Mid-June 2018 recommendations? SEKI? Yosemite? Elsewhere?

[franklin411]

If I had 5 days in mid-June, I'd car camp and dayhike. You can see a lot of the Sierra if you're willing to hike 10-15 mi r/t from the nearest parking lot, dayhiking is safer (because you can easily turn back if conditions don't work out), and the comfort level is way higher when you car camp.

I'd do 1.5-2 days at Cedar Grove:
Paradise Valley/Mist Falls
Bubbs Creek

2-3 days at Lodgepole:
Tokopah Falls (2 hrs r/t)
Pear Lake etc (can overnight backpack, but you don't need to)
Alta Peak (11,207', but it's mostly a south-facing slope so snow is less likely to be a problem, and there's a trail right to the top). You can see for 50 miles in every direction from Alta Peak.
Twin Lakes

1.5 days at Mineral King:
There are 4-5 nice alpine lakes in easy dayhike range

Also, don't forget that mid-June is prime marmot season at Mineral King.

[Wandering Daisy]

I have done the GC Tuolumne loop many times, and this time I am just going down from Tuolumne Meadows, camp near Muir Gorge and then day-hike lower, and return the same route (in-and-out). The bridge is not absolutely "out" but not safe to cross; neither is the river. The in-and-out will offer more photography opportunities at different time of day lighting. The canyon is spectacular enough that if you camp at different locations each night, even an in-and-out is not boring. You get different views while walking. However, there are not many "side-trips" to do. A walk up Piute Creek is scenic but going farther than about a mile, is not worth the effort. The switchbacks up to the rim (3,200 feet!) is a burned brushy area (and a bear highway!). Nearer to Tuolumne, a side trip to Young Lakes is nice. Up from Saddlebag Lake, a day trip into Cascade and Conness Lakes is also scenic. Although you can do 5-6 days from Tuolumne and see a lot, it is not a big-mile loop trip, if that appeals to you.

Hard to say if this or any trip including Yosemite Valley would be too hot mid June this year. Normally it does not really heat up until end of June. But I have been caught off-guard ending up nearly dead of heat exhaustion and dried up water sources when cool weather suddenly turned to 100+ temperatures. The nice thing about Hamilton Lake trip is that you stay around 7,000-9,000 most of the trip- perfect for June and no danger of getting excessively hot.

[wildhiker]

CSC asks

wildhiker--how many days do you take on the Tuolumne Meadows to the Valley route? I'm wondering if it would it make sense to add a couple extra days by making it a loop back via Vogelsang as an option. Or if Cathedral Lakes trail permits aren't available, then going out via Vogelsang and returning by the JMT route you described.

How many days you take depends on how fast and long you hike versus how much you like to dawdle to look at things, take photos, fish, etc.

Going one-way from Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley and taking in Clouds Rest, I would take 3 nights: 1st at Echo Lake; 2nd probably at Sunrise Lakes (and then explore cross-country without pack over to Mildred Lake, and if really energetic, walk up the south slope of Tenaya Peak); third along Sunrise Creek where the Clouds Rest trail hits the JMT after hiking over Clouds Rest. But I'm not a big mileage guy - I prefer to have lots of time to dawdle. If I were looping back to Tuolumne Meadows on the JMT rather than heading down to the Valley, I would add a fourth night, probably back at Echo Lake.

The problem with looping back via the Vogelsang area is that you have to drop down all the way to the Merced River in its deep canyon and then climb back up! That would be a couple more nights for me.

-Phil

[csc]

Thank you so much, Phil!

[maiathebee]

I'm here agreeing with what's already been posted. The trail above Hamilton to Precipice could be very dangerous if not all the chutes are melted out. And agree that the crossing of Bubbs to get to East Lake is very dangerous early season. I went late season of a dry year and still was knee deep.

What about the Red Peak Pass loop in Yosemite? It has both big mountain scenery and all the granite, few people, only one pass (Red Peak) and should be mostly melted out by late June. Here's a writeup of my trip there a few years back: https://plutoniclove.com/2014/07/24/sou ... berg-pass/ Should be easy to get permits as the trailhead (Mono Meadows) is low traffic.

[csc]

Thank you for the suggestion, maiathebee. Nice to "meet" you--I found your blog post via Google last week and it inspired me to take that same trip! I plotted it out and called the Yosemite ranger station to ask about Red Peak Pass. They said it's possible that Red Peak Pass may be doable for us, but also maybe not. She said that even if the pass doesn't have a lot of snow, if there is much snow covering the trail in the Clark Range then navigation can be difficult. Would you agree with that assessment? We don't have much orienteering experience.

If we don't get there this year, I want to do that loop another time. Looks remarkable. And the departure from Mono Meadow would be preferable as they still have openings for pre-reserved trailhead permits.

[maiathebee]

Hi csc! Funny you already found the same trip I recommended! I'm so behind on writing up trip reports on my blog, I have "coming soon!" labels next to trips from 2014

I'd say listen to the ranger over me. They know a lot more about the local topography and how long snow sticks around certain nooks and crannies. The trail up is in and out of forests until you get to Ottoway, so it could hold some snow, but it's also around 9k elevation, so should be pretty well melted by late June. Red Peak Pass itself is south-north facing with the steep side on the south side, so that's good as it should be melted. The north side is a big open basin with lots of landmarks, navigation shouldn't be too hard, but might not be worth the risk this early if you're not comfortable with maybe having to do a little navigation. My trip was about 3 weeks later than yours in a very similar snow year and the wildflower were going strong, which makes me think a few weeks ahead should have been pretty well melted out. But like I said, the ranger knows better than me. You could call again in a couple weeks and see if they have any reports of people who've gone up there. Another thing I've been doing lately is checking instagram for recent posts.

I'm headed to Yosemite (Cathedral to the Valley with some newbies) June 9-12, so that'll give me a good idea of the snowline so I can report back then, but not sure if you want to wait that long to make your plans.