and began encountering snow... lots of it. There were footprints of people who have traversed the snow banks, but then there were large sections of basically "lake like" conditions. I wasn't interested in wading to my thighs in water so I turned around. There was no way for me to find the trail, and I've hiked this 50 times in my life. You say you're going in a day or so, all I can say is, unless you an experienced snowshoer or know how to nagivate in heavy snow conditions, I wouldn't attept it at all. I didn't get anywhere close to where the real elevation gain starts, before the lakes begin. I would imagine that would be loaded with snow. If you're comfy with snow conditions and experienced, go for it. If not, I personally think it's way too dangerous.

I then tried McGee Creek hike on 395, south of Mammoth. That was fine for the first 2 miles, then stream crossings that were raging and then the bridge was basically washed out at 3.2 miles.

So a frustrating day of attempted hiking.

Arrived park entrance on 120 at noon. Ranger shared visitor trip report from July 4; half-moon meadow flooded, icy path down to lakes, lakes covered in ice, can't see where lakes are. Right now (weds night) camped near eagle peak with lovely view of valley.
: - )
South of tioga road def. easier than north side right now!
Thanks much!

Wutt! You get cold feets?

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chick-on
Wutt! You get cold feets?

Yup, this trip report, supplied by rangers at Big Oak Flat, was discouraging:
Trip Report

Ended up switching to a North Rim Tour, with great success covering 40 miles from Lukens Lake to Tenaya Lake.

Getting back to the car required resorting to plan B below:
Plan A - Tuolumne Hiker's Bus. It never arrived, and BOF rangers told us later they were "misinformed" about it running on Saturday.
Plan B - hitchhiking (got a ride in 20 mins)
Plan C - prevail upon folks picnicing at Tenaya Lake to give us a ride (for pay)

You weren't actually going TO Ten Lakes though...

No biggie. I know you had a great trip with what you do.

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Thanks for the info eeek, I was wondering about that!