The lookout is just west of the switchback, above where you turned around. So you didn't quite get there, if you were coming up from the Valley.by wherever - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
No, but I'm sure that there are readers of this forum who know the whole story. It does seem strange to claim that leakage from a tank situated in the Staircase Falls drainage (see Ledge Trail thread) could have caused one of the endless rockfalls on the face below Glacier Point, on the other side of the Point. But one of the great properties of our legal system is that you can sue the Park Serby wherever - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
This is #5 on my list of abandoned trails and off-trail hikes. This is my favorite long hike in the group. It's a day hike, but it makes for a very long day, especially if you then continue down to the Valley. It requires a car spot, or at least being dropped off at the entrance driveway to Yosemite Creek Campground. Start early, and don't hike alone. This is a long ridge, or rather a seriby wherever - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Absolutely take your bikes. And lock them up. Bikes do get stolen, and I wouldn't use a $5000 carbon fiber whiz-bang bike there, but an ordinary bike is as safe in Yosemite as it is outside your library back home. You see lots of cheap bikes sitting around unlocked. If you have a quick release seat post, just take the seat inside overnight. That, and/or a lock, is enough to send a potentiaby wherever - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Bill said "The pipe and tanks are still in use today. To provide water to GP they pump water up from the valley. (that is my best guess) ." The water in question originates in a spring in the gully that runs down the east side of Sentinel Rock. It is collected in a small concrete box. It then flows downhill in that creek bed in (today) a large plastic pipe to get below an outcrop,by wherever - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
OK, so my recent posts on abandoned trails haven't provoked much interest. Probably because most of you never want to set foot off-trail. Here are a couple of historic points on very popular trails...the Four Mile Trail and the trail from Happy Isles to Vernal Fall Bridge. They are worth a ten minute look as you pass by, because they help explain some of the history of the park. Anderson Spby wherever - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Actually, unless the photo is reversed, that has to be looking east towards El Cap.by wherever - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
This is #4 on my list of abandoned trails and off-trail hikes near Yosemite Valley. Don't worry, I'm not going to post them all. You want a hike that isn't overrun with people? This one qualifies, though it is on the sunny side of the valley and should be avoided on very hot days in the summer. The bottom mile qualifies as a great short round trip hike in its own right, as it provides theby wherever - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Google documents seems to be changing the links to the photos, for no reason. Once again here are the pictures, through the preview page this time: http://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B9ZDeFswongBNTM4N2EwYTUtNzk2MC00NWY0LTg4NDktOTVkNGE4Zjg4ZTNj&hl=en http://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B9ZDeFswongBOTVmNTFlNDktNjc2YS00YmFmLThmYzYtZjYyOTdhMWY2YmNj&hl=en http://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B9Zby wherever - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
An additional comment about what caused the end of life for this road, even as a trail. From "Roadside Geology of Yosemite Valley" by Garry Hayes: http://virtual.yosemite.cc.ca.us/ghayes/roadside.htm 1982 rockslide. Rocks on both sides of the highway are part of a 100,000 m3 rockfall which took place in April 1982. The slide closed the highway for several months, severed the sewby wherever - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
This is #3 on my list of abandoned trails and off-trail hikes near Yosemite Valley. This is the easiest and safest off-trail hike that I can think of. It's almost impossible to get seriously lost. You are in an area bounded by Higway 41 to the west, Tamarack Creek to the east, the campground and Tioga Pass Road to the north, and the El Cap Trail to the south. The Devils Dance Floor is a flaby wherever - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Right. Thanks for the photos. But that creek crossing is not actually on the Old Big Oak Flat Road, which crosses Tamarack Creek on an excellent bridge at Tamarack Campground. I suspect that you started at the trailhead at route 41, the New Big Oak Flat Road, (marked on the map I posted as Foresta Turnoff) . That is an extension of the El Cap trail, which joins briefly with the old road to getby wherever - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Thanks for the comment. My mapping program suppresses labels on waypoints if they are too close together. Here is a closeup of the area you are talking about. Route 16 has multiple labels because it is long enough to require several points to indicate roughly where the thing goes. https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B9ZDeFswongBMThkZmFjMjgtMzdhNy00NWE2LWI5NGUtYTUwNzI3YTVlYjhk&hl=en I wasby wherever - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
