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6 Day Trip - Looking for general tips/advice

PostPosted: Sun Oct 01, 2017 12:05 pm
by mattf
I have a permit for early October out of Rafferty Creek. I mapped out a route and a loose schedule. I realize I may want to move quicker and slower so I built in some time. I am using a hammock system with a 0 degree bag, sleeping pad and underquilt. I'm looking for some general tips or advice as well as information on water sources on some of the days. Any help is appreciated.

Day 1: Tuolumne Meadows > Emeric Lake
Can I park in the lot across from the trailhead for six days?

Day 2: Emeric Lake > to JMT junction
I'm wondering how close I can get to Half Dome to camp?

Day 3: JMT Junction > Half Dome > Clouds Rest Trail
Looking for suggestions on where to camp between Half Dome and Clouds Rest?
Also water sources?

Day 4: Clouds Rest Trail > Sunrise Lake Camp

Day 5: Sunrise Lake Cam > Cathedral Lakes

Day 6: Cathedral Lakes > Tuolumne Meadows

I realize the last couple of days are shorter hikes, but I'm not sure if I would want to push it and go from Sunrise through Glen Aulin by way of Tenaya Lake.

Re: 6 Day Trip - Looking for general tips/advice

PostPosted: Sun Oct 01, 2017 1:35 pm
by AlmostThere
Can you park on TIoga Road for six days? Only if your trip ends before Oct 15, when you can no longer park overnight on that road, anywhere.

How close can you camp - depends on whether or not you want to carry a bunch of water. You can camp right before heading up the subdome, if you don't care about parking next to a stream.

Sunrise Creek is likely to be your water source for that area. There was a spring somewhere along the way, but I've long since lost the utm coordinates for that.

I'm a little baffled about "going to Glen Aulin via Tenaya Lake" -- Glen Aulin is north of Tuolumne Meadows. You'll be on trail past Tenaya to the meadows and crossing the road to go down toward GA from there -- jumping from "a few miles" to "probably 10-15 or so depending on the trails you take"

Re: 6 Day Trip - Looking for general tips/advice

PostPosted: Sun Oct 01, 2017 5:00 pm
by balzaccom
I think I understand.... Hiking from Sunrise to Tenaya to Glen Aulin, and then to TM.

Sunrise to Cathedral Lakes is a VERY short day, so I was wondering about that myself. Of course, it's almost as short to go to Glen Aulin from the Cathedral Lakes trailhead, especially if you take the use trail short cut near Pothole Dome.

Or you could simply hike down the outlet stream past Lower Cathedral Lake to Pywiack Dome, and from the East end of the lake, head over to Glen Aulin...But that's xc, obviously

Re: 6 Day Trip - Looking for general tips/advice

PostPosted: Sun Oct 01, 2017 9:06 pm
by Phil
Water is the big problem for that cross country hike going the way you are. Even if you hit that spring (11s UTM E278517.97 N4181000.09) you're still going to lug 15+ or so lbs of water weight up to HD and then over to CR, on top of a 6 day pack weight...ouch. That spring is also fairly low (~7200ft), so you're going to do lots of climbing with all that weight. As long as you're 2 miles out from LYV and not on the HD summit, you can camp anywhere (preferably in an existing site though), even near that spring. I would just camp at Sunrise Creek, day hike HD, then head up and over CR the next day. Trust me, from Emeric to the JMT at Sunrise, you're going to be trashed, and even with coordinates, the last thing you're going to want to do is climb more and go hunting for water! Sunrise Creek will look like Eden by the time you get there.

Going from Tenaya Lake to Glen Aulin, you would take Murphy Creek (reports say it's completely dry), then hit the May Lake Trail and head to GA. But I don't get how you would work in Cathedral Lakes either. Although, you could head off cross country on the way out from Cathedral Lakes, pass east of Fairview Dome (yes, you will whack and be whacked by bushes), and then hit that use trail from behind Pothole Dome and over to GA that Balazaccom mentioned. For either of these alternatives, you need to be very careful and ask your permitting ranger about their feasibility ahead of time. You only kind of cross the road, more like walk along it, so even if you're still en-route, you've still technically exited the wilderness. Not likely you'll have a problem, but get blessings, in writing.

Re: 6 Day Trip - Looking for general tips/advice

PostPosted: Mon Oct 02, 2017 5:52 pm
by mattf
balzaccom has it correct. I was considering two routes for the last couple of days.
1.) Sunrise Lakes to Glen Aulin via Tenaya and then finishing out at TM.
or
2.) Sunrise Lakes to TM via the JMT

I think I'm going to go with the second rout and take my time.

Thanks for the heads up on waters sources Phil. I will most likely take your advice and hike Emeric to the JMT at Sunrise, then day hike HD back to JMT at Sunrise.

Is it feasible to do JMT at Sunrise to Sunrise Lakes via CR in one day?

Re: 6 Day Trip - Looking for general tips/advice

PostPosted: Mon Oct 02, 2017 6:03 pm
by Phil
mattf wrote:Is it feasible to do JMT at Sunrise to Sunrise Lakes via CR in one day?


Oh yeah, it's only about 9.7 miles from the HSC to the Sunrise/CR junction at Sunrise Creek. But, rather than camp at the HSC backpacker's camp, I think you'll enjoy yourself more finding a nicer campsite at one of the Sunrise Lakes.

