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June 8, 2016 3 night route suggestions?

PostPosted: Sun Oct 23, 2016 8:40 pm
by CarolE
Hi,

I did 2 trips to Yosemite last year. The one in June (9-11) was only into LYV to camp and then did day hikes out of. For that trip Half Dome and Cloud's Rest (LYV side) and Panorama trail/Four mile were all dry (and freakin' hot until the big downpour) but there was supposedly snow on the Sunrise side of Cloud's Rest all the way to Tuolomne. My July (7-11) trip was from Tuolomne to LYV (via Clouds Rest/Half Dome) then up to Merced/Vogelsang and back to Tuolomne. All completely snow free and fantastic.

Based on last year supposedly being a high snowpack year and this year supposedly (per Farmers Almanac) being warm and dry for California (sorry) is a June 8-12 trip a reasonable tentative plan for Tuolomne-Glen Aulin-May Lake-Sunrise-Tuolomne or does anyone have a suggestion for that time of year? Because I am solo I do like to stick with the more popular routes to keep my husband happier.

P.s- for my July trip every hiker we passes complained about the Mosquitos but I came out of the entire hike with maybe a couple of bites, apparently they don't like me or my permethrin treated clothing so I'm not really worried about them- hope I didn't just jinx myself though.

I'll probably try for a Happy Isles or Tuolomne TH to Red's Meadow permit in late July/August so just like to get in an early Yosemite backpack trip too as that worked great last year.

Re: June 8, 2016 3 night route suggestions?

PostPosted: Sun Oct 23, 2016 9:29 pm
by balzaccom
Hi Carol

It's too soon to answer your question. We did a trip to Glen Aulin, Roosevelt Lake, and Young Lakes this year in mid-June and it was fine, although the skeeters were fierce. But we've also been in Tuolumne Meadows in late June and there was a ton of snow --and some years the road isn't even open by then.

Ask us again in May, and we can give you better advice.

If it IS snowy, you can always hike out of Hetch-hetchy!

Re: June 8, 2016 3 night route suggestions?

PostPosted: Mon Oct 24, 2016 8:44 pm
by CarolE
Only problem is, you have to apply for your permit in December so I just need to make a best guess. If historically TM-Glen Aulin-May Lake and then Sunrise - TM has NEVER been snowfree in early June I guess that'll take care of that. If sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't than I'll probably try for a permit and see what happens.

So, the second part of the question would be- would the applied for permit be a Glen Aulin start and a Cathedral exit or do you need to have 2 permits- 1 for Glen Aulin/May Lake and 1 for Sunrise to Cathedral due to crossing the highway?

Re: June 8, 2016 3 night route suggestions?

PostPosted: Mon Oct 24, 2016 9:05 pm
by balzaccom
If you only cross the highway on your route, you are probably OK. If hike along the highway, maybe not....


Permits for this time if year rarely sell out early because of the iffy conditions...

Re: June 8, 2016 3 night route suggestions?

PostPosted: Mon Oct 24, 2016 9:22 pm
by AlmostThere
Well, the thing is, last year was not a high snowpack. There's a drought on. A real high Sierra snowpack won't melt til August.

There is a drought, yes. There is already some snow, yes. How much snow there will be in June, who knows. Some years of drought there have been May snowstorms after months of nothing. So there is no way to answer the question, really.

If you put in the reservation and need to move it they might be generous and change the date, if there are open quota spots on the date you want to move to.

The road is outside the wilderness boundary, so crossing it is okay. Hitchhiking or riding a shuttle, you'll need a second permit. Technically.

Re: June 8, 2016 3 night route suggestions?

PostPosted: Tue Oct 25, 2016 12:48 am
by Phil
balzaccom wrote:Permits for this time if year rarely sell out early because of the iffy conditions...


This year/last spring was weird that way...full trailheads earlier and later than normal. People were either thinking wishfully, had no idea what to expect, or were just desperate to get out and took whatever they could get, regardless of whether it was realistic or not.

That early, I always hope for full success, but I also try in some way to plan for at least partial failure of a route due to trail conditions. It's like peaches and communism: I want 6, I'll try to get 10, but I'll be happy with 3 or 4 good ones if it means I get to eat peaches at all. Part of that entails a longer proposed route that encompasses both higher and lower elevations, aspects, open ground, and forested areas. I'll try to find a core trailhead where I can rotate in a big loop, but one where I can either keep going or bail out as conditions allow, as well as staying legal on entry points and road crossings. You have to keep in mind that they care very much where you start, but very little about where you end up once you're out in the wilderness. But everything is always going to directly hinge on you correctly interpreting a current weather and conditions report, and all the reservations in the world aren't going to alter that factor. None of us will know until we're there.

Rafferty Creek/Vogelsang/Cathedral Lakes/Pacific Crest stuff might be sketchy, but if you can get up onto Tioga Rd, you basically have everything from White Wolf to Glen Aulin, inclusive of all the trailheads going up to and around May Lake, as well as down to the North Rim of the Valley. Mt Hoffman is the geographical center of the park, and even if you don't plan to climb it and go above 10,000 ft, draw concentric circles around it, because just about everything you might need in altitudes and conditions of one kind or another is fairly close by on a fairly contiguous trail system. My advice: plan by mixing and matching, have a lot of choices in your itinerary, see what works and where you end up once you get there.

Re: June 8, 2016 3 night route suggestions?

PostPosted: Wed Oct 26, 2016 10:39 pm
by Grzldvt
I do the Toulumne to Glen Aulin and sometimes to May Lake every year on the second Sunday of June, and snow permitting, when we can get in we have never had an issue getting a walkin permit. Having said that and adding to Phil's comment about people filling the trailheads, many schools in the SF Bay Area were getting out before Memorial Day for the summer. We saw a lot more families last year than ever before. Normally schools get out the second week in June and people are still trying to get it all together before going on vacation, last year I was surprised at how early they got out. Henceforth the potential to fill the trailheads a bit earlier.

Re: June 8, 2016 3 night route suggestions?

PostPosted: Thu Nov 17, 2016 9:32 am
by MadDiver
CarolE wrote:Only problem is, you have to apply for your permit in December so I just need to make a best guess. If historically TM-Glen Aulin-May Lake and then Sunrise - TM has NEVER been snowfree in early June I guess that'll take care of that. If sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't than I'll probably try for a permit and see what happens.

So, the second part of the question would be- would the applied for permit be a Glen Aulin start and a Cathedral exit or do you need to have 2 permits- 1 for Glen Aulin/May Lake and 1 for Sunrise to Cathedral due to crossing the highway?


Two years ago I did that that route as the beginning of my trip June 4-10th (5-11th?, whatever close enough...). I took exactly step in snow, and could have avoided it had I wanted to, on the trail up to the saddle near Sunrise Lakes and only saw a couple other meager piles under trees along the trail. However, that was the year of extreamly light snowfall, and while perhaps not typical it is possible to be (mostly) snow free. I was able to get that permit (solo) a mere 1 month in advance on a Saturday no less. No trouble crossing the highway, I told the rangers what I was doing and they said it was completely OK and a couple I ended up hiking with for a 2 days did the same. I would apply for the permit, get it, and then watch the weather come spring and be ready to adjust if necessary.