Seeking comments/suggestions on my 5-night route

[jdabs]

I will preface this by stating I have spent a fair amount of time in Yosemite both dayhiking and backpacking so I have a pretty good sense of the area/terrain/climate/etc. Our group will consist of 2-4 people, all experienced backpackers. For at least one it will be his first trip to Yosemite. I have confirmed with Yarts that their bus will still be running on Saturday September 8, leaving Yosemite Valley at 5pm, so we'll leave our car in the valley, hop on the bus at 5pm, and we'll stay at the Tuolumne Meadows backpacker's camp (which is very conveniently located to the Elizabeth Lake trailhead). Day 1 will be on Sunday, September 9, 2012.

Day 1: Tuolumne Meadows to Nelson Lake via Elizabeth Lake (~6 miles) (or perhaps to Matthes Lake)
Day 2: Cross country along Echo Creek to join Echo Creek trail, pass Merced Lake HSC and camp at Washburn Lake (~12.5 miles)
Day 3: Depart Washburn Lake southerly, then turn west toward Red Peak Pass. Goal is Lower Ottoway Lake (~12 miles) (with option of camping near Edna Lake if need to stop earlier)
Day 4: Stay put and day hike around Clark Range (or move camp to Lower Ottoway Lake if stayed at Edna Lake the night before, then dayhike)
Day 5: Head north into Illilouette Canyon. Camp close to Mt. Starr King (8.7 miles). Dayhike around Mt. Starr King.
Day 6: Head north to Yosemite Valley, passing Nevada and Vernal Falls and ending at Happy Isles (~8 miles). Take free valley shuttle back to car at visitor's center. Drive to Jamestown, CA for showers, beers, steaks, and beds.

Any comments/crtitiques of this plan would be appreciated. Feel free to offer up ideas for best campsite locations along the way, dayhike ideas in the Clark Range, or alternate cross-country ideas for leaving Nelson Lake and getting to Washburn Lake.

Thanks!

[bill-e-g]

I've only camped at Washburn once. It was mediocre at best even though the lake itself is spectacular
and is far prettier than Merced in my eyes.
Edna, I dunno if you have actually ever seen any pictures of the lake... but there is limited, if any really good
places to pitch a tent around the entire lake. IMO most would be hard pressed to find a suitable spot.
Consider Red Devil Lake or any of the tarns dotting the area below Red Peak Pass.

Nelson is getting ridiculously busy nowadays... I don't even go there "in season".

There's all kinds of things to explore in the Clark Range. Pull out a map and start dreaming.
Merced Peak and Red Peak are not really technical.

Have fun

[jdabs]

Thanks for the response and tips. I see what you mean about Edna Lake. I really meant something in that area, but good to know that Edna is not really an option at all. Red Devil looks pretty good though.

Also, if you have other ideas besides Nelson for the first night I'm certainly open to suggestions. I just wouldn't want it to increase our mileage for the next day too much more as far as getting down to Washburn.

Thanks again!

[Grzldvt]

Why the big drop to the Valley? Why not start and finish in Toulumne, or Glacier Point? Just curious.
Did a trip many moons ago out of Glacier Point, the first night was LYV, and I hate that place, but we managed to get fairly far out and had a great spot, much to my surprise. Next day we ended up most of the way up Triple Peak Fork Canyon, then had a short day just below Red Peak Pass. To this day and I have pretty much BP'ed the entire park, The camp site at Red Peak Pass has been one of my all time favorite sites.
You might also consider X-country across the Buena Vista Crest to the Buena Vista Trail into Glacier Point It keeps you very high and great views.
This is a major change in your route, and I get that, so this is just a suggestion.
I am with bill-e-g on Edna, pass as it is difficult at best for camping.
As an FYI, you can get showers in the Valley. The pool sells them, or at least they used to.

[dan]

As an FYI, you can get showers in the Valley. The pool sells them, or at least they used to.

A minor clarification. The pool at Camp Curry sells showers (with soap and towel. If there's nobody there to sell showers, I just go in the shower room.

The pools at Yosemite Lodge and Ahwahnee do not sell showers.

[balzaccom]

Thanks for the response and tips. I see what you mean about Edna Lake. I really meant something in that area, but good to know that Edna is not really an option at all. Red Devil looks pretty good though.

Also, if you have other ideas besides Nelson for the first night I'm certainly open to suggestions. I just wouldn't want it to increase our mileage for the next day too much more as far as getting down to Washburn.

Thanks again!

The advantage of Nelson is that it doesn't usually fill up the trail quota, so there is almost always room to go in that direction.

[jdabs]

Thanks to everyone who has chimed in!

I should have been a little more clear as to our start location... I already have entry permits for the Nelson Lake trail and will probably stick with it as the entry even if other trails are available. Regarding my comment about other ideas for the first night, I meant other ideas in the same general area of Nelson since that is where our permit is for.

I am also coming up with a Plan B as far as the route goes which would involve a loop starting and ending in Tuolumne just in case the plan to leave our car in the valley and take the shuttle up to Tuolumne falls apart... wouldn't be the first time I've missed a bus!! The original plan of ending in the valley is to ensure that my brother, who has never been to Yosemite, gets to see the various waterfalls on the way down and gets to spend a little time taking in the valley views. When we're arriving on Day 0 to park the car and catch the bus to Tuolumne at 5pm, I have a feeling we'll be rushing around a bit, so ending in the valley would give us the chance to be down there a bit at the end.

As for the Plan B Tuolumne Loop, I'm wondering if going all the way down into the Clark Range is the best way to go, or if we should stay further north doing shorter trips with our packs and more afternoon dayhikes. And, dare I say, we could also fit in a trip up half dome if we did the latter (I personally could pass on it, but it's his first time!).

So, I guess another question to the group is, for a 5-night trip, how does the trip down to the Clark Range compare to staying closer to Tuolumne. Obviously more people around Tuolumne, and longer distances to Clark Range, but how about overall scenery and memorableness?

Finally, Grzldvt, can you dial me in to the exact location of the campsite you like so much at Red Peak Pass?

Thanks again everyone!

[Grzldvt]

Thanks to everyone who has chimed in!


Finally, Grzldvt, can you dial me in to the exact location of the campsite you like so much at Red Peak Pass?

Thanks again everyone!

Yes, when coming in to the Red Peak Pass area from Triple Peak Fork Canyon, Red Peak will be wide open and above you and there will be a slight ridge to your left, just off trail. We had a very small lake that we could pull water from, without having to go all the way down to Red Devil Lake. This was before canisters so we hung our food off a cliff with some very tiny pine trees that hung out over it. No doubt in hindsight not the best, but we were pretty confident we wouldn't be having too many visitors in that area.
I need to go back to my paper photos to give you an idea of it's location, but it was a very obvious spot to camp.
As an FYI, we were in the teens for temperature when we woke up in Triple Peak Fork, at what 8500 ft and at that campsite, maybe 9500-10,000 ft, we had an inversion layer come in and it was hot at 10:30 PM. We spent a few hours in shorts and T-shirts at 10:00 PM watching satellites go by overhead and never got even close to getting in our bags.
Let me see if I can locate the pics....

[Grzldvt]

Here is the picture of our campsite just before red peak pass. Red Devil lake is off to the left out of site.

[jdabs]

Wow! That looks like an amazing spot!! Thanks for sharing that!