QuoteTedbay Thanks again for the ideas! will definitely be off trail from the peak and will checkout the other spot too. I was wondering about the marsh area so early in the season. I just picked up a new camera and might try my first time lapse of the sun coming up or maybe the stars at night. may not come out first time but hoping to capture a new perspective. will be a great breather to get waby vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Yes, Eagle Peak is a fabulous place to plant yourself for a night or more. Camped there with a friend on 7.13.2011, at a location on the rim of the Valley just about 1/2 mile from the Peak, at 37.7493 N 119.6144 W. Filled up with water at the stream downhill about 1/2 mile from camp, down about 200' or 300', but above the meadow.by vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotettilley Closed section appears to be midway between Lee Vining and Benton (east of 395). Yes - just wanted to clarify for those who those who aren't so familiar with the east-west relationships of 120 and 395.by vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quoteeeek http://yosemitenews.info/highway-status/ The link above says part of 120 is closed, but http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/conditions.htm confirms the Tioga Road is open.by vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
I saw six or eight dogs (and zero rangers) on valley loop trails between March 24 and 28, some dogs on leash and some off. An easy-going dog that is not likely to generate complaints will likely be fine, I think. I see it as a series of diminishing possibilities: 1) will I bring a dog? 2) will there be a ranger in same place & time? 3) will the ranger be unforgiving? 4) ranger givesby vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
just drove up 140 this afternoon, and yep, as Julie Andrews said, "the hills are alive..." (but just in certain places) from around 4 miles down from the geology exhibit at the bridge that takes you around the landslide:by vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
QuoteSteveC so you need to study it VERY carefully, so you know where there are junctions. I'd hate to hear you missed the turn where it heads north out of little Yosemite Valley, or missed the left at the "Y" split to Clouds Rest. A good hiking GPS will tell you exactly where you are, although trees can diminsh a signal (less so if the GPS has a high-sensitivity receiver). I loby vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
QuoteUlysses61 the view of the sunrise at the top of Half Dome is really not that spectacular. The view from the top of Clouds Rest is by far the superior view, IMHO. I must respectfully differ with you about the Half Dome view of sunrise - my favorite photography time starts about 45 minutes before sunrise, and to watch the sky change from dark to blue to orange and other colors as light settlby vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Be in good condition, well-prepared with some warm up night hikes to get used to operating the headlamp, bring water filter for filling up along the way, extra batteries, give yourself enough time to have an unrushed pace, and it could likely be one of the best things you've ever done! It should be fabulous in clear conditions.by vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
In April 2009, I took a peek at the damage there, and I can't disagree with the decision to remove all the structures, except maybe keeping the Tressider cabin without using it; although that could be a maintenance burden the NPS doesn't want. My friend & I surmised that the cabin-sized rock (to the right of center in my photo below) came roaring through the trees, and snapped clean offby vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
I encountered an unexpected first night restriction last summer. Our route was T Meadows (next to the store) --> saddle S. of Johnson Peak, then Vogelsang Pass and Gallison Lake. We wanted to camp in the area SW of Johnson Peak and before the saddle (above Elizabeth Lake), but restrictions around the Elizabeth Lake basin required us to cross over the ridge and spend our first night in Echo Cby vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
I'd guess a couple of months at least to get that fixed. Also guessing that a lot depends on stability of rocks all around there. Might get it done before June. We could start a pool for guessing the opening date - - -by vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Looks like it's safe to assume that this isn't blocking access to the Tioga Road from the Central Valley and places like Groveland, so even if it takes a long time to repair, you can still get to Tuolumne Meadows and the High Country from the West this summer. Getting to the Tioga Road from the Valley or from 41 will be a long workaround if they don't finish the repair by the time they open thby vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Heya, I was just out Thurs. 