Quotechick-on Wutt! You get cold feets? Yup, this trip report, supplied by rangers at Big Oak Flat, was discouraging: Trip Report Ended up switching to a North Rim Tour, with great success covering 40 miles from Lukens Lake to Tenaya Lake. Getting back to the car required resorting to plan B below: Plan A - Tuolumne Hiker's Bus. It never arrived, and BOF rangers told us later tby vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Arrived park entrance on 120 at noon. Ranger shared visitor trip report from July 4; half-moon meadow flooded, icy path down to lakes, lakes covered in ice, can't see where lakes are. Right now (weds night) camped near eagle peak with lovely view of valley. : - ) South of tioga road def. easier than north side right now! Thanks much!by vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Likely headed into Ten Lakes area in the next day or so - anyone ventured up there in the last week or two? Expecting much snow, of course, and not sure if we'd find 1) 3-10 (or more) feet of snow all over, or 2) 1-2' of snow in patches, which would allow cross-country travel over granite. May just stick to cross-country across upper Yosemite Creek area south of Ten Lakes and just wby vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotevdrummer Quoteeeek The snow plow was gone? yes, snow plows were gone from there; there was only one other car in the parking lot loop at that moment (6/23 around 3:30 that day) Oh yes, sorry, snow plow was definitely parked across the road (checked my video), but not in the parking loop.by vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quoteeeek The snow plow was gone? yes, snow plows were gone from there; there was only one other car in the parking lot loop at that moment (6/23 around 3:30 that day)by vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Here's how the Tenaya Lake outlet (and parking loop) looked on June 23:by vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotemtn man Quotevdrummer Yes, I like having the audio; car engine sound reminds me of a dentist's drill. Someone had the right idea (1:51) - out there with their Tioga RV! Sounds like a stick shift..Yes? No? Automatic.by vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Yes, I like having the audio; car engine sound reminds me of a dentist's drill. Someone had the right idea (1:51) - out there with their Tioga RV!by vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
QuoteHitech I was expecting a twisting mountain road with no shoulder and a cliff on one side. Also with steep inclines. Something like Hwy 1 but in the mountains with steep inclines. There are definitely some steep sections and big cliffs between Tioga Pass & Lee Vining! That area is more spectacular in some ways. Worth venturing at least the two miles past the Pass to get a meal (andby vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Thought folks could just mute the audio if they didn't like it; thanks for the feedback. Shot with consumer-grade Sony video cam, used iMovie to import & convert to Quicktime MOV files, drag files to Final Cut Express and adjust speed to 2000% of real time, then resize in Quicktime.by vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
If you're curious (as I was) about what the Tioga Road looks like 5 days past opening day in the season that had 195% or so of average snowfall, voila: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUxYjyEXxd0 If that's a little too zippy, you can download your own version here (right click then 'save as' or 'download linked file', 140Mb file): http://www.ronrosano.com/2011-06-23_Tioga_Road-480x270.movby vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Temp was very comfortable, 60's-70's in sunlight, 50's & below once sun went down. I was fine with long sleeve hiking shirt in late afternoon, then added one fleece layer after sunset. No skeeters at all that day. Temp was high 30's when I drove out over Tioga Pass at around 9:30 p.m.; camped in Lee Vining canyon.by vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Tuolumne Meadows might better be called "Lake Tuolumne" right now: Beautiful sunset Thursday night 6/23/2011 from atop Pothole Dome! Shadow of the earth just coming up.by vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Anyone care to suggest favorite spots along the Tioga Road for viewing / photographing sunsets & sunrises? (under current conditions) I'm making a drive through on Thursday-Friday, and planning to come back over Sonora Pass / 108. I'm thinking of watching sunset from either 1) the Olmstead Point area or 2) maybe the west end of Tenaya Lake (over by Ansel Adams' tripod holes --speakingby vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotey_p_w William and Kate to stay at haunted hotel that inspired Stanley Kubrick's The Shining http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-1392444/Prince-William-Princess-Catherine-world-tour-Royal-couple-stay-hotel-inspired-Stanley-Kubricks-The-Shining.html It's the Tressider Suite on the sixth floor that supposedly is the source of the hauntedness: http://www.historic-hotels-lodges.com/calby vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
In addition to gear prep, I think getting into decent physical shape is very important. Check with your doctor. Three things: 1) To get into top physical fitnes, my doc recommended 30 mins per day at sustained target heart rate, 6 days per week, for 3 months. I stuck with this in 2007 and summited Kilimanjaro (19.340'). One target heart rate calc is here: http://www.stayinginshape.com/by vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotebill-e-g Why da bird said what he said: http://yosemitenews.info/forum/read.php?3,29009,29051#msg-29051 Have fun. Yes, saw that weather advisory - yikes! Got the Weather Service forecast on daily website rotation. Looks like we'll go out & back from Crabtree trailhead, and think about Ventana as a backup. Fun will assuredly be had! Thanks.by vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotechick-on In a few weeks you may be hiking in the snow. There's a fire near Pinecrest burning at the moment. Probably will be out by then though. I'd go PCT or Leavitt Lake if you got the vehicle depending on what weather looks like. Pretty difficult to plan something concrete late Oct+. Alrighty, thanks - and we'll have a Plan B in case of storm!by vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Pardon me for posting slightly outside the Yosemite area, but would any of you care to offer suggestions for a 20-30 (maybe up to 40) mile route through the Emigrant Wilderness? I'm planning to be there in a few weeks, and haven't visited the area before. A loop or semi-loop is preferred. My friend & I can manage 10+ miles per day, and are comfortable cross country with GPS & map. Wby vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
I had a fabulous overnight on Mt. Watkins 2 years ago - it's a fairly easy hike (starting at Olmstead Point), and has incredible views of the Valley and especially of Half Dome, which is directly across Tenaya Canyon from there. You need to venture off the trail a bit, but it's very easy to find if you have a reasonable sense of direction. No water up there, however, you would want to pack up aby vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
here's a full size 20mm image from similar spot: and I figured out that if you head south to the other side of the river and scrunch down on the river bank near the water, you can exclude the roadside vehicles from your image - here's a full size 50mm image from there:by vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quoteeeek QuoteIf you have a camera with 28mm lens and you set up at the location above and set your camera for ISO 800 and 15 seconds you should get a photo like the above. No, that's not enough information Care to guess the focal length of the lens I used for this? I'd guess in the range of 24-35mm - assuming of course that it's not cropped from a wider angle or stitched from multiple iby vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quoteeeek QuoteVince28 mm lens. That's meaningless unless one knows the area it is covering. Oh, I wouldn't say that's meaningless - 28mm is 28mm, and it's good for photographers to have a sense of that - i.e. how much area a 28mm lens covers. For these kinds of images, it's also good to keep in mind that a 15 second shutter time is about the longest to hold stars as fixed points, and atby vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quoteeeek Slope fire: (37 54.572 x 119 40.924; 6900’ el., Tuolumne Co). The Slope fire is at 1007 acres. The fire activity was low to moderate in spread, and growth, due to much cooler temperatures. Fifty percent of the perimeter is active, most to the northeast. It continues to burn in brush, timber and heavy accumulations of dead and down vegetation, through an area with no recorded fireby vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
I chose the Peak 10,410 excursion, and it was fabulous. 1,800' of altitude gain to that elevation isn't easy after driving up from sea level, and I think I underdosed my Diamox and had a bit of a headache through the night. Wayfinding off-trail was easy, and I always love hiking around on granite domes. I hiked up the eastern side on arrival, then down the western side the next morning, asby vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotechick-on NOOOOO!!!!! That's Marmut Rock! cereal-lessly... you can hike Delaney all the way to Skeleton Lakes as another option from there... The lowest one is beautiful... and the upper two are rock-hopping fun.. Great meadows on the way there... Mmmm . . . me likey the sound of that one too!by vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotewherever If it's the day hike, then consider one I took from the Tuolumne Lodge about ten days ago. I had a sore foot, so we kept the distance down. The goal is peak 10410 above Dog Lake. Take the Young Lakes Trail, then head off-trail after you cross the meadow at Delaney Creek. The peak is a nice granite dome with easy access from the east. Head up towards the ridge, but then just wby vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
That sounds pretty yummy - thanks! Anyone else want to throw in an idea?by vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Heya, I'm headed on 8/24 to Tuolumne Meadows for 2 days, and wanted to ask for hiking suggestions. I've been to Cathedral Lakes, Sunrise, Glen Aulin, Murphy Creek, May Lake, Mt. Hoffman, North Dome, top of Lembert Dome, top of Mt. Watkins from Olmstead Point, Mt. Dana, Gaylor Lakes, and Rafferty Creek, and I'm looking for something new to explore, maybe a 6 - 8 mile round trip solo overnightby vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Mmmm . . . and tastes even better! I'll be there Tuesday for a helping or two. Since home is less than a day's drive away, I try to bring home a slice or two for my lovely wife - which is a little self-serving, as she continues to support my efforts to explore the lovely Tuolumne area.by vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion