by Phil » Tue Jun 16, 2020 12:01 pm
Let us know how it ends up and we can go from there if you like.
For the Ten Lakes trip though, I would probably not take a 4 year old along for this one, and knowing the route, I would also hesitate before taking the other kids, up to and including the 12 year old.
Assuming that everyone gets up to the basin and lakes #1, 2, 3 close in, beyond that the trail climbs up about 500 ft to Lake #6 where it flattens out and then begins to climb slightly again to about 9500 ft, then begins a relatively consistent, but at times steep descent for about another 3/4 mile, and then it drops off for about 1200 feet of hard switchbacks down to the South Fork of Cathedral Creek (You can look at topos all you want, but it won't do justice to the magnitude of what you'll see from the top....and then look across the gorge and realize that you'll be climbing that in a few hours). Beyond that, you travel a little over 1.5 miles on a gentle upgrade parallel with the creek, then regain that 1200 feet and then some (+/- 9800) on the other side of the canyon you just descended. It's a hard and steep climb in places. This aspect of this section is shaded, so it's also extremely likely to have some snow cover still hanging around. Don't underestimate the difficulty of this section. If anyone hits the wall here, you have no choice but to push on or go back, and going back still puts you in that gorge, which has to be climbed out of in one direction or another. Continuing on, there are some sites with water on that western slope, but they're nearer to the top of the climb. Beyond the pass just below Tuolumne Peak, you have a hard and steep descent to the two tarns on the eastern slope, where there are lots of sites, some better, some junk. Past that, the descent down to the May Lake > Glen Aulin trail varies in gradient, but it's still solid downhill. The trail junction there has a few scroungy desperation sites here and there, and there should still be some water, if not snowpack and postholing this time of year (not to mention, mosquitoes), but your best bet here is to make your way either to Poly Dome Lakes or Raisin Lake. I doubt everyone will feel like going all the way to May Lake on that day. And besides, as lovely as May Lake is, camping is still better and more private at Raisin and Poly Dome.
If your kids are tough, God bless 'em, but the full Ten Lakes route is one that can either motivate them in a big way for the future, or it could destroy any love of backpacking that they might otherwise have, forever.