TR: East Mt. Watkins, Yosemite 5/21-5/23

Wandering Daisy · Post by **Wandering Daisy** » Wed May 24, 2017 7:41 pm

East Mt Watkins; Yosemite
May 21-23, 2017

I left town undecided; I had four trip plans to choose from. Three hours later at the Big Oak Entrance and 20 minutes before same-day permits were issued I made the logistical error to go down to the Valley to get the permit. Although getting delayed in traffic for 2 hours is not ideal, it does give you time to look out the window at jaw dropping scenery. I circled the valley twice (no parking spot to be found), illegally moved a cone to make a spot, set up at the backpacker’s campground, waited and failed to get on a shuttle, finally walked to the Wilderness office, with only permits from Snow Creek TH available at 3PM. After photographing and walking to the backpacker's campground, hot and sweaty, I was ready for a cold beer. After dinner I moved my car to the trailhead parking, where there were spots now that the day-users were gone. In spite of the logistical difficulties, Yosemite Valley lushly vegetated, dogwoods blooming and water flowing high was absolutely stunning. Huge waterfalls were coming off every cliff!

Day 1: 8.5 miles, 4400 feet gain, 7.5 hours (about 2 miles on solid snow).
Return on Day 2: 8.3 miles, 4400 feet loss, 5.3 hours.

I got up at dawn and left the campground at 6:40. The walk to the Snow Creek Trail was nice with shade and a cool breeze. Snow Creek Trail, with 100+ switchbacks and facing south is brutal! Thankfully there was plenty of running water to dunk my head in when it got hot. On the way up I met two fellows descending with skis strapped to their packs. I reached the Snow Creek Bridge at 10AM and took a lunch break where there were also two day-hikers and some backpackers returning. So far there was no snow at all; the trail was littered with deadfall and broken branches. Soon patches of snow appeared. I followed the ski markers high up in the trees and crossed several creeks, wading once. The switchbacks to the meadow with the Ranger Cabin were mostly snow free, but once the flat was reached solid thick snow began. Even in the afternoon the snow was hard and easy to walk on. Large soggy melt-outs were more of a pain than the snow. I followed the ski path where I could barely make out old ski tracks. The ski path veered farther north then I needed to go. On the Mt. Watkins saddle, I turned south and was a bit disoriented traveling through open forests an occasional melted out tree well. I wanted to camp on “East” Watkins", the lower ridge to the east of Mt. Watkins proper, because I had been here before and the view was superior. I finally got oriented and stopped at a dry spot near a tree, with snow visibly melting over rock slabs. It was 2:15.

I collected water and then looked around. Shortly, the dry side of the buttress (very similar to the buttress south of the Snow Creek Bridge) had warm sandy ground, a good breeze, no bugs and a view as splendid as I remembered! After much indecision on where exactly to camp (there are plenty of good sites) I picked one near the top where there were water-filled potholes that although of poor quality, would provide wash water. Setting up the tent in the wind, I somehow broke a tent pole and spent nearly an hour trying to fix it and set up. I gazed into Tenaya Canyon, watched the amazing waterfalls and took photos the remaining of the afternoon. Just after dinner a huge slab avalanche fell off of Cloud’s Rest! It was one-layer warm through the evening hours when I did another round of walking the edges of the buttress for photos. Tioga Road was only 2 miles north, under snow covered Mt Hoffman. I called it a day as the sun set. I slept fitfully, with plenty of aches and pains typical of my first few backpacks of the season, particularly with the day’s elevation gain.

Next day I returned the same way, but instead ignored the marked ski-trail and more directly dropped through the deep snow, hitting the trail just a mile upstream of the Snow Creek Bridge. The deeper solid snow in the more open forest higher on the northwest slope of Mt. Watkin actually was easier. Unfortunately, it was horribly hot when I descended the many switchbacks. Between many more "dunk-the-head" stops and old knees, going down was slow. By the time I reached bottom my legs were like rubber! I was amazed at how many backpackers were miserably going up the trail mid-day. By about 10AM there is little shade on the trail. Mirror Lake was full of people. I reached my car at 1:15 intending to photograph the lower valley, get a shower and camp. Even with mid-week crowds the detour was so slow it took an hour to reach 120/41 junction. The heat was unbearable, so I simply drove home. Not the most successful trip to Yosemite, but worth the effort. I achieved my goal of camping on the top of East Mt. Watkins, which I had visited briefly in 2008.

Photos to follow.