deleted obsolete linkby wherever - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
In a recent post I mentioned some off-trail routes near Yosemite Valley. Here is an easy one. It is also one of the last to get snow in the Fall, and the first to melt clear, so it's a great half day jaunt on the way home from a Thanksgiving or Spring trip to the Valley. History: The Old Coulterville Road, and the Old Big Oak Flat roads were the first roads into Yosemite from the north. Thby wherever - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
It's June in Yosemite, and the Valley is crawling with people. None of the campgrounds or cabins in the higher elevations are open yet. It's so nice to stay in the Valley, but how to avoid the crowds on the trail? I've been doing it for years by hiking the abandoned trails, or by pleasant off-trail walks, or hiking some of the more interesting climbers' access trails. Or, in some cases, byby wherever - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Not the Gunsight. That's roped scrambling for most people, and a rappel down. As I understand it, Leconte's Gully is accessed by starting up the Sierra Pt trail, but going left when you hit the cliff. Just follow the base of the cliff until you end up in the gully. It comes out on the west side of the saddle between Grizzly Peak and the ridge that runs up to the Diving Board. I prefer to aby wherever - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
"...beyond that there is little danger...." Actually, when the trail was still in official use, this was not considered the dangerous part. People would stick to the trail and use the chains where necessary. The stuff you kicked loose would just go over the side, and there wasn't that much coming off the cliff face above you. What hurt so many people was the upper half. It's a veby wherever - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
No, it's not the least bit wet. As late as the 1950's the Indian Canyon Trail was on a park list as a possible "all-weather" trail up out of the Valley. Back then, horses were still a big item, and that trail, built on the original Indian route to the high country, has the virtue that it crosses no streams whatsoever. It was originally built as a toll mule route, but was put out of bby wherever - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
I don't know why the photo didn't work. Try this: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/XPPUrJOu2TL3Fs_b9QN4Ww?feat=directlinkby wherever - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Here is an old photo, taken from near Eagle Peak, that shows what is going on. From the top of Glacier Point, you can see the avalanche gully which is the upper part of the trail. About halfway down, it reaches the face of the mountain, and three things happen: Staircase Falls begins cascading down a series of ledges to Curry Village. Behind that in the photo is the main trail ledge, whby wherever - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Some comments about the Ledge Trail from an old-timer: This trail was very popular about a hundred years ago. It was the quickest way to Glacier Point from Curry Village, and was the route used by the guy who lit the firefall every night. It was never difficult, if you had good footwear. The first half goes up to the right on a sloping ledge from Curry Village, all the way to the top of Staby wherever - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Some comments about the cables and the upright posts and the wooden cross pieces. There may be some readers here who haven't seen them, and may be wondering how the system can still be used by people when part of it is "broken". It's not like a ladder with a broken rung. The Cables: The cables are thick steel ones than run for a hundred feet or so, and then are anchored to big eyby wherever - General Discussion
Rock climbing shoes are a help on the cables, but they are usually awful to use on the rest of the hike. Remember that you have about 16 miles to hike. Climbing "slippers" are especially bad when pounding downhill. I had one friend who wore them for the whole hike, and felt like he was crippling himself. Bad idea...by wherever - General Discussion
Yes, it's been far more than four deaths on the Half Dome Trail. But the rangers were correct last year when they said that Nohara was the first healthy person to fall off the cables and die in clear weather. He was careless, that's all. The book "Off the Wall: Death in Yosemite" by Michael Ghiglieri (2007) lists hundreds who have died in the park up to its publication date. One guyby wherever - General Discussion