Trail Closures/Fire - Please advise

[susykat]

I just called the Wilderness Office to hold my permit for late arrival on Wednesday. When I called I was told that the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne is closed, basically the entire trail, due to fires started by a lightening strike. The ranger that I spoke with said when we arrive we can talk about alternatives.

Is anyone familiar with this situation? I have to admit I had my heart set on this trip, I don't even know what alternative trail I would take...

Does anyone know what happens when the trailheads are closed? All the other good trailheads that I would be interested in are at their quotas, I'm assuming people turned away from their reserved trailhead don't get to go to Sunrise, for expample, because it's already full. Is this correct? Do they ever refund your money if you decide you don't want to go? Or give you a raincheck? That might sound like a silly question, but I really don't know. I was surprised when I was told the trail was closed, so I didn't think quickly enough to ask the ranger these questions. I am going to call tomorrow, but any help or advice would be really appreciate.

I'm so disapointed

[mikecain3]

We just returned from a 4 day trip at Ostrander, Buena Vista and Hart Lakes. It is clear of fires and probably has openings. There are two trailheads that you can enter from - Bridalveil campground and lost bear meadows. Both off of Glacier Pt Rd. Really nice lakes, easy cross country route connects all three. I think it would be a good alt.

[balzaccom]

We just returned from that experience! We arrived with our reservation in hand...only to be told that they were not allowing ANYONE into the GCT. So we had a choice. They said we could wait for a day and get just about any trailhead we wanted...as a first-comer. But if we wanted to leave that day, we would have to find a route that was open. I immediately remembered a trip I had planned for Kibbie Ridge into the Boundary Lake region...but never taken. We had our permit five minutes later, and had a terrific trip. I'll post a TR tomorrow after I've put captions on the Picasa page!

[susykat]

Thanks Balzacom, that's exactly the info I was looking for, and kind of what I suspected they would say. I've never heard of this area that you mention-where is it? Which trailhead? I guess I'll have to take a look at the Yosemite page and see what trailheads are still available....

[balzaccom]

The trailhead leaves from Cherry Lake...so it is northwest of Yosemite proper. And I would check with the Wilderness Ranger when you get there...he was pretty helpful about suggesting areas that would or would not be possible.

[bill-e-g]

FYI. Not sure how balzaccom got a wilderness permit for Kibbie Ridge
from Yosemite. They really shouldn't be issuing permits for Kibbie or
Kibbie Ridge from Yosemite Wilderness Centers.
Perhaps I am mistaken here (of where he got permit)
Anyway... if you want to go to Kibbie Ridge you need to get your permit
from the Ranger Station in Sonora or the Groveland Ranger Station.
There is no quota on Kibbie Ridge. There is for Kibbie Lake.

The drive from 120 to Shingle Spring (Kibbie Ridge TH) is gonna take
you a good hour. After Cherry Lake you may not like the drive on
dirt / gravel road. ???

Anyway Have fun

[balzaccom]

Hi Bill

They were issuing the permits for Boundary Lake---and yes, I understand what youare saying. But when I suggested that route, the ranger jumped on it and wrote up the permit!

And you are right about the road. Read my trip report in this forum. There's only one really bad section, about a half-mile from the trailhead, but even in an SUV I was creeping along for about 30-40 feet over a very awkward road.

[bill-e-g]

Yup
Been there easily 20 times. Maybe more. I just read your report.

I am laughing at "This was a great hike--I am glad that I have done it. But it's not one that I would repeat. ".



I could spend a week in that area. It's just that beautiful IMO.
(I gave up fishing a while ago)
(the lake west of Mercur is... Mercur Lake... and it used to have
some big big fish... but as with most of the lakes in that area
...sans Kibbie... the fish population is dying.. returning back to
the "way it was")

Anyway, glad you had enjoyed it.

O... and there have been 2 fires thru that area in the last maybe 8 years.
Two. funny thing is is that before those fires whipped thru there...
they were doing prescribed burns... guess they didn't work...
Nature wins again...

[susykat]

hmmm, that's probably not a good option for us after all...I'd prefer to stay around Yosemite proper. Glad to hear the rangers were helpful with the alternate planning. Might try and hold out for a first-come permit for a more popular trailhead, if they think we have a good chance of getting one on a Thursday (since we'll be there Wednesday). If anyone else has any suggestions on alternate trails for us, it would be appreciated--I'll look them up tonight.

[susykat]

well, our trip didn't exactly go as planned - series of bad luck events, but it's all good when you're in the mountains.

When I learned that the trail was closed after Waterwheel Falls, I was considering just backpacking down to Glen Aulin and then the Falls. We actually were backpacking in Sequoia last week, so something mellow would have been fine. Well, the trail was closed at Glen Aulin on Wednesday, so that wasn't an option.

Somehow, we got a permit for Cathedral, and I thought that was very good luck. No! Turns out the weather was changing quickly. Snow and winds of 60 mph were predicted, as well as an overnight low of 18F in Tuolumne. We spent the first night at the backpacker's camp, waiting to see what would happen on Thursday. When we woke up, the sky was crazy. It hailed on and off in the morning. We sadly admitted defeat as we really did not have the gear for an overnight low of 18F - freezing, yes, but not that severe. I gave the permits up so that some backpacker's hardier than us could go...

Ended up taking the day hike up to Cathedral-it was really cold during the day, very windy and the sky was incredible. Really neat seeing the clouds and weather move around--but we know we made the right decision not to stay overnight. We went to Mono Lake instead, where the weather was a bit warmer. Lucky we live in the Bay Area, we'll try again in a couple of weeks. Maybe the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne will even be open by then!

[beck]

We actually were in the GC when the fire started - we had left White Wolf on Tuesday the 28th, hike down to Pate Valley by the 30th, and heard the 31st that we had to turn back. Luckily, we just drove from White Wolf to Tuolumne Meadows and continued on our trek as planned. Hopefully y'all can figure something out, can't really provide much input as it was my first trip to Yosemite..

If you do have a chance to get back to the grand canyon of Tuolumne, take it. Even though its sweltering hot, there are some great swimming holes. Just be careful of the 123 switchbacks from Pate Valley back to White Wolf...