The two places I know of where the old alignment of the Four Mile trail is still somewhat visible are: - From just before the second gate to Union Point (heading up). The old trail took a more direct route up, passing near now-occluded Agassiz Column (the subject of another thread on this forum). Several rock walls can be seen from the new trail between the second gate and Union Point. Theby basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
I believe this snowmobile crossing was part of the compromise that allowed for the Hoover Wilderness Additions (mostly the Walker River north of Dorothy Lake Pass) to be included in the recently passed wilderness legislation. As part of this compromise, the Leavitt Lake area was excluded (but is still a WSA), and will be essentially managed as wilderness in the summer, excepting the Leavitt Lakeby basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
I've always wondered if this old stream gage is the reason for the very faint trail that leads from the Beehive Trail to the top of Wapama Falls.by basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Yep, good point about the polarizer... I didn't spend a lot of time adjusting or sorting these pictures--just wanted to toss them up there. I also generally shoot with one lens (17-45mm) and don't fiddle with removing the polarizer while hiking...by basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
My wife started the JMT from Happy Isles this Sunday (I'll join her later in Evo Basin via Lamarck Col...), so I helped schlep some of her gear from the valley to Sunrise. There were several early Half Dome day hikers who I have no doubt made it to the top before the storms got bad. When I left Sunrise that evening via the Sunrise Lakes trail, there were several groups who had successfully summby basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
We decided not to contour along the lakes--the terrain looked more rugged than the map suggests, and the drop into the canyon wasn't that bad, although the trail is in poor condition south of Pine Creek Pass. Sorry, none of us fished :-(by basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Continuing to clear out my trip report backlog... Last weekend was an overnighter to the "French Lakes" via Pine Creek Pass. Pine Creek is one of those east-side trailheads that is usually available when all others are sold out, perhaps because it starts at 7400', or because the views during the climb out of the lower canyon are dominated by the idle Pine Creek Tungsten Mine and Mill.by basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Since these trip reports (or at least those with stuffed chickens in them) seem to be popular, here's a quick writeup and some pictures from a trip that was about a month ago to Moose Lake in Sequoia NP. We did this trip as an overnighter, starting and ending at Wolverton. The first day we went to Moose via Alta Meadow; we returned the next day via Pear Lake and the Watchtower Trail. Althoughby basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Thanks for your wonderful--as always--pictures and trip notes! I somewhat agree that Bench Canyon was oversold by Roper (as was Lower Mills Creek Lake, and I can't fathom why he dislikes Lake Italy...). However, when my wife and I first saw Bench Canyon it was special... it was the 4th of July weekend, there had been almost 100% snow cover from Thousand Island Lake to below Lake Catherine, theby basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotebill-e-g The place where we decided to cross the creek is a spot that we ran into three people coming down the canyon and we saw them on cliff face. They came down too soon and got stymied. We were long gone in no time but I have a picture of them up to their neck in water (we crossed on a sand bar). If we would have gone up and around like they did we would have never had to croby basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Very odd... Both Budd and Nelson (and Rockslides) are included on the list of trailheads on the reservation form (at the bottom of the drop-down list on the form, under "Cross-Country Trailheads": http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/upload/wildpermitform.pdf. (In fact, Budd Lake has no reservations available for several days in August: http://www.yosemite.org/DSN/wwwyosemiteassociatiby basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Unless there was a recent change, both Elizabeth/Nelson Lake and Budd Creek are valid wilderness trailheads, and each has its own quota (15 for Nelson, 5 for Budd; see table II-1: http://www.nps.gov/archive/yose/planning/mrp/html/08_rmrp_ch2.htm). For both of these trailheads, you have to cross over the Cathedral Range to get past the "no camping" zone around Tuolumne Meadows, but otheby basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
If you are comfortable with cross-country travel, another alternative would be to start on the Elizabeth/Nelson Lake, camping the first night at Nelson Lake, Reymann Lake, Boothe Lake, or even Vogelsang. There is an obvious use trail from Elizabeth to Nelson Lake, and it's fairly straightforward off-trail travel from Nelson to the Rafferty Creek trail via the pass to the east of Reymann Lake. Nby basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotebill-e-g Can you detail (w/map perhaps) of where exactly Oh-My-Gosh Lookout/railing is? (maybe draw in your route too please) Thanks again. Great shots Isn't Oh-My-Gosh Lookout the (unsigned, of course) viewpoint that's just off the (upper) Yosemite Falls trail? The short spur trail to this lookout branches down from the main trail about 50 yards before the metal gate at the end ofby basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
The first time my wife and I hiked to what we thought was Waterwheel Fall, we stopped where (then) there were two trail signs (at what we now know to be the "major" spur trail to LeConte Fall) with the distance to Glen Aulin and Pate Valley. Since the signs said we were about three miles from GA, which was about the correct distance from there to Waterwheel, we stopped, despite the facby basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotewrecksduke ... The next day we very leisurely took a day hike to Waterwheel Falls. AWESOME! We ran into so many people who would have mistaken California or Le Conte falls for Waterwheel. We ran into several groups who were attempting the whole round trip to Waterwheel in a day. ... Curiously, if you search for images of Waterwheel Fall on the Internet, a disturbingly high percentaby basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Yes, I was referring to the trail that climbs out of Echo Valley and eventually joins the JMT near Sunrise Creek. The campsites near Moraine Dome (at the east end of LYV) are another good alternative to camping in the LYV campground itself.by basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
My wife and I hiked from Merced Lake to Tuolumne via Fletcher Creek, Vogelsang, and Rafferty Creek. You should have few snow or water issues by July 20, unless you decide to go over Vogelsang Pass. The only "deep" crossings I can think of would be near the Emeric Lake junction (along Fletcher Creek) or the Lewis Creek crossing on the south side of Vogelsang Pass. The one on Fletcherby basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
This trail is on the 1948 Yosemite map: http://gisserver.princeton.edu:81/navigatorMapViewer.htm?map=912 I've also seen it on at least one other map. I also recall that there's a sign mentioning Mono Pass on the *north* side of Tioga Road on the Gaylor Lakes trail--perhaps this sign had been on the south side but was relocated? I also remember seeing a trail from the Parker Pass trail toby basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
This weekend my wife and I hiked to all the High Sierra Camps except Glen Aulin, which we had visited twice already (the first time passing bill-e-g and companion near the flooded lower section of Glen Aulin on their return from Register Creek...) All the hike-in camps were closed and setup had not started at any of them. The weather on both Sunday and Monday was clear and warm. When we pickedby basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion