Scrambling Routes in Yosemite

[mattjackson90]

Hi guys,

Any advice on where to find guides on scrambling routes in Yosemite?

More hands on than your traditional hiking, but nothing bordering on Diff in climbing.

Cheers from the UK!

Matt

[AlmostThere]

Anything out there can be a "scrambling" route. The ones with names tend to be actual climbing routes.

You could visit Summitpost.org - climbing website - or google the Sierra High Route (an off trail route that Steve Roper made famous, that goes through part of Yosemite). Or wander around checking out all the domes on Tioga Road. Or look for the nice slabby granite that happens at the ends of canyons -- or look at the topo maps at peaks along ridges from trailed passes.

R.J. Secor's book High SIerra: Peaks, Passes and Trails is chock full of off trail passes, class 1-5, and other such goodies.

[Phil]

As AT says, that could be anywhere. Are you talking multi-day hikes or shorter? Your biggest issues with longer routes are going to be water and safe route finding.

We've had our eye on the backside of Mt Hoffman for a couple seasons. We figured a couple days would do it. I know it might be pretty much impossible for you to visualize without having been there, but we thought about coming out of Ten Lakes Basin past lakes 4 and 5, then making our way cross-country over from there, then drop down to May Lake. It's all beautiful country up there. We also saw a lot of very intriguing possible routes to the north of Hoffman that could fit the bill. Both could also be done as day-hikes as well.

But yeah, check your topo, pick a trail in an area you're interested in, figure out where to leave it, go walking until you get tired or come out where you want. The possibilities are endless. You almost just have to come with the vaguest semblance of a plan, be standing there, then figure out what looks fun and doable.

[mattjackson90]

Thankyou both, I'll check those out and go with an open mind!