Re: Clouds Rest's inlet crossing

Hello. We (mix of moderately experienced hikers and novices) are planning to do Clouds Rest from Tenaya in mid-June. Not excited about the water crossing to open and close the hike. Any chance the stepping stones are usable by then given the relatively dry winter? Anyone been by the trailhead this season?

Multi-day coming up from the Valley and staying at LYV isn't feasible for us. I don't think all of us could handle the 20-mile round trip from Happy Isles on a day trip, either.

I can't comment on the Tenaya Lake to Clouds Rest trail, but your reservations
about the other route are well founded. I did CR from Happy Isles last year, and
it is extremely strenuous. Possible, yes, but not for everyone in a large group.

Thanks for the input, Dave. Two of us going did 4-Mile to Panorama to Valley via Mist last fall ... pretty tuckering. I'm hesitant to subject others to much more than that distance.

What a coincidence....I did the 4 Mile, Panorama, Mist hike last year,
(with Sentinel Dome & Taft Pt.) too. The hike to CR is much more
challenging, in my opinion. Much of that route is above 8000 ft., and
that is where the elevation became noticeable.

The top of CR is a worthwhile goal. View from there will leave you
searching for words. Enjoy.

take your shoes off, cross the creek than dry your feet

Good idea, thanks.

The amount of snow melt is going to determine how much water is coming out of Tenaya Lake. Usually, by early July the stepping stones are dry and the stream is just a trickle. Three weeks earlier is anybody's guess. Sometimes it's hip deep! I would count on knee deep and be hopeful if it's less than that.

I doubt there will be enough water flowing out of Tenaya in mid June to be of any concern. The crossing is quite wide so the water, if any, will be shallow, like inches deep.

---

Old Dude

Wit Z Old Dood here.

I'd bet a couple of Twinkies it's a rock skip across.

Didn't even bother taking a look a couple weekends ago b/c of the
crossing of Tenaya Creek above was meh... and Cathedral outflow was
pretty much the same.

---

Hello, first post, love the forum.

I did tenaya lake>clouds rest on may 24th 2013. The lake crossing was just below my knees and was a minor inconvenience. Like another poster said just take off your shoes and dry off your feet on one of the rocks on the other side.

The snow on the trail was a bother however. On the ascent (abut 1.5 miles into the hike) there was a lot of snow on the switchbacks. However it will probably melt significantly by the time your trip rolls around so I wouldnt be discouraged.

I'm twisted. I love that crossing when it's deep and cold. One year we came up on a group taking shoes off, rolling up pants, trying to stay on top of the rocks which were submerged, but not too much. Basilbop and I did our usual quick check of water depth and speed (obviously slow and safe) and just kept walking right through... I think mid-thigh on me, and as we passed one guy, he said "So that's how it's done?!" and I said "Yup, that's how it's done." These days we are very accustomed to wading creeks and continuing on - for many miles. In the past, I've stopped to remove shoes, wade, dry feet and continue on, but I don't need to any more. Frankly, it hurts the bottoms of my feet to walk on the rocks, not to mention twigs/logs/what-have-you. I use my crocs if I'm trying to keep my shoes dry.

And even if you keep your toes dry on the way out to CR, I'd highly recommend soaking your feet (and knees if you can) in the cold water on the return... so yummy and so refreshing after that drop from the Sunrise junction. You are close to the trailhead... hopefully even blister prone feet will survive that short walk home.

On longer trips, the key is to have dry feet for at least an hour a day. I've never found that to be a problem as I always keep a pair of dry socks for sleeping packed away.

Don't let the water level deter you! As iLOVEyosemite (great name!) points out, if there is snow on the switchbacks, that's going to be more trouble than the creek crossing, and the crossing is already low.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/29/2013 08:54PM by JustKeepWalking.

Quote
JustKeepWalking

Don't let the water level deter you! As iLOVEyosemite (great name!)

Thank you sir.

It is the truth. I live for this place.

Quote
iLOVEyosemite

Quote
JustKeepWalking

Don't let the water level deter you! As iLOVEyosemite (great name!)

Thank you sir.

It is the truth. I live for this place.

(pssst! It's sir-ess)

---

Old Dude

Thanks for the feedback, everyone!