I'll let everyone know how the Tyvek gaiters work--one more snowshoe trip this year! Hopefully they work better than the trash bag gaiters that some twits in Glen Aulin we ran into long ago were wearing to cross the Wildcat/Mattie Lake section.by basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
I remember this one like it was yesterday, or at least a few months ago!by basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
"If you're on the shore, you're shore not me-o!"by basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Thank you everyone for the birthday wishes--and especially JKW and the Great Pink One for arranging an excellent birthday weekend, and to E and A for joining us! It was also nice for The Pink One to "let" me find three more valley sequoias... too bad I missed the lizard/dinosaur thing. I do wish that I'd had more time to post TRs for the many excellent trips this year, but whenby basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
As long as your trip ends by October 15, I'd also recommend starting/ending at or near your trailhead--why spend precious vacation time trying to hitch a ride during the off-season when you can be hiking? Cathedral Lakes -> over Cathedral Pass -> Sunrise -> Merced Lake -> Vogelsang -> out via Rafferty is a nice classic loop. Leave an extra day at the end to see Yosemite Valley ifby basilbop - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
Quoteeeek Motorists are encouraged to drive with caution along the Wawona Road. Dirt, rocks, and other potential hazards may fall into the roadway. Visitors are encouraged not to walk or hike into the recently burned areas, as there may be hot spots, falling trees, and other hazards in the area. One hazard to be aware of if walking through the burnt-out areas: the roots of trees can burn undeby basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
You might want to take a look at this tool -- it attempts to show where smoke will be for the next few days. One problem is that Cherry Lake/Creek is between two fires, so there's a higher chance that one of them will blow the "wrong" way.by basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
If I recall, this old Hite Cove trail was part of the route from Mariposa to Yosemite Valley via El Portal / Hennessy Ranch. Another segment of this route that may be free of vegetation is the one from Hennessy Ranch to the Old Wawona Road in the Grouse Creek area. There's also the old Sunset Trail that went from the Arch Rock area up to the Wawona Road. Also, in the Hite Cove area, the nortby basilbop - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
The Indian Canyon trail is definitely easier to find from the bottom than the top, so I'd start there. Chick-on and I have both done the "trail" and we struggled to find it from the top. And, even once on it, it's very overgrown at the top, hiding whatever rockwork or other signs of the "trail" still exist. Also, going up, it will be easier to turn around and go back downby basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
The last few times we've been through the Yosemite Creek/Ten Lakes trailhead area on Tioga Road during the afternoon/evening, the smoke has been thick enough that visibility was maybe 1-2 miles. Unfortunately, Yosemite Creek is a "direct shot" from the Merced River canyon where the fire is still active. I would expect smoke in the Ten Lakes area until the burning near El Portal and noby basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quoteags So anyone that had driven all the way in and parked at the Lundy TH would have his/her car stranded there until the slide is cleared? Yikes! Yes, and in fact JKW was told that there were some cars stuck at the trailhead. We didn't see them, but we didn't walk the entire trailhead loop. The rockslide was 10-20' thick and 100 yards wide, consisting of loose rock and soft mud--not somby basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
There's no really good way to know what things will be like in a week, and the conditions can change day by day based on the wind direction, possible rain, etc.. If the winds push the fire to the southwest, it will run up against the lines they've been building to protect the Mariposa area and will probably start to taper off, but if it's pushed up the South Fork canyon, there's a lot for it toby basilbop - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
There is an unmaintained but obvious trail from Green Lake to Virginia Pass. It's actually a bit better than the supposedly maintained trail on the Yosemite side, both down from Virginia Pass and back up to Summit Lake Pass. It's a fine,scenic loop that you can't go wrong with. Keep an eye out for some old stamping equipment in Glines Canyon and the old dams (part of the Dynamo Pond/Bodie hydrby basilbop - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
There are several posts on this website about the old Indian Canyon trail, including: https://yosemitenews.info/forum/read.php?3,49133 This trail was built in an era long before steel cables and such. It also stays far away from the creek and isn't in an obvious place if you're just trying to go down the creek without prior knowledge. (And, it's also not very much fun to go down as you'reby basilbop - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
Quoteabetterpitchfork Any chance you can tell me where in the park(s) this is? The fiancee and I are headed down to SEKI this weekend, and I have no idea where to even begin. Without divulging KevinD's secret spot... you can get similar views of the Great Western Divide and Castle Rocks from Moro Rock, which is probably more accessible if you're doing day hikes. Another similar view can beby basilbop - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
