Late October Loop

[andykee]

I'll be in the park (on the trail) from October 25 - 30 and am trying to decide between 2 loops:

Option 1:
Day 1: 4 mile trail -> Glacier Point -> LYV via Panorama Trail [11.4 mi]
Day 2: LYV -> Diving Board, maybe to the base of the cables @ HD
Day 3: LYV -> Tenaya Lake via Cloud's Rest [11.7 mi]
Day 4: Tenaya Lake -> Snow/Lehamite Creek [10.2 mi]
Day 5: Snow/Lehamite Creek -> El Cap [9.3 mi]
Day 6: El Cap -> Valley via Eagle Pk / Yosemite Falls [9.6 mi]
TOTAL MILEAGE: 52.2 mi

Option 2:
Day 1: 4 mile trail -> Glacier Point -> LYV via Panorama Trail [11.4 mi]
Day 2: LYV -> Diving Board, maybe to the base of the cables @ HD
Day 3: LYV -> Sunrise Lakes via Cloud's Rest [11.7 mi]
Day 4: Sunrise Lakes -> Rafferty Creek [12.3 mi if via Tuolumne/11.4 mi otherwise]
Day 5: Rafferty Creek -> Merced Lake [13.2 mi]
Day 6: Merced Lake: -> Happy Isles [13.1]
TOTAL MILEAGE: 61.7 mi/60.8 mi

Here are my concerns...
Option 1: My main concern is with finding water. I know most (all?) of the smaller creeks will be dry by now. I'm also aware of the fact that there aren't exactly close water sources on top of El Cap. Without water, I'm obviously in trouble.

Option 2: My concern here is the weather. If it snows 3' when I'm out near Vogelsang, that's trouble. This loop looks more interesting to me, but also looks significantly more physically demanding.

Thoughts?

[bill-e-g]

I take it your early October trip became a late October trip?

Do you enjoy hiking in snow? Snow level is around 9500.

This is from last Friday:


That's Sunrise / Bug Dome, Long Meadow and Tressider.

Option 1 ... there won't be water in only the smallest of creeks now.
The storm that flew thru... If you stay on top of El. Cap then if
you want to be safe just get some water at Eagle Peak Meadows.
There are ponds there. I would be surprised if you did not
walk over water from the Eagle Pk. Jct. to El Cap though.

For both options I'd skip Diving Board. Do that as a separate trip.
I'd go up to base of HD maybe but def. not drop back down to LYV.
For this late in the year I'd recommend you just go up Mist and
either try to get to Clouds in 1 day or get to the Clouds Jct. in 1 day.
Skip GP - 4 mile.
Heck, I'd just go up the Merced all the way to Merced Lake.
Then you can go up to Vogelsang and decide if you like to hike
in the snow or not. If you don't turn around and come back.
(I have NO idea what your experience is)
The trail all the way to Merced Lake is free and clear..

Anyway! Be SAFE! Have fun

[andykee]

yep, early october trip became a late october trip, got a bit longer, and added an extra person.

the extra night at LYV is there because we'll have a third person coming out for only that portion of the trip (valley -> LYV -> diving board / HD -> valley). it isn't an ideal situation, but it's what i'm working with.

i'm curious why you suggested skipping the 4 mile? the reason i wanted to go that way was because i've been up the mist/JMT 10 or so times but have never done the 4 mile to pano - figured i'd try something new.

[AlmostThere]

You're going to climb HD without the cables? Diving board is at the top, right?

Going to guess the 4 mile trail is probably retaining snow and ice - it's pretty shady. And it's a slog up it with a backpack.

[bill-e-g]

Diving Board is not on the top of HD. It's on the West side.
You go by Lost Lake and then traverse up... going by the Snake Dike route.

Going up 4-mile is 2x the elevation gain compared to going up Mist.
I was just trying to maybe get you further in quicker and get the
number of days down. The larger the window of you in the backcountry
the greater the chance of hitting serious weather.
I actually love this time of year and don't mind at all walking in snow
as long as it's < 1ft. 2-4 day trips you can pretty much count
that the weather forecast is decent. Longer than that ... not so much.