Re: Ten Lakes->May Lake->North Valley Rim backpack - is this feasible?

I'd be interested to hear ideas/comments on the following backpack itinerary for late June:

day 1: Ten Lakes trailhead on 120 to Ten Lakes (6-7 miles)
day 2: Ten Lakes to Polly Dome Lakes (10-12 miles)
day 3: Polly Dome to Snow Creek (somewhere north of the trail down into the Valley) (11-13 miles)
day 4: Snow Creek to north of Yosemite Falls (past the El Cap turnout), or Eagle Peak depending on time (12+ miles)
day 5: along Yosemite Creek back to Ten Lakes trailhead. (9.5-10 miles)

all experienced hikers, hiking 15+ mile day hikes over 8k in so cal pretty much every weekend.

are these mileages (est. from National Geographic map) realistic? it looks like the only day with a lot of up and down will be day 2

thanks
Derick

Looks good to me.

Maybe add a day so that you have lots of time to goof around and explore.
Few go with that sort of plan and actually stick with it.

---

I agree. It always seems like a good idea to cover a lot of ground so that you can see things. But once you get out there, we find that it's more fun to have some time to get off the trail, poke around in those areas that other people don't get a chance to see, etc.

That means keeping days to under about ten miles, so that we have time to explore, or adding a rest day in the middle somewhere cool that allows us to use it as a base camp

---

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

I routed it past May Lake and it showed right around 50 miles.

It's a good plan. I'd go past May Lake. (i.e. retrace your steps for a little portion after
Polly Dome Lakes). (and hike up Mt. Hoffmann if you got it in you)
I'd also add a day so you can enjoy North Dome and top of Yose Falls and if you have
it in you... Eagle Peak... although I suspect you are biting off more than you can chew...
thus the add a day comment.
When you do your dayhikes... consider carrying a heavy pack. Your profile says
backpacking... if you are a backpacker... then you know what I'm talking already...
if not... dayhiking is a different animal... 15 miles dayhiking is way easier than
15 miles carrying 25+ pounds (or a whole lot more) on your back.

Since you are near 120 in the middle ... worse case you can bail and hitchhike to your car.

Have fun

---

Thanks for the feedback. I was wondering whether the May Lake or Tenaya Lake route on day 3 would be better, but it sounds like you'd favor May Lake.

I haven't weighed my winter pack but since December have typically been hauling snowshoes, crampons, ice axe, spikes, 5L water, and lots of winter clothes. I'd guess that's 25 lbs. at the outset, when the water bottles are all full....so it'll be more weight, but not such a massive increase from what I've been carrying recently. But I agree, these would be some pretty long days & I might reshuffle to allow an off day somewhere. Anyway this is a starting point for planning - I appreciate the comments.
Derick

w/r to the "Tenaya Lake Route"... the 0.9 section of trail just N of Tenaya.
There are no trail signs for that section of old trail and it is almost a
guarantee that unless you have a GPS with the waypoint marked exactly
that you will walk right by it and end up on the road and then go...
darnitall! The USGS map is spot on w/r to where that trail is though.
(i.e. it didn't move at all over time like others)

Why they did that is beyond me. But if you see a horse trailer parked
at Sunrise TH I can guarantee you that they took that way in to go
cut logs and whatnot.
Either way you go you can end up out on Mt. Watkins if you are not
adverse to some xcountry.

You can easily spend a day around Ten Lakes too... and you may want to
go out on Grand Mtn.
If you want some pix of all this ... I can put some links here... some people
on this forum went in that area last year and were nice enough to post
photos and whatnot.

Have fun

---

Sounds like a great agenda. Please report back after your trip if you would had done anything differently. Maybe I'll plan my route similar to you.