Due to some lucky campsite reservation website mojo, I got to spend a week camping in the valley! The first day, I got to travel from Tenaya Lake to the valley via Clouds Rest. The mosquitoes were bad going up to the Sunrise junction, where there were some lingering patches of snow, but there were few bugs and little snow after that. From the summit, I could see how little snow there was in thby basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
I suspect, then, that the name Blue Slide has been applied to the big slides east of the pass, or the Mono County sheriff entered the park to help out... But the Auto Tour Book puts Blue Slide on the west side, specifically at road marker T-21.by basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Isn't Blue Slide is where there is a large cut through rocks and gravel, roughly 1 mile east of the TM Lodge turnoff. In this case, it would be west of the entrance.by basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotechick-on Basil, I read somewhere that Kings was created as an appeasement more or less to Muir after what occurred in Hetch Hetchy. My understanding is that there was an early proposal for a "John Muir National Park" that would have included most of the land between Sequoia and Yosemite--basically the current Kings Canyon NP and the John Muir and Ansel Adams Wildernesses.by basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
You can generally get cell coverage (at least AT&T and Verizon) along the Tioga Road where there is mostly unobstructed visibility toward Glacier Point, such as Olmstead Point. Oddly, however, I didn't have any luck getting AT&T coverage from Clouds Rest when I camped there a month ago--perhaps because the GP antennas are aimed downward for valley coverage...?by basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotechicagocwright For some reason there are two markers on top of Clouds Rest but not one on Half Dome. Besides humorous answers, no one has postulated a guess on why there is not one on Half Dome. Actually, those are not benchmarks per-se, but rather are reference marks that point to the benchmark, which is not nearly as impressive: The NOAA NGS data sheet for the Clouds Rby basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
QuoteRoyalist If (and it's a very big "if" right now), we do the loop, how's this: Day 1: White Wolf to Pate Valley ~9.5 miles Day 2: Pate Valley to Cathedral Creek ~7 miles Day 3: Cathedral Creek to Glen Aulin HSC (and maybe a cooked meal and a BEER and no need to dig a hole) ~6.5 miles Day 4: Glen Aulin HSC to S Fork Cathedral ~10 miles Day 5: S Fork Cathedral to Ten Lakes ~5by basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quoteplawrence If no dam was built would probably had become quite developed with lodging accommodations, campgrounds, gift shops, and what not, just like how Yosemite Valley is today. Perhaps... but Yosemite Valley already had extensive development by 1910 or so--roads, hotels, and other businesses--while Hetch Hetchy was accessible only via trail and had no significant development. It'sby basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
The title mentions Pothole (Dome?), but the official Glen Aulin trail doesn't go near Pothole Dome... I'm assuming you're referring to the unofficial use trail that follows the south side of the Tuolumne, from Pothole Dome to the bridges where the official trail crosses to the south. (The official trail stays far from the river in the forest for the first few miles...) There is one set of caby basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
White meat or dark? :-)by basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
This weekend: a short dayhike along the wonderful stretch of Tenaya Creek between Tenaya Lake and the Lone Boulder. Despite the general warnings about the dangers of travel into Tenaya Canyon, this upper segment is mostly easy and safe cross-country travel. If you like open, polished granite and clear pools, and cascades, and don't mind some cross-country travel, add this one to your bucket lisby basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
The May Lake/Snow Flat road appeared to be open this weekend (May 19th)--that is, I didn't see the closed gate from the Tioga Road while driving by.by basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
...and, they have the Steripen Opti for $65: http://www.rei.com/product/799003/steripen-adventurer-opti-water-purifier.by basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotetanngrisnir3 Do you know where the trail to Budd Lake is? Start up the trail to Cathedral Lakes/Pass, and after about a quarter mile (after a few steep, short switchbacks) look for an obvious use trail heading to the left. The Budd Lake use trail is fairly easy to follow from there to the lake, except perhaps for one short section where it goes over open granite, where you want to go upby basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
I tried to zoom in to see the camera, but my CSI sub-pixel resolving image-enhancement plug-in doesn't seem to be working...by basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotechick-on I left my camera... did you go look for it? "Left" as in "watched as it tumbled down Basket Dome Gulley into Tenaya Canyon"...? :-)by basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Food preferences are personal--some people (and birds) can survive on Twinkies, I am partial to most Mountain House fare, others will have nothing other than their own homemade cuisine... Just make sure you bring something that you generally like, since sometimes altitude kills your appetite. If trying something new, a taste test may not be a bad idea--on more than a few occasions, some friendsby basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quoteyourwheeldude i am going on a hike the week from 6/9 to 6/15 on high sierra trail. should we expect this much snow ? ? The High Sierra Loop (in Yosemite), or the High Sierra Trail (in Sequoia)? The former probably will probably have some lingering snow near May Lake, Sunrise Lakes, and Vogelsang/Tuolumne Pass. The latter, since the south got much less snow, will probably be snow-freeby basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Abstract: Informal field observations of the "pink Sierra chick-on" (Pseudogallus roseus) suggests that it has a peculiar migratory pattern. Instead of the dominant season-based frequency, this bird's migrational frequency is exactly one week. The bird spends several days in a former alluvial delta-wetlands environment, migrating to the Sierra Nevada for a few days every weekend. Toby basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
So, what do we local Yosemite/Sierra nuts do when we can't make it to the *real* mountains for the weekend getaway? Sometimes, we just have to be content to stroll around our regional parks... which this weekend meant a 28 mile day hike along the Ohlone - Sunol trail from Del Valle (south of Livermore) to the Mission Peak staging area (near Fremont). This trail has some single-track sections,by basilbop - General Discussion
QuoteAtaim I'll be in Yosimite May 30-June 7 and want to take picture of the fullmoon (well one day before) from north dome. According to: http://www.yosemitehikes.com/tioga-road/north-dome/north-dome.htm its a medium-high difficult. Because I will be hiking back in the dark with a pack full of camera gear (40 pounds) with a full moon is it dooable? 8.8 miles with the pack is not too far for meby basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotechick-on Thank you again for the set of photos. I personally signed a few of them for you. Of course you just made some more work for me. Although I suspect that perhaps there is a Benchmarker along that little gem you pointed out. w/r to the route... you didn't listen entirely... now you have to go back and follow... I presume you bypassed Upper and Lower Pinnacles. Not surprised...by basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotehotrod4x5 Because of the elevation, bears are not a concern? Yosemite generally requires canisters at all elevations, although the odds of encountering a bear at high elevations in winter are low. Note: some rangers have told me canisters are not needed in winter; e.g. while snow-camping, but others have said they are always required. While there was probably a near-zero chance of a beby basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
This weekend, with some helpful pink-bird beta, I decided to do an overnight trip to the Quarter Domes. (Warning: long posting. TL;DR version: No snow until 9000', camped on Clouds Rest, clouds covered everything, Quarter Domes great, wonderful trip!) The ascent to Little Yosemite Valley was uneventful, except that the gate for the upper part of the Mist Trail was still closed. (Editorialby basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotethepoloman33 Thanks for the great pictures and description. I am planning on doing this hike in a few weeks. Can you help me understand where you started? I have Yosemite Trails Map #206 and I see a couple of references to "Old Big Oak Flat Road". One is up by Tamarack Flat but I don't think that is where you started. It appears that Tamarack Flat campground is closed unby basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
On Saturday I got a call from some hiking friends asking what I was doing this weekend. I had been thinking about a day hike to Smith Peak or El Capitain. It ends up they were already heading up to Yosemite to do El Cap, so we made plans to meet at the Big Oak Flat entrance station Sunday morning. (My wife had to sit this one out due to illness... ) Around 8:00, at the Big Oak Flat entranceby basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotechick-on especially after losing one of my cameras in the shrubbation on way down ... I think it was the smell of Twinkie from the west that distracted you, resulting in the camera snafu... sorry about that :-)by basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
The 2012 map looks like it is computer generated--many labels are in locations that would obscure trails and other missing features, something that would not be done if they had been placed by hand. I suspect some data sets were missing when the map was generated, or the data for these has been moved into different map products. Curiously, there are some significant contour differences betweby basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
At least now I know why my Acme-Certified, Wile E. Coyote-approved Chick-on lure and trap didn't work: It ends up the elusive pink Sierra chicken (Pseudogallus roseus) was on the other side of the Tioga Road... Anyway, due to an unexpected sprained ankle (hers), the planned Easter weekend trip with my wife in Sequoia evolved into solo day hike in the Hetch Hetchy area: up the Eleanor Lby basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
You can pick up a reserved permit at any permit station--provided that their computers and phone system are working. (This was an issue last year in Tuolumne.) Note that most of the wilderness permit stations close fairly early in the afternoon--3 or 4pm. I think getting to the BOF office by this time based on an 11:45am landing is going to be a challenge. My recommendation? Try to reseby basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion