Tuolumne Meadows to Mt. Lyell

[sfcyclone]

Hello everyone,
My fiance and I are planning our first backpacking trip to Yosemite, we previously did the HD hike and made the mistake of staying in Curry Village (never again!) We are wanting to do a backpacking trip to Mt. Lyell and searching through here and summitpost I wasn't able to find answers to a few specific questions.

1) Where do people usually camp before heading up Lyell. Someone said "near the JMT and Lyell fork" which isn't exactly the most helpful. Do people usually go the 4 miles from Tuolumne and setup there? Tentatively, we were thinking of going most of the way to Donahue but we're definitely interested in where you guys recommend.

2) How far along the trail do you go before trailblazing to Lyell? I know there is no official trail, but is there some sort of a noticeable cow path from where other people have gone up?

About us: Both of us are late 20's, have a lot of experience car camping and doing day hikes (last one was about a month ago, we went to the top of Mt. Tallac near Tahoe). We are now taking our first baby steps into backpacking and mountaineering, we figure Lyell will be a good trip for us before we try to tackle Mt. Shasta next summer. I grew up in the woods hunting and spent a few years as a groundpounder in the Army so I am comfortable being off-trail and dead reckoning.

Thanks in advance!
Jared

[weendoggy]

1) I think they mean the junction of the trail to Vogelsang/Ireland Lake, which is about 7mi up the Lyell Fork. I'd go a bit further to camp along the river. Sometimes this is a busy area, but the last time I was there there were no other people around, which I thought strange, or the fact there's not many folks doing this anymore. This is a pretty "flat" walk so if you're inclinded, you can actually hike up toward the pass and camp somewhere to make your hike to Lyell a little less. It all depends on how you feel. In any case, I'd get as far away from Tuolumne Meadows as possible.

[AlmostThere]

Are you climbers? Because you can't WALK up Mt Lyell. There is no walking route. It is a class 2 -3 by the easiest route, involving walking up the glacier. And the climbers rate it - I suspect that for non climbers, it is more likely going to feel like class 3 or 4 - in other words, you won't do it walking (class 1) and it will involve exposure and increased risk to life and limb. Mountaineering is something you don't "just do" - there are techniques to learn, with crampons and ice axe, so that you are able to use them without severe injury to yourself.

There is no "cow path." You may find piles of rocks (cairns) but these are often put up by demented lost people and completely unreliable.

If you are planning to go after mid October - there's no overnight parking on the Tioga Road after the 15th.