TR: October Backpack..aborted to Yosemite dayhike

[robertseeburger]

Kind of a haha post...if you think of contingency planning.

I usually don't do october backpacks but last year I did one in Humphreys Basin and French Canyon for a week that was fantastic! ( I posted it.)
I timed it by watching the weather reports very closely and went after a storm and I had great weather with few people.

I decided to repeat the October trip this year. Ah... trip planning.... a thing I love. I got it down to Edyth Lake, Mary Lake (northern Yosemite) or Minaret portion of the Sierra High Route. After a lot of though, I decided to do the Minaret portion. I had never been there before, know that June is problematic due to snow and Iceberg Lake, and know that July through september are packed with people....so an october trip seemed ideal. I watched a storm go through the Bay Area and the sierras the weekend of October14th and 15th, clearing Tuesday the 18th. I decided on a quick trip, Wednesday thru Saturday. The weather looked clear and remarkably warm... perfect planning!.

I started driving at 5:00 am on Wednesday the 19th, happy to get a last trip of the year, looking forward to finally getting to Minaret Lake,Cecile Lake and probably climbing Volcanic Ridge and perhaps even Mount Ritter. At 6:30 AM after Manteca, I got a sign saying "Tioga Pass closed". Uh-oh. It also said "Sonora Pass closed". double uh-oh. I pulled over and tried to find out what was going on on the internet.. I found nothing. Decision time.. I could drive up over Carson pass and start really late in the day, or ... I could just keep driving... See if the closure was just temporary and maybe I drive through. If not, I could drive to Yosemite, and do a day hike, camp there, and check out Tioga Pass late in the day or the next day. I took 2 minutes and decided on the latter. So I drove up to Yosemite. At the entrance station, they told me there was a landslide east of the pass that closed it and they couldn't advise when it would be open again.
I had no maps with me other the minaret area...

So I decided to do a day hike in Yosemite. I have done every hike you can think of... I actually worked there washing dishes for a summer in 1976. But I had never been to the Diving Board ( west of Half Dome) where Ansel Adams took his famous picture "Monolith" in 1927. So off I went.

I got to the valley and I planned to call my wife and tell what had happened. I have always had cell service there (with ATT) but I recently dumped ATT and went with T-mobile. (Long story on this, but the net is I AM FREE of ATT!!!). No cell service in Yosemite with T-mobile though. Oh well. I went over to the Awhanee and sent an email on their wifi.

Then off to day hike.. what a gorgeous day. I was surprised how much water there was. Yosemite Falls had good water ( it was dry earlier this year).
The storm must have really dumped. Here is Vernal Falls last week.

yosemite 2 2016.jpg

I was surprised how well the use trail was to the diving board. It was very good in places and very well ducked. Some bushwhacking, but not difficult.
Great hike.. Had this point all to myself! In Yosemite!
The diving board..looking west

yosemite 1 2016.jpg

And of course, Half Dome..my poor attempt at re creating "Monolith".

yosemite 3 2016.jpg

Returning... all campsites full.
I drove back to the TIoga Pass road, hoping that it had reopened. No such luck...they said "maybe the next day"....so I drove home.
4 hour drive up, 8 hour hike, 4 hour drive back. A long day.. No October backpack for me this year.. But next year in October...will attempt the Minaret trip again. Oh well. Got a great day hike in. In retrospect, I probably should have just bit the bullet and driven over Carson Pass.

And thinking of other 2017 trips.. June trip 10-14 days, northern Kings Canyon.. try to catch big goldens like I did last year.
July trip 14 days... Sphinx/Big Brewer/Milestone/northern Kern.. I wanted to do this trip this year but at the last minute another trip bubbled to the top(I did Taboose/Bench/Cartridge/Dumbbell/Amphitheatre/Mather--climbing Mount Sill and also catching 19"rainbow--classic loop backpack).. and then August/September ..something in Bear Creek drainage--always good to return...followed by October Minarets.. already got 2017 planned!..

Happy 2017 trip planning to all.