Re: First night camping restrictions

Hey, I had a question for you all regarding camping at the high sierra camps as a backpacker the first night of a trip. For example, I once started a trip from Mirror Lake, went up the Snow Creek Trail and camped at the May Lake backpackers camp on my first night. This wasn't a problem. Last August I started a trip from Murphy Creek and was told I couldn't camp at Glen Aulin until night two. I don't understand what the difference is between the two. If anyone knows what the official rule is I would like to know!

Is it legal to start from Mono Meadow and spend night one at Merced Lake?

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ckm554
Hey, I had a question for you all regarding camping at the high sierra camps as a backpacker the first night of a trip. For example, I once started a trip from Mirror Lake, went up the Snow Creek Trail and camped at the May Lake backpackers camp on my first night. This wasn't a problem. Last August I started a trip from Murphy Creek and was told I couldn't camp at Glen Aulin until night two. I don't understand what the difference is between the two. If anyone knows what the official rule is I would like to know!

Is it legal to start from Mono Meadow and spend night one at Merced Lake?

Here is a link to trailhead http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/trailheads.htm information. Notice the link in that page to the PDF of the trailhead map. This map explains a lot.

Glen Aulin is impacted so the number of people allowed to camp there on night one is restricted but other quotas allow to passing through Glen Aulin for camping further down the Grand Canyon or up Cold Canyon.

Little Yosemite Valley also has this pass through thing to Sunrise and Merced.

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Old Dude



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/25/2012 05:07PM by mrcondron.

So the trailheads for Glen Aulin and Little Yosemite Valley have two different kinds of permits issued with two different #'s of permits.

One # of permits for when you're staying at those locations the first night,
and another # of permits where you're hiking a certain distance past Glen Aulin/Little Yosemite Valley for the first night ( i.e. the pass-thru ).

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qumqats
So the trailheads for Glen Aulin and Little Yosemite Valley have two different kinds of permits issued with two different #'s of permits.

One # of permits for when you're staying at those locations the first night,
and another # of permits where you're hiking a certain distance past Glen Aulin/Little Yosemite Valley for the first night ( i.e. the pass-thru ).

Correct.

There are also two types of backpackers capmgrounds. Those at trailheads which one can stay at for a fee on the night prior to the permit entry date and for one night at the end of the hike, and the other which is an area designated for backpacker use in the back country usually adjacent to a High Sierra camp.

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Old Dude

The only legal way to stay at LYV or Glen Aulin on your first night during permitting season
is to get a permit that says so. This may sound pretty duh... but it just means that if
you have ANY other permit you cannot camp there on night one.
If you get Glen Aulin .. you MUST camp there on first night... and NOT do the passthru camping.
You MUST camp in the Illiouette Basin on night one with a Mono Meadow TH permit.

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I encountered an unexpected first night restriction last summer. Our route was T Meadows (next to the store) --> saddle S. of Johnson Peak, then Vogelsang Pass and Gallison Lake. We wanted to camp in the area SW of Johnson Peak and before the saddle (above Elizabeth Lake), but restrictions around the Elizabeth Lake basin required us to cross over the ridge and spend our first night in Echo Creek canyon, over near Reymann Lake, or over the ridge towards Rafferty Creek.

We adjusted our plan and it worked out ok, but we had to travel farther than we wanted on day one.

Note that wilderness trips do not have to start at a trailhead - if you're comfortable going cross country, you can start pretty much anywhere along the Tioga Road; just be prepared to discuss with permit-issuing rangers where you plan to sleep on your first night.

Dats Nelson Lake TH... it's the same as Budd TH... gotta be over the crest on day 1.

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vdrummer,

The Nat Geo Trails Illustrated map shows the entire area north of Cathedral Peak, Echo Peaks, Cockscomb, and Johnson Peak ridge as a no camping zone, regardless whether or not it's your first night. I find the Nat Geo maps very helpful in this respect for planning purposes. Three years ago I took the Dog Lake trail to Young Lakes and returned part way on the westward trail to spend my first night just outside the no camping zone. Two years ago I spent a final night 2/3 the way down the Rafferty Creek trail just outside the no camping zone. Without that no camping zone clearly marked on the map I would not have had a good feel for whether or not I was legally camping.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/01/2012 06:35AM by tomdisco.