9/8 to Mon. 9/12; from Elizabeth Lake to Vogelsang Pass, Gallison Lake, Echo Valley, trail to Sunrise & exit at Sunrise / Tenaya Lake. Forecast (prior to leaving) was "chance of showers and thunderstorms" It rained every day, only 60-90 minutes or so, which wasn't a problem, except for Sunday, when it rained from about 1:30 to 5:00 - that was not fuby vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Was out from last Thurs-Monday; rained every day, and downpours in our area looked very localized (sometimes no rain on us, while we could see rain dumping on areas ~ 5 miles away). On 9/7, prior to leaving, forecast was "slight chance of / scattered showers and thunderstorms" for all 5 days. Thurs 9/8: start at Elizabeth Lake TH then XC to near Johnson Peak, where we got rained oby vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Detailed description of climbing / "canyoneering" in Tenaya Canyon at SummitPost: http://www.summitpost.org/tenaya-canyon/160152 I recall, in reading other people's reviews at SummitPost, that the writer of that review, Bob Burd, has excellent climbing skills, and things that Burd might call Class 3 could be considered Class 4 by others. YMMV!by vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotesactown23 I don't have awesome photos like yours, but I took this video from on top of Upper Yosemite falls. It was neat to see where the water was being drained from and over the cliff. That's "Slacklining" (or in this particular case, "Highlining"by vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Oh yes, for sure they need standing water. Rephrased: assuming same water saturation, I'm guessing that between the factors of elevation and proximity, two sites at similar elevations (but 15 miles apart) are likely to have similar mosquito levels, but two sites close to each other (2 miles apart) at different elevations are less likely to have the same levels. And yes, a breeze helps aby vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Could anyone comment about recent (last week or so) mosquito levels around Lyell Canyon, Vogelsang, Bernice Lake and Washburn Lake areas? Trying to make a reasonable guess at what might be expected in the 9,000-11,000' elevations in the next two weeks. To sum up what I see in recent posts, it looks like Tuolumne Meadows isn't bad once you get away from the river: http://yosemitenews.infby vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotechicagocwright Quotechicagocwright Other notes and questions asked: --I am spending the night at Tioga Pass Resort (originally chose Murphey's because TPR was so hard to track down but my parents gave my name to the nice folks at TPR back in June who contacted me and set everything up) Be sure to sample some pie at TPR - it's the best! Berry-Peach cobbler:by vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Well, they say it's their preferred method: http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/wpres.htm I was pleasantly surprised to have the office call me back within minutes of faxing them in July.by vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
In July 2005, rangers at the T Meadows Permit Center had no problem giving me a permit to enter Murphy Creek and exit Happy Isles. The route, which I showed them before they gave me the permit, went through Glen Aulin, crossed the Tioga Road near Pothole Dome, and continued past Cathedral Lakes and Clouds Rest. The ranger that issued the permit knew I was crossing a road and had no problem witby vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Here's more of the beautiful tree on Mt. Watkins. Can anyone identify the species? I thought it was a Jeffrey Pine, since it's similar to the tree in Ansel Adams' iconic shot from Sentinal Dome (that tree has since died and fallen), but it's not, as the Watkins tree has 5 needles per bunch, and Jeffreys have 3. I'm guessing that we'll lose the Watkins tree someday as well - it has a giant caviby vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotechick-on I wasn't trying to scare anyone. Was I? It's simple xcountry. 1.5 miles on Watkins proper to the edge. (250 ft. up, nearly 1K ft. down) East Dome is about 1 mile to the edge. Quarry to Watkins is a true gem. Didn't even know about the ski markers till took the wifey thataway in 2008. The curved tree up there is supa kewl: LOVE that tree! Any one know exactly whaby vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotebigpapa Too bad you missed the photo op. We are headed into bear country Thursday and are pretty much ready to roll. However, there have been numerous discussions on what exactly we have to worry about regarding bears. We know all of the obvious or normal items that need to be in bear cannisters. Most of the discussion has centered around first aide kits. Our cannisters are filled tby vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotemtn man After about 2 more minutes of this standoff I started to bounce the car up and down and side to side. It didn't like that and got up and started to head for the window it had broken. By this time people were gathering behind me. It stopped and looked at me and gave me one more snarl/growl and climbed out the window. Might be a last resort, but if you had a car alarm and a panic butby vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Here's "Orange 59", in Leidig Meadow, April 2010. According to Jeffrey at the NPS, she's a female that was two years old at the time. I'm guessing she might have picked up the scent of the fresh Degnan's deli sandwich that was in the front cargo pocket of my pants. I understand that the NPS likes to know of any and all bear sightings - yose_weby vdrummer - Photography advice, critiques and tutorials
Good thing the keys weren't in the ignition. : - ) Get a photo of the bear in the driver's seat?by vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
sunset & sunrise from Clouds Rest!by vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotetraildad Is there any reliable way to get up to date weather info if you are hiking Half Dome from the back country? I am thinking about asking someone to text me weather updates in the hope I can get reception before making the climb. What time do the rangers start checking permits? I rely on the National Weather Service, and follow the forecast daily, for several days, before heading outby vdrummer - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion