Need advice for June Packtrip Western approach

[Wandering Daisy]

Forgot to meniton - they probably will update this report after Memorial Day and by June 4 things may look better.

Honestly, with this years snow, I think your best bet is a loop out of Yosemite Valley. The Pohono Trail is nice. As is North Rim Traverse. Do North Rim traverse starting with Snow Creek Trail - this trail is not usually full. Day 1: Camp on buttress north of Bridge on Snow Creek. Day 2: camp on ridge above Yosemite Point - carry water up from creek. Day 3- walk down Yosemite Falls Trail. For Pohono - start at Glacier Point, walk downhill - camping on Sentinal Creek. Check out all the viewpoints. Take the old road (past Artist Point) to Bridalveil Falls parking lot. Then walk the south valley trail to El Cap Meadow and pick up a bus - go camp at Backpackers Campground. Next day, do day-hike up 4-mile trail to retrieve your car. Or do the reverse - up the Pohono Trail and down 4-mile trail.

[miked]

Thanks for the link. I know it's a heavier snow year, but I'm surprised they say that the snow this year has put everything behind schedule by an entire month...I suspect it's exaggeration, but we'll see. Paradise Valley could be nice, though I wonder if I'd be able to do any interesting day hikes from there or if it's as far as I'd be able to go.

A trip out of yosemite valley would be a great alternative and I will definitely save that description youve provided.

[tim]

The weekly snowmelt forecast makes interesting reading: http://www.cnrfc.noaa.gov/products/snow ... owmelt.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
As far as I know there isn't a readily accessible archive, but in April I recall that the peak runoff dates predicted for most rivers were about 3 weeks earlier than they are now (they were expecting mid May at that point). The predicted peak runoff date has moved back about a week since the May 12 report due to the recent cold weather.
Looking at the Happy Isles webcam, its also pretty clear there isn't much runoff there yet:
http://ca.water.usgs.gov/webcams/happyisles/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Also the overall snow water content is heading for 200% of normal for this time of year
http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/prod ... C.2010.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[kpeter]

Thank you all for the helpful advice.

I wound up Hiking from Hetchy Hetchy to Vernon and then dayhiking out of Vernon. Getting to Vernon in one day was one of the toughest hikes I have done--more than 11 miles and 3,200 elevation gain is a lot for me, but the trails were very good and I had surprising few problems.

Vernon is a beautiful lake, but very crowded with all the circuit hikers coming through. I found on my dayhikes, though, that I almost never saw anyone. The circuit hikers would camp overnight at Vernon and then move on, often not taking the time to explore Falls creek above the lake basin.

In addition to exploring Vernon I did dayhike up the Morraine Ridge Trail and into Jack Main Canyon. Snow had just cleared enough to make it in, although it required some wading. I am very very impressed with Jack Main, particularly with the spectacular water display going on now. The chain of pools separated by granite and falls/cascades is very picturesque. I will definitely plan another trip later in a season to spend more time in Jack Main.

I will look back at this thread in future years and try out some of your other suggestions!