Re: 6 Day Trip - Looking for general tips/advice

PostPosted: Mon Oct 02, 2017 6:08 pm
by Phil
Just so you know, if you go with your second choice: Sunrise HSC>Cathedral Lakes>TM, if you do decide to take in Glen Aulin at some point, you will definitely have exited the wilderness, closed out your permit upon getting down the Cathedral Trailhead, and you'll need to get a new permit for Glen Aulin or anything beyond that.

Re: 6 Day Trip - Looking for general tips/advice

PostPosted: Mon Oct 02, 2017 7:14 pm
by mattf
Phil wrote:Just so you know, if you go with your second choice: Sunrise HSC>Cathedral Lakes>TM, if you do decide to take in Glen Aulin at some point, you will definitely have exited the wilderness, closed out your permit upon getting down the Cathedral Trailhead, and you'll need to get a new permit for Glen Aulin or anything beyond that.


Thanks, I am aware.

Re: 6 Day Trip - Looking for general tips/advice

PostPosted: Mon Oct 02, 2017 7:19 pm
by mattf
Is there an opportunity to leave my large pack at the Sunrise Creek campsite and utilize a daypack for the HD day?

Re: 6 Day Trip - Looking for general tips/advice

PostPosted: Tue Oct 03, 2017 5:58 pm
by balzaccom
The NPS rangers generally discourage you from leaving your pack anywhere...primarily because of the possibility that a bear will find something to eat in it, and then get accustomed to ripping open packs. The suggested technique is to take EVERYTHING out of your pack, make sure you bear can has EVERYTHING that might smell in it, and hope that when you return you don't find damage by rodents, bears, or other hikers ...

We've done it a few times, but not in very populated areas at all.

As for Phil's point. I think if you are still hiking the same trail and on the same trip, you don't need a second permit. So here are two scenarios:

1. You hike from Sunrise HSC past Cathedral lakes to Tuolumne Meadows, stop and get a burger at the café, and head off to Glen Aulin. That's not within the rules.

2. You hike from Sunrise HSC directly to Glen Aulin, either via the Pothole Dome use trail, or via May Lake, for example. As long as you stay on the trail, and don't catch a ride or stop to buy things, I think the ranger will let that one pass. Certainly the people who do the High Sierra Camp loop do not get separate permits every time they cross the road.

Re: 6 Day Trip - Looking for general tips/advice

PostPosted: Tue Oct 03, 2017 7:25 pm
by Phil
balzaccom wrote:Certainly the people who do the High Sierra Camp loop do not get separate permits every time they cross the road.


That's the thing though, they're literally just crossing the road, not walking down it.

If you were to take the normal HSC route from either Sunrise or GA, you would have to first swing past May Lake and down the old road trail to get between the two. I've never heard of them denying a quick hop over to the Murphy Creek Trail, but it's technically not supposed to work like that. Same with the Cathedral Lakes trailhead; to hit the use trail behind Pothole Dome from there would require walking down the road or kind of skirting the road and walking the edge of the meadow, or, it would require that you go cross country by Fairview and then "cross the road". Just so anyone reading this is clear on what is and isn't necessarily kosher.

But, that said, if you have an itinerary and a route that makes sense and isn't an obvious attempt to cheat the rules, they tend to be absolutely fine with it. But, still, a nod from a permitting ranger isn't necessarily going to be acknowledged by a wilderness ranger with a ticket book that's heard just about every incarnation of BS that's ever been tried. With crossovers between trail systems that aren't normally considered contiguous, the trick is, having an entry and exit clearly stated on your permit that would make no sense whatsoever unless you had an express approval.

Re: 6 Day Trip - Looking for general tips/advice

PostPosted: Wed Oct 04, 2017 7:59 pm
by WanderingJim
I was told in August that if crossing Tioga Road was allowed or not usually comes down to where you camp the first night.

For example: If you had a Murphy Creek permit and started from there, walked a few feet up it, then turned around and headed down to Sunrise and camped down there somewhere, that wouldn't be allowed.

So when I was trying to get a permit to hike through the Ten Lakes area and Porcupine Creek had available permits, it wasn't okay for me to start at Porcupine Creek, then make my way along the road/trails to the Ten Lakes trailhead and camp somewhere north of the road.

If I had camped somewhere south of Tioga Road and my trip's route then took me to cross the road and head north, that would be okay according to the ranger.

All that seems to be to avoid people gaming the system to get a permit for a lightly used trail and then going to a busier trail along/across the road.

I think exiting the wilderness into Yosemite Valley usually means you then have to get another entry permit.

Re: 6 Day Trip - Looking for general tips/advice

PostPosted: Thu Oct 05, 2017 5:55 am
by Caminante
Hope I'm not too late for your trip, but just a few tips for hammocking which I did September '16:

1) You will not find it anywhere on the website or in any guides, but the rangers require straps to be "padded" (there words). What this really means is to chock your straps with sticks so that they aren't directly against the trees. I was woken up in the middle of the night in the backpacker's camp in the valley for this, and it was reiterated by the ranger at the permit office and the one in LYV.

2) As an east coast guy, a lot of the trees I was hanging from were larger than I was used to, so take your longer straps. Mine were 12' and worked great. It's not like I was hanging from giant sequoias, but the trees do run large in some places.

I was just back in the park with my family last week. Temps were relatively mild, but of course it had snowed the week before so a 0 or 20 setup sounds good.