El Portal fire

[keystonegirl]

Hi, I have a permit for next Monday, 8/4, for Mono Meadow trailhead and am planning on doing an out-and-back hike to Red Peak pass via Lower Ottoway Lake.

While I would like to be optimistic that the fire will be brought under control soon, the weather forecast does not appear favorable.

My plan was to spend Sunday, 8/3, in the valley as I will be with a friend who has not been to Yosemite, spend Sunday night in Fish Camp, and start hiking Monday morning. As of now, with the road closures, I don't see a good way to go from the Valley to Fish Camp since we cannot access 41 from 120. More so, I am concerned about smoke, etc, on the trail.

Since we will be getting to Yosemite a day early, we could try to get a permit for somewhere further east starting Monday and scrap the Lower Ottoway Lake/Red Peak plan. Help me out here - I'm coming from Pennsylvania so I would like to have some alternate plans in place before getting on the plane on Friday!

[balzaccom]

Fish Camp is on HIghway 41...and the fire is on the north side of Highway 140. Glacier Point Road is south of Highway 140. You shouldn't have a problem getting to either of those. It's only coming from the North, on Highway 120. that there is a problem.

[balzaccom]

Here's a photo from Leopold Lake in the Emigrant Wilderness on Saturday afternoon. This scene reminded us so much of the Rim Fire last year.



Hope they get this under control soon....

We'll post more photos from the trip later

[keystonegirl]

Right, so I guess I will be able to get to the trailhead.....but is it going to be a smoky four days of hiking?

I called the permit office and the only available permit in the eastern part of the park is Mono-Parker pass and that looks more like a day hike, unless I'm misunderstanding it.

[keystonegirl]

Just realized, balzacom, that your blog is how I found the Ottoway Lake hike to begin with. Great site!

[balzaccom]

Ha! Thanks!

Right now the wind is blowing in the other direction....but it would be good to check!

[Dave_Ayers]

The worst smoke from the past few fires I personally recall (Rim, Foresta, Aspen) was NE of the fires. Of course its wind and it will vary ...

The Mono/Parker Pass route can be a day hike or a much longer hike if you are willing to hump over Koip Pass and head to the Minarets. An issue is the 1st legal camping is outside the park at either Mono Pass or near the Parker Lakes -- which are at ~10,900 feet. So you'll want to be able to handle that altitude the 1st night. And Koip Pass is a stiff climb on day 1 or 2 at ~12,250 feet. If you do climb Koip Pass, it's only about 700 feet more vertical (sans pack) to climb the peak which has excellent views. And 13k Kuna Peak is right next door to Koip. There are views of Mono Lake, etc., along the trail to Gem Pass.

I've done Dana Mdw/Koip/Minarets/Lyell loops both clockwise and counter clockwise. I think they are fine hikes. Plus the free Yosemite Tuolumne/Tioga shuttle runs 4 times a day to take you back to your car so you can close the loop.

[keystonegirl]

Thanks for the info. I saw on another forum that people said it's smoky in Wawona now too. I think I'm giving up on Yosemite and will try for a walk-in pass in Mammoth Lakes - not sure if I'll have much luck there either, but at least I'm familiar with that area, so I feel a little better about that than trying to figure out something else altogether.