Yosemite Forum

Well, they are tearing up Tioga Road and the road to the stables. Looks like the road to the stables is going to paved. So I parked at the Wilderness center and walked on the trail next to the road. I could have parked at the Visitor's Center and gone across the meadow, over the bridge and onto the trail but for old times sake I wanted to do the full trail. Been a long time since I have taken the real trail. The biggest creek still had above the ankle water in it, so water came in the boots, but no big deal. All the remaining creeks were dry. I was a bit surprised at how empty the High Sierra campground was. Had my choice of sites.
NO MOSQUITOES. It is so dry there were a few irritating gnats but that was about it.
The Toulumne River was really down for June. I did not even take any pictures.
The second day was down to LeConte and it was poor to mediocre, still enjoyable but nowhere near as cool as I have seen it. The swamp was completely dry, which was a bit convenient.
Third day was the hike out, again pretty much bug free and easy except for the last creek.
Personally I think that creek should have a bridge, everyone is tearing up the shoreline looking for places to cross. Many moons ago there was a HUGE tree that you could use but it broke and got washed away. There is one tree that crosses the creek, pretty far up but it is very narrow, and I do not have the balance anymore.

How much does the construction currently impact trailhead access? I'll be out for a couple weeks of day hiking, mostly in the Tioga Pass area, but thinking for example of some hikes accessed by JMT south from the Tioga Rd (Cathedral Peaks area) and the Rafferty Creek trail.

I wonder if there is any foot access to Elizabeth Lake (Johnson Peak) with the campground closed now?

I admit that smoke does not look good at the moment. The usual NOAA smoke forecast site I use is not showing data right now. Last time I was there with a big fire (the big one on the west side a few years ago) there were at least a few good hours in the early morning before the smoke rose and drifted from west to east over the Tuolomne area. Anyone have experience with the daily pattern this year?

MojaveGeek wrote:I wonder if there is any foot access to Elizabeth Lake (Johnson Peak) with the campground closed now?

The trail that runs along the south side of the campground should be open, you'll just have to approach from the Visitor Center end or the Lodge end. Although when I was there, there was nothing keeping people from walking into and thru the campground from the main road.