by Phil » Sat Aug 01, 2015 8:52 pm
Ah, so you got your map.
I think both trips sound great, but the problem is still going to be that you're at altitude in October.
The first trip is basically the High Sierra Camps loop. Toulumne-Glen Aulin is about the lowest of the elevations- 8500 ft and 7800 feet respectively. From Glen Aulin to May Lake (9300 ft) is what I personally consider somewhat of an uneventful trail. When you get up to the pass between Upper Sunrise Lake and the Sunrise High Sierra Camp, you're at about 9800 ft. After climbing a little over to the trail going along Catherdral Creek, you climb back up to roughly the same elevation as the previous pass again, then drop down into Echo Valley at about 7000 ft, camping at Merced Lake at 7400 ft. Then you CLIMB up to Vogelsang at about 10,000 ft. Then dropping back down to Tuolumne. Yes though, Fletcher and Vogelsang Peaks are pretty spectacular. Upper Cathedral Lake is at 9600ft, and Cathedral Pass is about 9700ft. I have a pretty comprehensive set of photos of your entire route(s) (lakes, peaks, views, trails...) that I can't seem to upload for some reason, so, if you're interested, send me your email address via private message and I'll send you whatever you want to see. With your route, it is going to boil down to at least 5-6 days out, and as was mentioned, you don't get any breaks in between for services like supplies or burgers because of seasonal closures. Also, you do know that for a trip of this length, in addition to at least your just-in-case winter gear, you're both going to have to still carry bear canisters (with probably AT LEAST an extra day of food...if not more), right? That's not even something that's negotiable. If I'm carrying a pack with that kind of load, I consider myself very lucky if I can keep it under 50lbs, and then I can only do that with compromising something.
I think I'm reiterating what everyone that's replied to you on your trip when I say that we're all concerned about the weather and where you're going, in the month you're going. With the rationale I was using, I was trying to minimize your time at higher elevations, the highest being one day's hike going past Sunrise Camp to Cathedral Lake along the JMT. From Tuolumne at 8500 ft, you dropped to Glen Aulin at 7800 ft, then down the canyon to Pate Valley at only just under 4400ft, then climbing out to White Wolf at 7800 ft again, then down even more back to your car in the Valley. But, I get the happy wife thing. If there's any possible way to move your trip up to no later than the middle of September, you'll not only get more out of it in terms route options and services along the way, bad weather will probably be more of a passing fluke than anything to actually worry about.