Hello again. Still putting out great info here and that is why I am asking for your help. My sons (16,17 & 21) are all wanting to return and do a backpacking trip with me and want to roam the area north of Yosemite Falls and Half Dome, which we did last June. Clouds Rest is for sure on the list but we would need to loop for restocking of some foods and fuel. We do not want to go into the valley until we leave the park. Tuolumne Meadows , Vogelsang, and any other spots that would burn a memory for life in these young outdoorsman. I know the regs. say no more than 14 days camping during the summer but have heard of longer trips. We have 25 days to burn if we had too!! Thought about JMT to Mt. Whitney?? I know the trails/water depend alot on the winter weather and we are just wanting a guesstement on what month may be too early (mid-June) or the water supply dries up(early August). Does the water dry up enough to make this kind of trip risky? They all return back to school 2nd week of August. Thanks in advance for your time and help.

I have a similarly long trip (19 nights) planned this summer, and am spending plenty of time in the Ansel Adams wilderness just outside the park (around Thousand Island Lake). It works out pretty well since it ensures I won't go over the 14 night camping limit in the park, and the Thousand Island Lake area is the part of the trip I'm most excited about. Thus it doesn't feel like any kind of compromise whatsoever to get the extra days in.

I'd pick the destination, then the time. In a normal year July would work nice for destinations like Vogelsang (mid-to-late July for the higher country further south). The high country has plenty of lakes so water isn't really an issue, though waiting for the snow to melt might be an issue if you're not looking for it. Forested areas with seasonal streams are where you'd have to worry about stuff drying out.

Not sure what exactly you're asking for.

You can't really go wrong anywhere you go. It really is all that good.
Anything in the Sierra will be a worthwhile endeavor.
Literally thousands of trips you can dream up.

In the Sierra I never worry about water. The year we did JMT from
TM to Roads End a bunch of people were mentioning the lack of
water. We had no idea what they were talking about. There are
sooooo many lakes and streams and creeks and nearly all of
them run year round even on low snow years.

Since you mention TM.... maybe think about
TM > Cold > Mat > Smed -> Benson > Rodgers > Pate > GCT loop
or there are many many other loops you can do

We've done this loop... it's spectacular... as did tomdisco...

looking for his trip report...

---

Jim discos Trip Report:
http://yosemitenews.info/forum/read.php?3,45764

---

Quote
chick-on
Not sure what exactly you're asking for.

You can't really go wrong anywhere you go. It really is all that good.
Anything in the Sierra will be a worthwhile endeavor.
Literally thousands of trips you can dream up.

In the Sierra I never worry about water. The year we did JMT from
TM to Roads End a bunch of people were mentioning the lack of
water. We had no idea what they were talking about. There are
sooooo many lakes and streams and creeks and nearly all of
them run year round even on low snow years.

Since you mention TM.... maybe think about
TM > Cold > Mat > Smed -> Benson > Rodgers > Pate > GCT loop
or there are many many other loops you can do

We've done this loop... it's spectacular... as did tomdisco...

looking for his trip report...

From TM to the Road's End in SEKI?

I would LOVE to ever get enough time off to do trips like that again.

Quote
tanngrisnir3
From TM to the Road's End in SEKI?

I would LOVE to ever get enough time off to do trips like that again.

Yeah. Old Dude and I did that in, dang, 2007. Time flies...
Wife dropped us off in Tuolumne Meadows and came and picked us back up
at Roads End 2 weeks later.

The amusing item on that trip is Z Old Dude's Flippers weren't doing so well...
and when I called the wife from VVR and said he might bail... she said
"Tell him to suck it up! and you guys aren't even suppose to be there now!
You're suppose to be back on the trail!!! You had better be at Roads End when
I get there!"

I still don't know how he made it. Pretty amazing in my bird brain.

---

Thanks so much for your info. We are kind of partial to the last week of June or 1st week of July for starting. We figure on some snow (which we love) but don't want the burden of snow-shoeing. Mosquitoes we will probably have to deal with somewhere and are planning on getting licenced to fish and hope to hear of the lakes that would fill the bellies a time or two! Chick-on thanks for the link from Jim discos trip. It was really a great report. Great photos too. Do you have any other epic trip plans worthy of your valued opinions / links or maybe some fishing info useful for trip? I fully agree with you that anyplace in the Sierra is the best place to be relaxing wether it be on the trail or in a campground. Been enjoying this place since 1983. Thanks in advance for any other response and info. Good day to ya all.

Late June you won't need Snowshoes. No way. So take that out of your thinking.

There's lots of trip reports on this forum. Unfortunately they can be somewhat hard to find...
Some people have websites. There's loads of guidebooks and other stuff on the web.
A bunch of my gunk can be seen from the Picasa link in my sig. (and yes, I really do go that often)
Never had a bad trip. Nearly every time it's "ok, gotta come back and also do this or that"
so it's pretty hard to recommend anything in particular imho. It really is all good.

For you with that many days I would do 2 or 3 separate trips. With that timeframe nearly
everything in Yosemite should be accessible... if you go into SEKI then some passes
can def. be an issue.

Before the web I simply looked at a map and said "ok, gotta go see what is there".
(which then led to ... ok let's go touch all the lakes, climb all the peaks, hike all the trails)

The web is great nowadays b/c you can maybe see some photos here and there and
then you "have" to go see that.

Not sure how much this helps you... but I'd again rec. something with GCT in it.
White Wolf->Ten Lake->Glen Aulin->GCT loop

and then something else. It can be overwhelming... heck, I get overwhelmed looking at
all the Sierra I have yet to touch.

Have fun planning..
Lastly I'll just say... just have a general plan of a loop. Allocate N days for it. Then just go
and let the mountains (and your own body) talk to you when you should stop for the day.
All the times we planned a long trip with exact stops... it just never works that way.
Moods change, weather maybe comes into play. Someone wants to fish or ...

Have fun!

---

Thanks again Chick-on for the advice. Your recommendation for GCT loop and Glen Aulin for sure sounds like a winner!! I have a year to plan so if you backpack across something new & special, I will be looking for your feedback. Have you got any knowledge on promising fishing holes. Good,better,BEST lakes or streams for the trout ? If your out on the trail, hope you have a safe weekend.

Everything is special. Even if I've seen it before.

I don't fish much anymore. But some great lakes with fish in it are:
Benson, Smedberg, Tilden, Lower Ottoway
Loads of other lakes have fish in them. Just saw some really nice size
fish in Evelyn. There's Cutthroat in Hanging Basket (at least there
used to be cause I caught one). Interesting when I fished Ireland I
only caught punnies ... so was surprised to see such big fish in Evelyn.
There was one lake I'll be going back to this year and the number of fish
in it was just crazy. I'm gonna pull the fisherman on you and not tell you
anything other than it's not on any trail.
The vast majority have fish in them... some have been de-fished... but
most still have fish. Those lakes tend to be off trail though.

Going back to special places... I still keep thinking about the area between
Washburn and Lyell Fork last year... it was just magical for me.
I'm hoping can get back there this year.

Have fun planning

---

Re: "some have been de-fished" - is that a real word?

At my place, de fish will be on de grill this weekend!

Happy Memorial Day weekend, especially to those lucky enough to be somewhere in Yosemite...