Hetch Hetchy to Pate Valley Cross-Country?

[russL]

Hello Everyone,

Has anyone taken a cross-country hiking route from Rancheria Falls to Pate Valley? Topo maps suggest a couple potential hiking routes heading down from about 7000' elevation on Rancheria Mountain. Has anyone tried this or other routes, especially lower-elevation ones? Are there good crossings of the Tuolumne River between Hetch Hetchy Reservoir and Pate Valley?

I'm planning a hike for the summer or fall and have a lot of experience with off-trail hiking with a backpack.

[AlmostThere]

I find myself wondering what map you are looking at. I am looking at my topo of the area and wondering what route other than the trail would involve hiking rather than a bunch of long ropes, a helmet, and a harness. Knowing low elevation in that area, I also wonder if you react to poison oak and how you feel about wading in manzanita and/or buck brush.

[balzaccom]

That's pretty wild country there---it's pretty much like heading down into Yosemite Valley the North or South Rim...you better have a pretty clear route or lots of hardware.

[balzaccom]

This will give you an idea of the terrain



And here's the whole trip---sp you can see the rest of the photos:

https://picasaweb.google.com/balzaccom/HetchHetchy09#

[orion]

Probably the best reason why you can't hike that route is the Hetch Hetchy resevoir, but then we'd probably have dozens of pack trains a day taking that route up to high sierra camps, which is a good reason not to take down the dam. John Muir had more wilderness preserved losing that fight than he would have winning it: an irony to consider. (I trust the people on this board know the difference between wilderness and Yosemite Valley, your average person can't make that discernment.)

[russL]

Thanks everyone. I appreciated all of the thoughts, photos etc.