Current conditios and trail to AVOID: CR to JMT

[MadDiver]

Hey All,

I just got back from my trip June 6-11th and will throw up a full report (with pics) later but wanted to get some pertinent facts out: First avoid the trail from ~1.5 miles N of Clouds Rest to down to the JMT (I'm sure the regulars already know this). This is the heart of the burned area, the soil is extremely loose and dusty, and it's fairly steep. Thankfully I was solo but with a group you'd be breathing ash/dust continuously - think Mordor The trail also tends to vanish in spots, though due to the terrain it's easy to guess where it goes.

OK, now the good: From Tuolumne Meadows to Glen Aulin to May Lake to CR all trails were in good shape. No mentionable blowdowns or mud slogs. The most mosquitoes between Tenaya Lake and the saddle near Sunrise. I didn't have trouble with them elsewhere except my camp in the morning at Sunrise (though the JMT through Long Meadow was fine). The trail from CR to Merced Lake also good except as mentioned above. Merced Lake to Sunrise via Cathedral Creek also good with a couple blowdowns (easily navigated) and a couple tricky creek crossings in the meadow area about 1/2 way up (it was pouring rain). Nighttime temps were in the 30's and low 40's. I never saw frost but was glad I brought the 20 degree bag.

GA and Sunrise outhouses open. May Lake and Merced Lake not. I didn't make it towards Vogelsang as there were heavy thunderstorms in the forecast at the wrong time. None of the Sierra camps are running yet nor are the wall tents up.

One pic, the clouds had just broke and the sun coming out above Glen Aulin:

[Eskimoke]

We will be there this week and had planned to dump packs and hike from the Forsyth/JMT junction up the north side of Clouds Rest and back down. Can you provide any more info? Also is there a water source in that area? Looks like some creeks/puddles but hard to tell how reliable. Trying to figure how much water there is between LYV and Sunrise on the JMT.

Thanks!

[MadDiver]

Hi Eskimoke,

I'm afraid I don't know Forsyth and can't find it on my map. If you describe it more I'll be happy to answer. See the map below: The trail circled in RED (sorry can't seem to find a name for it...) is the one to avoid. The creek in BLUE is the LAST water heading south as in NO more. It Looked to be quite reliable. It has a small tributary 50yds S but might as well hit the big one once you are south past the lake (also circled in blue). Sunrise Creek at the intersection of the JMT seems reliable. The creek along the RED trail seems reliable, but again I would no go that way.

Have a good trip! I'm happy to answer any other questions you may have.

Aaron

[Eskimoke]

Thanks so much Aaron. Of course the trail you circled is EXACTLY where we had planned on heading up and camping/getting water before doing Clouds Rest from the north side. Might just have to skip CR entirely and stay on JMT to Sunrise (we're headed from Glacier Pt. to Tuolumne). Bummer. The only other option would be to go over CR but that sounds hard w/ 30+ pound packs.

[MadDiver]

Bummer, I don't know HOW hard the direct ascent to CR is from the south is as I didn't go that way. But without water at camp it seems to be quite the schlep. If you do camp near CR I suggest just N of the summit along the rim of Tenaya Canyon to the W of the trail. Get a bit off the trail to the W and you'll start seeing fire rings. I found it preferable to the E side of the trail after staggering around for an hour totally bonked looking for a site

I really enjoyed the trail to Sunrise along Cathedral Creek even though it was rain/thunderstorms/hail. Only did the JMT from Sunrise N to Tuolumne.

[Flash74]

Aaron,

Curious if you had heard about the snow level getting into Vogelsang from toulume meadows. We are planning a quick trip from TM to Vogelsang day one. Then to Merced Lake day 2. Down to LYV on day 3 and out to the valley floor our final day. My only concern is I am taking my two kids and lugging them through snow up to Vogelsang does not sound fun. I have been looking for a trail report for the last week. Jason

[MadDiver]

Hi Jason,

I didn't hear any direct reports, everyone seemed to be avoiding Vogelsang due to potential thunderstorms all week. On the route I took, I took exactly 1 step in snow and could have avoided it - even put some on my head to cool down Some tiny patches in really sheltered areas - very few and far between.

I did see this posted 2+ weeks ago: http://yosemitenews.info/forum/read.php?17,80033

"Spent Memorial Day Weekend backpacking in the Tuolumne Area (even in the midst of Saturday's snow storm). Took Rafferty Creek to the Fletcher lake area. Trails were wet, but not muddy. Snow patches on the trail starting at ~9800 ft elevation., but trail was easy to follow through these small snow patches. Only snow travel was climbing up to the Fletcher lake area after the trail splits towards Vogelsang Lake (vs Emeric Lake). Experienced some postholing for that brief climb, Otherwise fine and snow was well travelled by Sunday. Half of Fletcher lake was iced over."

Based on the above and considering the rain and nice temps when it wan't raining this past week I wouldn't be too concerned about snow provided you're not going over the pass.. It would be nice to hear from someone 1st hand though.

Hope this helps.

[Flash74]

Thanks for the update! I know it has been pretty hot this past week and I am hoping when we hit the trail on Wed we will have a better idea of getting in and out of Vogelsang. It is the one high camp my kids have not backpacked into yet and kind of the highlight for them. Jason

[Justin-T]

This is all great info, thanks.

I have a question about Sunrise Creek: I'm going to be hiking in this area with my son in 3 weeks (first week of July), and you mention that Sunrise Creek at the junction with the JMT seems reliable. Any guess whether it will still be OK for our trip in 3 weeks time if there's no significant rain between now and then?

[MadDiver]

This is all great info, thanks.

I have a question about Sunrise Creek: I'm going to be hiking in this area with my son in 3 weeks (first week of July), and you mention that Sunrise Creek at the junction with the JMT seems reliable. Any guess whether it will still be OK for our trip in 3 weeks time if there's no significant rain between now and then?

I'm afraid I don't know. This was my first trip through the area so I have no local experience with seasonal water fluctuations. It's a small stream but doesn't look like the kind of thing that goes dry - also some nearby streams and tributaries are marked "intermittent" on my map but not that one. That said, this doesn't look to be a normal year... I'd really check closer to your travel date and hopefully hear from a recent hiker. Sorry I can't help more... And to be clear: the part of Sunrise Creek I was referring to originally was right at the bottom of the red circle I drew on the map, actually just a touch N of the JMT.

Hopefully someone with more local experience will chime in

[Justin-T]

I'm afraid I don't know. This was my first trip through the area so I have no local experience with seasonal water fluctuations. It's a small stream but doesn't look like the kind of thing that goes dry - also some nearby streams and tributaries are marked "intermittent" on my map but not that one. That said, this doesn't look to be a normal year... I'd really check closer to your travel date and hopefully hear from a recent hiker. Sorry I can't help more... And to be clear: the part of Sunrise Creek I was referring to originally was right at the bottom of the red circle I drew on the map, actually just a touch N of the JMT.

Thanks anyway, but it's a good sign if it looked OK upstream of the spot I was referring to.

[Dave_Ayers]

This is all great info, thanks.
I have a question about Sunrise Creek: I'm going to be hiking in this area with my son in 3 weeks (first week of July), and you mention that Sunrise Creek at the junction with the JMT seems reliable. Any guess whether it will still be OK for our trip in 3 weeks time if there's no significant rain between now and then?

Sunrise Creek is fed from several springs and should be reliable in early July.

However, I'm not clear on which junction you are talking about. If you take the Forsythe trail (which MadDiver says not to take) from NE of Cloud's Rest down to the JMT, it crosses Sunrise Creek about 1/4th mi before the JMT is reached. Along the JMT between the Forsythe and Cloud's Rest trail junctions, the JMT comes close to Sunrise Creek for a ways where there are occasional campsites (or were before the fire). This can be seen in the upper left corner of the USGS Merced Peak quadrangle map.

If you take the Cloud's Rest trail SW from CR down to the JMT, there is a small stream at the CR/JMT trail junction that is spring fed and should be reliable in early July. That is a popular camping area, especially near a long holiday weekend, so you may want a relatively early arrival to get a good spot if you want to camp there.

A map of the burned area is at https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2fotO ... view?pli=1

[Justin-T]

Thanks Dave, that's really helpful. My plan is to camp where you're talking about at the end of your post (yellow marking on the image below, although most likely on the north side of the creek). We're hiking to Clouds Rest from Sunrise Lakes, then down SW from the top of CR to the Creek & make camp, so we can head up Half Dome the next morning, so we're missing the area referred to by the OP (red line). I didn't realize how widespread the burned area was, thanks for the link to that image. Good to know that spot should have water. If it doesn't we'll have to trek down into LYV… so we would have an "out" if even if it does completely dry up.

Sunrise by Justin-T64, on Flickr

[Dave_Ayers]

There is also a small spring along the Half Dome trail. See viewtopic/f=8&t=3221