Young Lakes via Dog Lake Conditions

[beuller]

Hey all-

I'm heading out to Young Lakes next weekend, wondering if anyone's been recently and can provide an update on 1) creek levels (am I going to drown in Delaney Creek?) 2) the amount of snow/snowmelt on the trail and 3) mosquito levels. I appreciate any info - thanks!

Micah

[Lesbert]

See the post below -- we asked similar questions about 2 weeks ago - We are in mammoth now and leaving on Wednesday for this exact hike.
I spoke with someone who runs the stables out of Toulome Meadows -- The two creeks are not fed by alot of snow melt and should be fine -- the trail passes them at their upper end. I'm told there may be some snow in the forest, but lots of this trail is in the open and has gotten plenty of sun.

Mosquitos - I'm reading they will be terrible -- hard to know - very cool in mammoth currently and no bugs around, but lakes attract bugs. Just read in an old trip report that camping 200 yds from the lake toward roosevelt lake will get you away from them if it's bad.

We are taking a first backpacking and a younger member of the family (11) -- so we won't take chances with running water. I will report when we are back on the 23 if that helps you.

[beuller]

Lesbert-

I'd love to hear what you see when you're out there - the more info the better. I appreciate the update.

Micah

[bbmq]

I would also like to know what the conditions are for this hike. I just canceled a trip over Parker Pass and Koip Pass for the weekend of July 30 due to heavy snow conditions that would make going over Koip too difficult. Instead I would like to consider a hike of Lembert Dome>Dog Lake>Young Lakes>Glen Aulin>White Wolf instead.

In addition to the hike to Young Lakes does anybody know what the conditions are for creek crossings along the Tuolumne River?

Would it be better to turn back after Waterwheel Falls and head toward May Lake? I've never camped in this area before, are there decent camping spots before May Lake?

[dan]

Sorry, I don't know the current conditions along the Tuolumne River--someone else could chime in.

There's a bridge crossing the Tuolumne briefly to the south side of the river just southeast of Glen Aulin.

There's another bridge in Pate Valley crossing the Tuolumne. Here's a picture (not mine):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/derbilly/4057868930/

Pate Valley up to White Wolf is a hot, dry, uphill trail.

There's lots of camping in the May Lake, north of May Lake, and Ten Lakes regions. It has plenty of small creeks for water, but not overwhelming for crossing anything. Mount Hoffmann is a large west-east ridge that's impassible except to expert rock climbers.

[beuller]

Just got back from our excellent adventure in Young Lakes. Went in via Dog Lake Trail, went out via Soda Springs trail. For those interested, TR is as follows:

Snow is minimal until the Dog Lake side of the loop connects with the Soda Springs side of the loop. At that point (the last 1.5 miles to Young Lakes), the snow was patchier across the ground, but nothing too serious. It covers the trail in a number of spots, but there's lots of bootprints to follow across the snow until it rejoins the trail. We never were worried about getting lost. At Young Lakes, there is plenty of dry ground to camp on, but also many remaining patches of snow and a lot of muddy snowmelt as well. The lower two lakes are unfrozen, but Upper Young Lake is still partially iced over.

Stream crossings were manageable. Dingley Creek was crossable via rockhopping - we didn't get wet. Delaney was wadable - it was up to my knee at the deepest point (I'm 6'0"), but not too fast. Basically an easy crossing that none of us had any problems with. (This was the case with Delaney across both branches of the trail).

Mosquitoes were out in force. Bring repellent, head nets, and loose fitting clothing. I've got about 20 bites, most of which were through clothing. Certainly annoying and unpleasant at times, but not so bad that it ruined the trip by any means. Just be prepared.

I'm not sure about Tuolumne crossings, but it looked pretty full from what little I saw of it - we didn't make it to Glen Aulin or beyond.

Overall, a great trip, great hike, well worth the visit.

[Lesbert]

We took this trip July 20 - 23rd. Water in both creeks up dog's lake trail are only about a foot where you can cross - My 11 year old did it with crocs on and pants rolled fine. Same coming back the Glen Aulin trail.
Lots of mosquitoes which I'm told this year are particularly bad. If you are at camp hanging out, better to be in your tent. Good spots to avoid bugs here -- Lower Youngs Lake inlet/outlet where there is running water and the upper Youngs Lake which is stunningly beautiful and still pretty covered in snow. We just hiked to avoid bugs -- not bad when you are moving. Skip the backpackers camp where the bugs were terrible and way too many people.

A bit of snow on the last 1.5 miles into Lower Youngs, but if you know where you are going and have a map/compass on hand - pretty easy to reclaim the trail. We were newbies and negotiated it fine.

It's a stunning and beautiful spot. We would only change two things -- stay longer and perhaps go in August when there is less of a chance of mosquitoes.