Tuolumne Down to the Valley and Back!

[ellebeecartmill]

Taking 8 days to backpack a big loop and looking for a few answers. We are starting up at Tuolumne camp and taking the Tenaya Lake Trail around Tenaya to where it hooks up with the Clouds Rest Trail. Clouds Rest Trail hooks up with an unnamed trail on my maps and I can't seem to figure out what the actual trail is. This "unnamed trail" has two start points near Tenaya - one right at the southwest point connecting to Clouds Rest Trail and Tioga Road and the other just down the way a bit connecting to the "Sunrise Lakes" marker on the map. Is this mystery trail the Sunrise Lakes Trail? Anyhow. This particular (still) "unnamed trail" winds down to the valley meeting Snow Creek Trail and also connects with the Mirror Lake Trail as it moves southwest. I've got the points from there on figured out but it's this unknown trail that's got me stuck. Any help?

[Phil]

We call that the You'll Get Eaten Alive By Mosquitoes, Get Confused Up By Olmstead Point Because Tourists Seem To Like To Build Lots of Cairns and Make Trails In Strange Places For No Apparent Reason, Then Get Eaten Alive Again Right Before You Go Down A Big Long Hill To Snow Creek Trail.

As you might be able to tell, we're quite familiar with it, but I think it's officially called the Olmstead Point Trail up until the junction with the trail coming down from Tioga Rd, where it turns into the Tuolumne Meadows and Tenaya Lake Trail, finally becoming the Snow Creek Trail just past the footbridge. We always just called it the Tenaya Lake and Snow Creek Trail and managed to make it.

[ellebeecartmill]

Phil that is hilarious! Thank you for the comic relief. Glad to know that it's an actual trail and I'll look out for the tourist run-offs!

[Phil]

What comic relief? That was a really basic trail description.

At Olmstead, there really are a lot of well used little use trails and ducks everywhere. The trail twists and turns in a few places, but regardless, you don't go downhill to stay on the right trail at any point below the parking area. The first time we went through, we ended up at Hidden Lake and lost an hour doing it, all because there was a bigger and better trail, and there was a bigger duck than the little stack of pebbles that marked the right one.

[ellebeecartmill]

Ah I see. So the actual trail is inconspicuous compared to the other trails making it misleading. So just to make sure we are talking about the same trail, I've attached the link of the circle we are doing. You'll see the trail span off from Tenaya Lake just on the southwest side and you can also see where it connects to the inlets from Tioga Rd - no name past that point


It's long....

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Lyell+C ... 775116!3e2

[Phil]

Yes, we're talking about exactly the same trail. Your original description was easy to discern it by. It's an easy trail to follow, although you'll do a reverse crossing at Tenaya Creek than that which most have to do for going up the Sunrise Trail (it's the trail to Cloud's Rest, but that's not it's formal name). The only place it's even remotely obscured is for less than a few hundred feet directly below the Olmstead Point parking area. And even then, it just requires that you pay slightly more attention in a few places than elsewhere. If you were to tell anyone that knew it that you were hiking the Tenaya Lake>Snow Creek Trail, they would know just what you're referring to.

From the Sunrise trailhead (#19) to the footbridge at Sunrise Creek, the total distance (regardless of names) is 7.6 miles.

[ellebeecartmill]

Thank you so much Phil. Your description and help has put my anxiety to rest.