Current conditions at Sunrise TH please

[loriwilcox]

We are three women with a permit for 3 nights on the High Sierra Loop beginning 8/2 at Sunrise, out on 8/5 at Rafferty Creek. The official wilderness conditions page has not been updated since the 14th, and I'm sure things are changing daily with snow and water. Is there anyone out there who has recently been on the trail in this area and can advise us? We all have backpacked over the years, one of us has snow camped (but not her favorite), and elevation is not a problem. We are mostly concerned about losing the trail near Vogelsang, and having to cross high water. Also not sure where to camp the night of the 1st as it seems the backpacker campground at Tuolumne is still closed. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[AlmostThere]

Hopefully the Detwiler fire will be out by then -- it is filling the air with unhealthy amounts of smoke and ash in the Yosemite area.

The water will be lower in that area by then, particularly because there are no drainages above 10k to continue feeding the creeks with snowmelt, and the melt is slowly crawling to elevations above 10k at the moment. You will wade the outlet of Tenaya Lake and find patchy snow in the shady areas above 9000 feet. You'll have oodles of Mosquitoes to contend with.

Not sure which way you are coming into the park -- there are lots of campgrounds in the national forests on the 120 approach from east or west. The question is whether they will be open -- some are closed due to hazard trees.

[Dave_Ayers]

I've not seen Sunrise reports the past week or so but there is a Rafferty thread at http://yosemitenews.info/forum/read.php ... #msg-90097 . Focus on the most recent postings only, the melt is happening so fast reports over a week old are not terribly useful as far as snow cover.

[AlmostThere]

Agree that there won't be any useful reports more than a week old - but there probably won't be any recent reports because no one wanted to hike the area due to all the smoke from the fire.

[Dave_Ayers]

Also see http://yosemitenews.info/forum/read.php ... #msg-90119 for some Sunrise info.

[Bighead]

We hiked it as part of an 8 day point to point on July 18th. You do t need to worry about snow at all. We only encountered a few drifts that you can just walk around. As far as mosquitoes I was a little confused and baffled after reading nonstop rants on every thread about mosquitoes. We never had to pull out head nets and the mosquitoes while present weren't bad at all even while camping next to Sunrise or at Tenaya. We even swam at Sunrise. Not even close or comparable to the mosquitoes I've encountered in Yellowstone, Alaska, or back east.

As far as the smoke it was annoying but not bad.

[AlmostThere]

That's because the mosquitoes have different elevations and different regions where they happen in great, buzzing waves of unpredictable magnitude. They have been crazy bad between 6-9000 feet in the Sierra National Forest for the past few weeks. They were horrible in SEKI. I've been avoiding Yosemite like the plague because of the stupid traffic - no desire to sit there in the car for hours again, already done that twice this spring - the melt there appears to be a little behind the Ansel Adams Wilderness and SEKI.

Better to be prepared and not need measures than not have them, and be eaten.

[Phil]

Bottle of DEET, head net...less than 8 ounces, and about $8 worth of trip insurance. If you don't run into mosquitoes on the HSC route, consider yourself blessed. You can avoid high water and snow in most cases, but when something hunts you for blood, there's not much you can do if you're not prepared. Wrong place, wrong time = trip killer = no fun.

[Phil]

Right now, they're shooting for having the TM campground open on 08/01.

https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/campgrounds.htm

Updated wilderness and current conditions as of 07/24:

https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/wildcond.htm

Personal, recent trip reports are still going to more timely and accurate. Based on what Dave linked...go.

[Surf Fleet Commander]

The Yosemite wilderness condition page is still posting no anticipated opening date for Tuolumne Meadows campground, updated July 24. I hope they do open it soon. I am planning to travel through there Aug 3-4 on JMT.

https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/wildcond.htm

[Phil]

They're currently estimating the opening on August 1st. Water treatment, sanitation, storm damage repair are the holdup, but they're usually pretty good about sticking to campground opening dates, and by now they have a good enough handle on the workload to be relatively accurate.

https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/campgrounds.htm

[tinyisgreat]

I JUST finished backpacking Sunrise trailhead to Cathedral trailhead. Conditions were great! Patches of snow along the way but nothing that hindered following the trail. I never saw any of the smoke from the Detwiler fire but I also don't have asthma. It didn't affect me if it was there. Mosquitoes were insane at Long Meadow next to Sunrise HSC. Bring long sleeved clothes and mosquito netting for your head.

[babaroberto]

The snow is almost all gone. I almost cancelled because of all the warnings but went and it was perfect. Go! Have fun.

[Climb]

We just returned yesterday (July 29) from 3 nights starting at Sunrise TH... The Creek was low (bring a change of socks or sandals) and the snow is no worries. It is very hot and after the 1.5 mile uphill the mosquitos are thick! Most of the time they are only awake from 7am until 10am and then again from 5pm until 8pm. Head net and 99.9% deet did help a little. I'm counting 15 bites above my shoulders and about 20 below. It's absolutely gorgeous and worth it... Have a great time!

[loriwilcox]

Hiked in on the 2nd and out on the 5th. It was absolutely gorgeous! Spent night of the 1st in Tuolumne Meadows campground, which had just opened that day. All high sierra camps closed for the entire season, so we had them pretty much to ourselves. Thunder each afternoon, some rain on the 3rd, and lots of rain up at Vogelsang. Mosquitos are persistent, I probably have over 20 bites, even with Deet and head net (but worth every itch!). One water crossing required boots off and water sandals on (between Merced Lake and Vogelsang), all others were rock hoppers. I'm going through my photos now and really can't believe I was lucky enough to experience such mind blowing beauty! Thanks to all who offered tips and advice.