Yosemite Benson Lake Matterhorn Canyon TR

[oldranger]

Balzaccom

Thanks for the TR. I have always done N. Yosemite in September. Fewer people, no mosquitos, but also no flowers--Did pick a cup of Blueberries out of Kerrick meadow once. I also build in some cross country sometimes a lot sometimes a little. Prefer to avoid the extra climb toward Rogers lake trail by cutting off trail and taking the slabs directly to Smedberg when hiking between Benson and Smedberg.

Mike

[balzaccom]

Hi Mike

I know what you mean about those slabs...wonderful walking. They are the same stuff I went up to get over to Surprise Lake...

But that trail is also wonderul as well---steel pegs are sunk into the granite, holding blocks in place that mark the trail. Somebody spent some time and money there, and did a nice job!

[yosehiker]

Regarding the incorrect National Geographic topo maps: The first revised version of their maps for Yosemite were indeed incorrect. It was something along the lines of them calculating the mileage on the trail after they had ortho-rectified them for the maps, ie not showing every little switchback on the large scale topo. Check the distance of the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne between Pate Valley and Glen Aulin, the longest section of trail in the park without a junction, so the difference will be the largest. It should be something like 14 or 15 miles and the incorrect map shows it as 12 or 11 miles, i forget the numbers exactly. I was able to return mine as I suspected the errors quickly after i got it. The folks at the permit station filled me in with the rest of the info. Not sure if you can get a refund now, as it has been a number of years, but it would be nice to know if you have an incorrect map.

[TehipiteTom]

Excellent trip report. I was up in that area shortly after y'all, my first time up that way, and it was great.

Next time you visit go, go up Little Slide Canyon, and down Big Slide Canyon where
you can visit Big Meadow Creek and Doe Lake area which are all really great.
Rock Island Lake is another rarely visited lake which is pretty and offers a lot
of solitude.

Did most but not all of that; I'll try to get a trip report up shortly.