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[Yosemite]

4-5 day Backpack

Hiking, backpacking, running, biking, climbing, rafting, and other human-powered activities in Yosemite National Park

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4-5 day Backpack

Postby mitchell » Wed Sep 10, 2008 6:00 pm

Myself and two friends did a trip in July where we hiked from Tenaya Lake to Sunrise, camped at the uppermost lake, then from there hiked to Halfdome via Clouds Rest the next day.
We camped in the trees near the shoulder of Halfdome that night and then hiked to the top the next morning, then back down to the Valley.
It was amazing!

I'd like to do a longer trip next season and maybe get in some fishing along the way and was considering the Glen Aulin passthrough (to White Wolf) at first. The other option I'm considering is more complicated. After viewing the awesome photos we took of Mt. Clark from the last trip, the Clark Range and Red Peak Pass seem like a neat trip.
There are several ways to do it, I'm thinking of either Mono meadow to Red Peak Pass and down the Merced River to the Valley—getting in Halfdome on the way again. Or, basically doing most of the same route but starting at Chiquito Pass trailhead—this would mean leaving a car at both the Chiquito Pass trailhead and in the Valley.
The logistics of this one are probably the most difficult thing about it.
Can we do it in 4-5 days?
Anyone ever done it and/or have any suggestions? :D
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Postby bill-e-g » Wed Sep 10, 2008 6:45 pm

Starting at Mono Meadows and ending at Mono Meadows is what I would
recommend. It is about 50 miles if you go over Red Peak Pass and
come all the way down the Merced River to Nevada and then back
to Mono Meadows. After Red Peak you should not have a problem
doing over 10 miles per day so it should be do-able in 5 days.
I would stay in the Canyon and skip Half Dome (or you could hike up
from LYV). The section of trail from Echo Valley to Moraine Dome is
spectacular. (Much nicer IMO that the JMT section above the valley there).

I suggest you do not start at Chiquito Pass. This is just a pain to get to.
I've done Chiquito->Fernandez->Post->Red Peak->Merced Pass and back.
That was a nice trip too... I was solo on that and did it in 3 days so you
should probably have no problem doing that in 5 days.
BUT... That trailhead is just a pain to get to and the Merced Canyon is
sooooo nice..

Red Peak Pass is pretty cool. The only thing on that one is that if you go
really early there may be snow... and if you don't know where the trail is... (one year the entire east side was snow... which was cool "skiing" down in Mid-July)

You can't really go wrong with any hike in Yosemite.

Have fun
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Postby bill-e-g » Wed Sep 10, 2008 6:54 pm

Here is what I'm talking aout:
That was July 27, '06.

(If you want other suggestions I can give you them... no problem)
(hopefully the picture works... I did preview and saw it...)

picture didn't work so deleting it... see album on subsequent post...
Last edited by bill-e-g on Mon Sep 15, 2008 6:45 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Postby john » Thu Sep 11, 2008 6:58 pm

I just did Twolumne to red peak then down the Merced to the valley. It was awesome. It took us 6 days with a one day rest near the base of Red Peak. We went to Vogelsang via Lyell canyon, over Vogelsang Pass, then down lewis creek, along the high trail to the Lyell Fork of the Merced (man, i hated that place..wink..wink),almost to Isberg pass, down to the Triple peak Fork and up to Red Peak. We exited via a cross country down the Merced Fork to the Merced canyon trail out to the Valley.

It was about 70 miles, but well worth every one of them. Some benefits of this route were pizza and beer in Curry Village at the end of the trip and the Yarts shuttle back to Twolumne to get our vehicle.

Like Bill said above, you can't really go wrong!

BTW, the fishing was excellent the entire way.
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Postby mitchell » Thu Sep 11, 2008 9:04 pm

Thanks for the tips guys.
Yeah, the Curry Village pizza & beer taste like the fruit of the gods after a long hike. That was one reason I wanted to exit in the valley.
I figured that Chiquito would be logistically difficult. Probably best to convince someone to drop you off there and leave a car in the valley if going that way.
I'm leaning toward the Mono meadow trailhead to start out and ending up @ Happy Isles. We'd either shuttle up there or take a hikers bus if available so we don't have to retrieve a vehicle post trip.
Vogelsang is definitely on the list for a later trip.
Anyone done the Glen Aulin passthrough?
Heard it's amazing!
By the way, I couldn't see bill-e-g's photo?
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Postby bill-e-g » Thu Sep 11, 2008 9:33 pm

I changed the picture to a hot link....

It is not typical of the pass at the end of July. The previous winter
had a big snow pack...

I've done the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne a couple of times...
(ok, I've done all the trails in the park... most numerous times...
at various times of the year)

Seriously, you can't go wrong. Pick a loop and you'll enjoy it.
In many locations in the park you will not see many people.
For example, the wife and I did from Elizabeth to Nelson xcountry to
Emerick to Vogelsang to Bernice to Florence Lake and back out on one trip this year...
sure we saw people around Vogelsang, but then noone after
Vogelsang pass running around Bernice and Florence Lakes...
and sure as heck noone after Elizabeth to Emerick...
We also climbed over Matthes Crest and didn't see anyone that trip
either ...

Do one loop next year, then a different one, etc...
(I've got thousands of photos ... if you want to see something in particular...)

Anyway, heading up tomorrow to trail boat across Middle Brannigan...
(Just love the whole park)

Happy Trails
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Postby mitchell » Thu Sep 11, 2008 9:41 pm

Clicked on your link and got ...
Google
Error

Not Found

The requested URL /dale.dekeyser/SMh5VBOHI8I/AAAAAAAABCU/5acO-j3-oBw/s1024/IMG_6158.JPG was not found on this server.
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Postby bill-e-g » Mon Sep 15, 2008 6:44 am

Sorry. I cleared my cache and now see what you see.
One last try.. if you really want to see it.
Just go here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/dale.dekeyser/
They are all publicly accessible. Click on the Yose album and
look for the two people hiking down the huge snowfield.
The best view is "slideshow".Feel free to look at any of the albums.
Bernice and Branigan are also in Yosemite.
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