QuoteThe Other Tom Having said that, is there a charging station in the valley? Yes, at the Ahwahnee Grand Majestic Superlative Big Trees Yosemite Hotel and in Yosemite Village.by basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Unless they made some improvements, the Nevada Fall facility lacks any means of flushing.by basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
I believe JKW and The Pink One went there last weekend. And, despite what the locals say, it's sa-BREE-nah, not sa-BRY-nah: Wikipedia: Lake Sa-BREE-nah :-)by basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
QuoteExplorer10KTuesday, we'll do more of the same, but focus on re-establishing the trail with picks and hoes. I would recommend compound loppers and saws, especially in and around the three gullies near Grapevine--specifically, between the high point west of the junction and the gully west of Grapevine. There is a lot of "old growth" chaparral taking over the trail and plenty of deaby basilbop - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
QuoteNot quite The Geezer, but getting there According to that first image, there's more foot traffic by upper Yosemite Falls and Nevada falls than at Glacier Point, even though GP is accessible by car. Seems to me something's wrong with the methodology by which that image was made. It's possible that Yosemite Falls/the Mist Trail get more traffic annually than the GP area trails, since theby basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
QuoteDavidSenesac You two must be relatively resistant to poison oak. The Pink One is very susceptible to PO, and I usually let him lead since I'm not as good at identifying it and don't seem to be as affected by it. We were fortunate to have two deep river crossings, a fresh box of baby wipes at the trailhead, and a hot shower 10 minutes thereafter to wash off any residue. I think using hby basilbop - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
QuoteExplorer10K I'm familiar with the old Pinoche trail from Peachtree, and traced a bit of it on the ridge between Canty and Pinoche. I'd like to scratch that out to Pinoche someday. We were mostly successful in following the Pinoche Ridge trail from the mine access road (3S26) at Canty Meadow to the old logging roads at Cathewood Saddle. (We continued to Yosemite West via the logging roads,by basilbop - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
Happy bird-day! It's been... fun? P.S. I bought myself a new pack for your birthday--for some reason my old one was too shredded to repair. P.P.S. Yosemite is better!by basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
It's not too common and generally happens only if there is a warm rain storm falling on snowpack, as is the case with this storm--and of course the 1997 flood. The El Portal gas station and market are in the El Portal Administrative Area, which is under the jurisdiction of the NPS. They are operated by a park concessionaire, but not Aramark.by basilbop - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
Quick heads-up: Yosemite Valley will be closing at 5:00pm this Friday (April 6) due to potential flooding: https://www.nps.gov/yose/learn/news/yosemite-national-park-expects-significant-impacts-from-incoming-storm-april-2018.htm Apparently any reservations in the valley have been cancelled. (And yes, this has impacted the plans for a certain forum member's birthday hike...)by basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
The pilot program definitely made it easy to get around during the event. And, the sunset and clouds did cooperate, even if the water was somewhat lacking (the day was too cold to melt much snow... maybe tomorrow...?) It was odd that so many people started packing their tripods and DSLRs before the event ended. Sony NEX 5R, Contax G 90mm, f/4, handheld, "Extra Vivid" iPhone filtby basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Update: So I received my used copy of "Treasures of the South Fork". Unfortunately, the author had not been able to discover who built the well-constructed South Fork trail, but he guesses the original was based on miners' trails (at least to Peachtree Bar) later improved and extended by the Calvary around 1905. At this time, the SF Merced was the park boundary from about Zip Creek toby basilbop - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
Ski Conditions at Badger Pass The Yosemite Ski and Snowboard Center Base: 0", with 6" of fresh powder Lifts running: zero Runs open: all Parking: ample Miles of trail groomed: less than 1 Months remaining in season: less than twoby basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
The original plan for the MLK weekend was for the Great Pink one and me to do an overnight trip to El Cap while JKW continued her recovery. Not surprisingly, there was a last minute "vadering" of the trip. Instead we would do a long day hike down the South Fork of the Merced along the prominent trail on the National Geographic map. I had been looking at this trail, too, and this alteby basilbop - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
Quotewherever 2)What is the dashed line shown on the modern map below? I have highlighted it with some red Xs. It starts at the fire road between Yosemite West to Pinoche Peak. Is it a fire break? It goes straight down the hill! We were near the top of this dotted line/trail a few weekends ago (boundary marker hunting), and I think that this is the route of the power line to Yosemite West. Wby basilbop - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion