I don't have any snow conditions update. On my trip, I had planned, on my drive to the starting point in the valley, to take a side trip up the Tioga Road to do some scouting, but the road was closed at the time. You might do that if the road is open...stop at Olmstead point and take a quick hike down to the trail in the trees and check out the conditions. Quotejishaq Did you end up taking Yosby Bearproof - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
I hiked from the Valley to Snow Creek Point over the weekend (note: hiking up 2700 ft. the day after Thanksgiving dinner is a problem), then day-hiked to the Snow Creek Cabin and Mt. Watkins. Conditions note: I carried my snow shoes and regretted it, there's obviously very little snow even up high, I didn't bother carrying them up Watkins and the snow was never more than ankle high. Anyway, Iby ttilley - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Here's the videos from the trip. ENJOY! Clouds Rest: Looking at the Clouds from Clouds Rest #1 Looking at the Clouds from Clouds Rest #2 Looking at the Clouds from Clouds Rest #3 Looking at the Clouds from Clouds Rest #4 Quarter Domes: Quarter and Half Domes and looking down the chute between them Looking down at Mirror Lake, Mt Watkins, Tenaya Canyon, and Half Dome from Lowerby qumqats - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Tanks. Was wondering if you got up there. QD is a special lilttle place. But Ill ridge is a nice little gem as you found out. ala: http://yosemitenews.info/forum/read.php?3,30398,32327#msg-32327by bill-e-g - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotewherever It sounds like a fun trip. Thanks for the info. What's with the toilets at the Backpackers' Campground? Are they planning to close it for good? I think the sewer line for those bathrooms had to cross under Tenaya creek and they had some problems with the piping crossing. As a result they decided to just rip out the bathrooms and sewer piping and replace them with a bunch ofby qumqats - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
It sounds like a fun trip. Thanks for the info. What's with the toilets at the Backpackers' Campground? Are they planning to close it for good?by wherever - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
I guess I'd better do this Trip Report before I start forgetting things! When was the trip anyway? . . . ( starting to load photos from SDHC cards, looking at date stamp on photos ) Ok, I spent a week in Yosemite, from Sat Oct 22 to Sat Oct 29. This is a bit old to get current conditions, but you might enjoy the story and photos/videos I'm going to do this in multiple postings. This firstby qumqats - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotetanngrisnir3 In relation to this, does anyone know if Mirror Lake currently has a lot of water in it? Nothing significant. It's Mirror Meadow. Although there are a few spots you can still take the classic reflection shots of Half Dome, Ahwiyah Pt, or Watkins.by Ohnivy-Drak - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
In relation to this, does anyone know if Mirror Lake currently has a lot of water in it?by tanngrisnir3 - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Sure those springs will be running. Almost assuredly... but what I recommend you do is simply get out your two litre platy and fill that up at JMT/CR Trail junction... (i.e. the spring creeklet) along with your bladder or wawa bottles... then chug up the trail... and zig to east quarter. From the western most switcher it's < 200ft. up to the QD. (and please, for the love of Chick-onby chick-on - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Any suggestions for water sources near Quarter Domes? Would the pipe/spring on the Half Dome trail still be running? What about the on-trail spring near the Pinnacles on Clouds Rest? Any water in between those two? ADVthaAnksNCEby qumqats - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Kewl. Thanks. Haven't forgotten. Still have your pix of ur kids with the pipe (shown above). Once the cables are down I'll prolly go up there and play around.by chick-on - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
QuoteChick-on Anyone out there finds the pipe... please post... thx It is still there! Here is what it looked like last Thursday: I have it at 37.75079 latitude, -119.51276 longitude, which puts it slightly north and east of where it shows on the USGS topo. Looking at the location on USGS I wonder about the accuracy of the reading (I admit that it was late on a big day and the tree coverby Bearproof - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
As badly as I wanted to do the quarter domes on my recent Clouds Rest/Half Dome hike I was solo and it was my first time. Maybe next time...by chicagocwright - General Discussion
Quoteryanmj Quotechick-on Berry nice. Love the first one with the shadow of Eastern Quarter Dome. I need to dew dat canyon! I talked to an employee that was going to do it the 2nd week in August, he said that the water was still very high. When I asked if they planned on rappeling or down climbing he said they were going to "jump". Having just been there... my response would now bby chick-on - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
QuoteOhnivy-Drak [According to a climbers forum on supertopo.com, there's a zig-zag route up the NE Gully which the author considered Class 3. Looks dangerous in any season. I was just curious if anyone has been to the top. I've never seen a photo of anyone up there. I also thought about your suggested route, going around and down from Subdome. Not that I would ever attempt it, but maybe iby wherever - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
OK. You've all finally goaded me into putting my two cents worth. Any list of most underrated places near the Valley has to take into account what you think is a good hike. If it's short and easy that you want, try these: http://yosemitenews.info/forum/read.php?3,34462,34462#msg-34462 http://yosemitenews.info/forum/read.php?3,39010,39010#msg-39010 If its an easy side trip off a busy tby wherever - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotewherever Quotechick-on From what I pretend I know... You go up the Half Dome Slabs to NW face .. and it's all more or less class 3-ish. Ahwiyah and Bushido Gully from what I have heard are class 3. I wouldn't go without a rope... even though there will prob. be fixed ropes already in places. (what you should really take from this is... it's prob. closer to class 4... and you shoulby Ohnivy-Drak - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotechick-on From what I pretend I know... You go up the Half Dome Slabs to NW face .. and it's all more or less class 3-ish. Ahwiyah and Bushido Gully from what I have heard are class 3. I wouldn't go without a rope... even though there will prob. be fixed ropes already in places. (what you should really take from this is... it's prob. closer to class 4... and you should go and ask aby wherever - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotechick-on Berry nice. Love the first one with the shadow of Eastern Quarter Dome. I need to dew dat canyon! I talked to an employee that was going to do it the 2nd week in August, he said that the water was still very high. When I asked if they planned on rappeling or down climbing he said they were going to "jump".by ryanmj - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Berry nice. Love the first one with the shadow of Eastern Quarter Dome. I need to dew dat canyon!by chick-on - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
I am trying to be over-specific with "sun" rise and figure out what time it will be where I can see good enough to hike. Twilight 5:52, Sunrise 6:19 By the way Chick-On I am skipping the Quarter Domes and staying on the trail between Clouds Rest and Half Dome. Wife and parents were nervous about the "bushwhacking".by chicagocwright - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Well we had a GREAT time while at Yosemite. From June 8th - June 23rd we went up Yosemite Falls and camped up there for a few days, stayed at Wawona 6 days and then off to LYV and then on to Half Dome at sunrise the first full day the cables were up.(23rd). My teenage sons (3 ea.) had the time of their life. First time for them and seventh time for me, first time to visit other than winter time.by beardbuster - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Thanks for all the input! I would never condone/use a harness/carabiner setup if it endangered others or Half Dome. We purchased a simple harness with two extensions. The original carabiners that were suggested by REI seemed too small to another employee there so the search for thr actual width was on. We ended up purchasing the biggest locking twist release ones they had - just over the width oby robinjayp - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quoterobinjayp Does anyone know the exact width of the Half Dome cables? I have been searching online and the only measurement I could find was "just under the size of a quarter" and that found on a few blog sites. Any assistance would be much appreciated (trying to resolve a carabiner size issue). Thanks! Robin Some people I hiked with a few weeks ago harnessed and used binerby ryanmj - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Does anyone know the exact width of the Half Dome cables? I have been searching online and the only measurement I could find was "just under the size of a quarter" and that found on a few blog sites. Any assistance would be much appreciated (trying to resolve a carabiner size issue). Thanks! Robinby robinjayp - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
QuoteQITNL I might have seen your lights on Stanford Point, if you were up there Sunday night. I was on El Cap. It's fun to fire your flash from Quarter Domes at night towards the people stopping on Olmstead Point. You can imagine them ion the parking lot going "WTH?".by mrcondron - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
QuoteJpsfirstresponse So if im correct your suggestion would be to hike up to tenaya and then jump on road until lambs dome then head off there and hike around the mountain range above catherdal lakes and down onto jmt then at sunrise junction go east on the trail which will lead down to echo valley then head right into valley? The route goes xcountry (but it should not matter since the trail wiby chick-on - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
We attempted Half Dome this last weekend (June 4, 2011). The trail was superb. A light rain kept the dust down and the people away. We hiked the trail and saw fewer than 40 people above Nevada Falls. Just below the stairs, the rain turned into a light snow. It was more like ice crystals than flakes and would melt immediatly upon impact. We pressed on up the stairs and onto a small snow fiby jmoshier - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Thank you guys again so much for all this information. Much for me to consider regarding Quarter Dome. At that point in the hike I will how adventurous I feel about some bushwhacking. "unless you fall into the canyon" At least I might have extra water! And speaking of bears on the other forum, how often are bears seen during long day hikes like this? I would love to get a shotby chicagocwright - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion