Honeymoon 4 night/5 day backpacking trip

[hibby11]

Hi!

I've been scowering the internet over the past couple weeks looking at topo's and trying to figure out what would be the best choice for a 4 night 5 day backpacking trip the 20th of June...

I'm reasonbly experienced in Yosemite and an experienced backpacker having made trips to Glacier/Tetons/RMNP....

My wife and I will be rock climbing around the Valley so i'd like to stay away from any things that we'll already be seeing while were in the Valley (El Cap, Half Dome/Nevada Falls, Middle Cathedral, Matthes Crest, North Dome)

Some of my thoughts on a few of the trips i've been thinking about....
Hetch Hetchy up the Rancheria Mountains and back down through the Bailey Ridge down to Lake Vernon
-Doesn't seem like much opportunity for variation, changes in schedule, peak bagging day hikes

Pacific Crest Trail north out of Glen Aulin down Rogers Canyon and then back up the GCT.
-Major problem....thats a whole lot of mileage for 5 days and this will be a portion of our honeymoon and we don't want to suffer too much....

Illiloute creek down to lower ottoway lake and then down and back up through merced pass and back up through buena vista pass to the trailhead
-This allows us a little time to do some day hikes check out some of the area peaks.
-Not sure on the scenery of the area? How does it compare?

(Current Thought)
Tuolumne meadows down through Lyell and up to Vogelsang over to Merced and then south to Isberg and back
-This option provides choices in day hikes and peaks if we want to take a day and do that instead of the full trip down to isberg.
-I've never explored this part of the park (E of LYV and south of HD)
-Will there be too much snow this time of year? I know it highly depends on the type of winter there's been...will we need to pack crampons...

We have been trying to stick to a loop because we'll have a car and don't want to have to add the complexity of transportation back to it (or a wasted day)

So in that incredibly long post i'm looking for advice....we are both very active and capable of doing 10+ miles per day but just want to have the most memorable backpacking portion of our honeymoon that we can...

I really appreciate any and all help...happy holidays!

Travis

[balzaccom]

My thoughts:

Hetch Hetchy up the Rancheria Mountains and back down through the Bailey Ridge down to Lake Vernon

A lovely hike---you can certainly climb LeConte Point as a day-hike, which I really recommend. There's some nice scenery here, and the climb up Rancheria/Tiltill Valley is good exercise! In June there still may be plenty of snow on the upper portions of this hike...you'll just have to see what kind of winter we have!

Pacific Crest Trail north out of Glen Aulin down Rogers Canyon and then back up the GCT.
Yep--a lot of miles. Most people do the GCT in three or four days. Why not just do the GCT for this trip, as a through hike? Waterfalls should be lovely then--but there was a big fire here last year, so the lower portion of the Canyon may be pretty burned and ugly. And the climb back out to White Wolf is a long hard pull---maybe not what I would choose for a honeymoon!

Illiloute creek down to lower ottoway lake and then down and back up through merced pass and back up through buena vista pass to the trailhead
If you leave from Mono Meadows this is over 15 miles to Lower Ottoway, and all but the first three miles are uphill. There is also a lot of burn damage here, from a fire about ten years ago. Don't get me wrong, Ottoway is one of my favoriate all time destinations in Yosemite. but the views coming back down from Buena Vista are not all that special...lower merced Pass will probably still have quite a bit of snow on the north side then...

(Current Thought)
Tuolumne meadows down through Lyell and up to Vogelsang over to Merced and then south to Isberg and back

Beautiful hike, but a lot of this is at higher elevations---you start at almost 9000 feet and then go up from there. So yes, you will have some snow in places, and that will also making your hiking a bit slower.

Of all of these, I think I would choose going up Illilouette, but that's because I really love that area. I wouldn't count on getting over the pass, but might just camp at Upper Merced Pass lake (no fish) or Ottoway Lake ( lots of fish, but higher and snowier in late June) This would also eliminate the worry about a shuttle.

You could even do this hike by parking in the Valley, getting the shuttle out to Glacier point ( or Mono Meadows, even better!) and then on the way home, taking an extra day and hiking the Panorama Trail back through the Falls and into the Valley to your car.

Ten miles of downhill is a great way to end the honeymoon!

Here's link to a page of our favorite trips in yosemite from our website:
http://www.backpackthesierra.com/home/d ... tioga-pass

[hibby11]

The only concern I have with the passes being too snowy to cross is that we'll have to hike back out the canyon the same way we came in.

I'd as much as possible like to avoid an out and back as much as possible. The Ottoway lakes look gorgeous which makes this a very viable option....

Do you think the snow in the higher country around Lyell Canyon,Merced lake and Vogelsang would make this area impassable?

We are going to pass on the Panorama trail because we will be rock climbing Half Dome one day and we will already be heading up the Mist Trail...

I'm torn between these two decisions now....(at least its narrowing itself down)

Thanks for your help!!!

[hibby11]

In looking more into Illiloute canyon up through red peak pass and over to lake merced and back down to the falls and glacier point...

What is the earliest most make it through Red Peak Pass???

I've read several trip reports and several are mentioned late June...

I'm wondering...if we were to head up that way...what equipment could we use to head over the pass....packs and trekking poles obviously...would we need to bring our crampons???

That looks like an incredible loop....now i'm just hoping for little snow...

[balzaccom]

That's a great trip--but watch the weather over the next few months. As I recall, Red Peak Pass is over 11,000 feet, so it does get some snow!

[hiker97]

I suppose that if a heavy snow year made Red Peak Pass not viable in late June, perhaps a GCT loop would be a decent Plan B for you. There is a loop out of White Wolf that is 50 miles: down to GCT to Pate Valley, up GCT to Glen Aulin, then south past McGee Lake and up to Tuolumne Peak (nice summit opportunity?), then west through Ten Lakes Basin and back to White Wolf. I think the ideal pace for that loop is probably 3 days in GCT, then 3 days back (with stays at Tuolumne Peak and an upper more remote lake within Ten Lakes Basin), but if you're in great shape I'm sure it could be done in 5 instead of 6 days. Your southern Yosemite loop sounds like a fabulous Plan A...just offering up another idea in case there is too much snow on the high passes at that time. That said, if there is lots of snow on the high passes, a couple of crossings on this GCT loop may also be a bit treacherous.

[hibby11]

I'll take a look at the map and see what it looks like...thanks for another option for a plan B....never a bad idea.

[bill-e-g]

If it were me:
Honeymoon - Benson Lake

[orion]

The Illiloute Creek is liable to be impassibly high water, coming in from Mono Meadows Trailhead, and the Ottoway Lakes will probably be iced over still.

You'll really have to reassess once the springtime weather has come through, especially with the expectation of an El Nino year, which could delay snowmelt by a month or even more.

You should be looking at hikes to about 8000' or less, and pay close attention to creek crossings and what options you would have if they were impassible (i.e. don't save a big crossing for your last day, with a three day backtrack if its running high.)

At least there won't be mosquitoes.

[orion]

Ten Lakes Basin was frozen over that time of year in '07. Last year I was hiking in snowpack above 8000' ft in late June. This year should have much more snow.

Lake Vernon or Kibbie Lake should be doable.