Re: Isberg to Vogelsang

I start hiking in the morning from Isberg TH in the Sierra National Forest. By afternoon I've reached Isberg Pass.



Spent the night on the Yosemite side at this large unnamed lake directly below the pass.



I follow the trail to the Lyell Fork, then wander along the river bank until it gets steeper,



I finally arrive at a unnamed lake just below Mt Ansel Adams.



The next morning has a glow



that is reflected in the lake.



There are ten or so unnamed lakes in this basin, and go out to find them all.



Looking at the lake basin from above,



and closer.



Eventually finding my way back to my little orange tent.



I also explored the lake basin above Bernice, this is one of the tarns.



Woke up this last day of my hike



to enjoy the morning reflections



at the edge of Vogelsang lake.

Lovely stuff, We camped at that un-named lake below Isberg Pass last year. Wonderful place.

And we have wanted to go back to explore what you've seen. Now you've given us even more reason to do so. Thanks!

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Katy: so from Isberg you followed the "high route" trail to the Lyell fork--just after a 1,000 foot 'down'--and followed it upstream to the basin there...correct? Or did you leave from the other Lyell fork in Lyell canyon? sorry, I'm terrible with topography. (and I'm at lunch at work with just a little time.) I'm hoping that you did the first alternative; it's somethin I've always wanted to do. Beautiful pictures; thanks for posting.

You've got it exactly right. My first day was about 14 miles from the Isberg TH in Sierra National Forest to the unnamed lake on the Yosemite side of Isberg Pass. The next morning I walked from that lake about a mile back to the trail, took the High trail 4 or 5 more miles to the Lyell Fork, then off trail up the fork a few miles to the lake basin above. Stayed in the basin and explored for a couple of days. Heaven on earth.

Yes that basin looks fantastic even from the trail. It looks like there may be some benches to the left of Lyell that 'might' connect up to the basin; was following the stream brushy or pretty easy? the only thing about that basin is, you hope for no lightning!

I don't think that I could keep up with your hiking pace. From Isberg TH to the pass is a pretty good climb.

Katy,
Which trailhead did you enter on in the Sierra Nat'l Forest?
Jim

You no read her first line? TH is the key. (Isberg)



For anyone interested... some more in the general vicinity and/or other options and whatnot.
http://yosemitenews.info/forum/read.php?3,28062,28062#msg-28062
http://yosemitenews.info/forum/read.php?3,58513,58513#msg-58513

http://yosemitenews.info/forum/read.php?3,28062,28062#msg-28062
http://yosemitenews.info/forum/read.php?3,46185,46185#msg-46185

Mentioned this a couple of times in the past I believe... Roper poo poos this area.
Why? I have no idea. To me.. Lakes Basin is SEKI... yeah... a bit of a letdown to be honest.
I think Upper Lyell Fork trumps it. Have to see for myself instead of from afar now.

Thanks Katy.

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chick-on
You no read her first line? TH is the key. (Isberg)

Nope. Me no read first line. Duh!

Hegel - on the way to the Upper Lyell Fork lake basin I followed the meandering creek along its south side. It was a bit brushy, but not too bad. On the way back I was on the north side which is even easier. In fact from Ansels camp back to the official trail there is use/abandoned/Ansel trail that is quite discernible. Once you start on the climb towards the lake basin it gets more challenging... I think that is all I am going to say here, if you want more info feel free to PM me.

Thanks for another terrific trip reports and photos!

I wish I had more time this summer to explore the High Sierra.

.

Fantastic! It looks like lots of solitude on that route. Thanks for the report.

Great pictures, especially the 'under Mt. Ansel Adams' ones.

Awesome! Thanks! My kind of country! LOVE LOVE LOVE! More, please and thank you!

Another brilliant, epic trip. Love the photos, especially the waterfall. Did you happen to find a benchmarker at/near Isberg Pass? BM 9520. I don't know what it is with me and round, metal discs. Maybe I hit my head on one of em and forgot about it.

Sorry, didn't see the bench marker at Isberg Pass. Never saw the Yosemite National Park sign either. That might be because I lost the trail right before the pass. Didn't seem important as I could see the lake where I was heading and just scrambled down to it.

There is some pretty good info on the Lyell fork of the Merced in this Sierra Trails magazine from 2007
http://www.doylewdonehoo.com/lyellfork/lyellfork001.htm

Thanks YosemiteJim! I read this trail report back in 2007 and that is what inspired me to look at planning a trip to the lake basin above the Lyell Fork of the Merced. Wanted to reread it this summer as I was putting the finishing touches to my long delayed plans, but could no longer find the link. There didn't seem to be any other trip reports to this area. So I just went figuring I'd either find my way up to the lake basin, or not, an adventure either way.

I had a feeling you may have read it before. Just came across the old Sierra Trails mags the other day. Great magazine. I really like the Minarets issue.
Lots to see in all of these issues: http://www.doylewdonehoo.com/sierratrails.html

Katy, I have this on my list for next year and was intrigued by the lack of green growth up there. Reminds me of an astronaut's description of the Moon, "magnificent desolation".

Thanks for the pics. You had me sold after the first two. I'm adding a trip out of Isberg Pass TH to my short list...

Can you fix the pix please...

Was just up dat-a-way last weekend. Pretty awesum.

Touchie all 4 WL lakes... Too lazy to go up to get markers...

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Quote
chick-on
Can you fix the pix please...

She linked photos from her Facebook account. Unfortunately, the URLs for those photos are not static and change over time, breaking the link.

Photos should be uploaded to another service like Google Photos or Flickr (among others).

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Leave No Trace

Quote
plawrence

Quote
chick-on
Can you fix the pix please...

She linked photos from her Facebook account. Unfortunately, the URLs for those photos are not static and change over time, breaking the link.

Photos should be uploaded to another service like Google Photos or Flickr (among others).

I'll PM her... prolly missed my request...

We hit all these lakes and area on July 4th.. absolutely stunning...

Of course there were mosquitoes... but it's beginning of July in the Sierra on a regular / low snow year!

(always been bombarded w/ them on trips then ... )

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About the pix, As plawrence says these are links to old Facebook pictures, not sure how to fix so that they display correctly. Also not organized enough to have my pix on a photo site, sorry.

Chick-on, now I want to hear about your trip and see your pictures. Pretty please?

Katy,
Wifie and I dooz a 5 day trip to Lyell Fork... Took over 1,500 pix... Very difficult to prune and such...
Day 1 we xc all way to Boothe... boated... then trail to Babcock for night...
Day 2 all trail after boating Babcock ... to Lyell Fork and up to WL 10,217 for camp
after there dayhiked to WL 10,702
Day 3 dayhike WL 11,311 and 10,299 and touch all the other lakes I could
(goofy goal to touchie all the WL lakes now ... so... why not?)
from there we backtracked and camped along "high trail"
Day 4 Lewis over Vogelsang... boat Vogelsang proper (around island), boat Fletcher, Townsley, and Hanging
camp at Townsley
Day 5 West Evelyn/Rafferty Ridge after boating Evelyn (had a lot of catching up with the blops to do!)
home
Gorgeous ... way too many pix to show ... maybe these few will get you an idea of difference
when you went there... we really did hit it at a nice time ... gorgeous green... lush... lots of flowers...
lots of water.... oc there were mosquitoes... so we tent it for bfast, lunch, dinn... worth it in spades













Hopefully ok...

ugh...

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Awesome.