Overall great trip, parked at the Wilderness Permit Center and left the car there, plenty of spots even with the construction on 120 (which is a pain for sure). Got the permit and was on the trail by 11:30am. Friday on 7/15 there was a bit of smoke you could smell but wasn't bad (but I did wildland fire fighting in college so that's my lens, I've been in a lot worse) but my Saturday morning it was clear and no smell in the air.
Here's a link to the Caltop map... https://caltopo.com/m/6E05L the route was researched through something I'd always eyeballed out but then purchased the Andrew Skurka Yosemite High Route to fill in the details ($25 well spent and I like supporting folks like that).
Went up the PCT a few miles past Glen Aulin, which is somewhere I hadn't been before and that section of the PCT between the High Sierra Camp and McCabe Lake is very peaceful and easy walking. Pleasantly, the mosquitoes weren't that bad at all, maybe bit 5 times all 3 days...not the DEFCON-3 they were a month earlier at Vogelsang Lake.
Overall, two quick take-aways...it's truly amazing how quickly the crowds thin out, I was worried with a busy weekend, but saw a pair of hikers and one Wilderness Ranger until I was within 2-miles or so of Tuolumne Meadows. Second, Yosemite NEVER disappoints, just beautiful and sublime.
Camped night 1 around Cold Meadow/Cold Canyon and got to sleep early. I was tired after waking up at 4am to leave the Bay, drive, permit, hike 9-ish miles. Woke up nice and early with loose plans to get to Upper McCabe for the night. But after taking "off trail" from to Upper McCabe the route was easy and open. I decided to stay higher on the contours (my route of Caltopo is with my tracking ON so it's the actual route I did) just below the large fallen granite boulders and above the denser Lodgepole Pines stands below. I found it easy walking through open mix of White Pine and Mountain Hemlock. The last climb to Upper McCabe is easy but just stay to the "right" or south of the drainage and there are use trails leading up.
Made it to Upper McCabe around noon and took a long lunch and soaked my feet in the cold cold water, might have taken a quick 20 min nap...waited to see if the clouds were going to turn into thunderstorms and they didn't. I was feeling good and decided to push on over Don't be a Smart Pass and onto Roosevelt Lake. This ended up being pretty easy and took about 2 hours. The shoot up the pass is clear once you hike around that little peninsula on the south shore of the lake. I stayed to the right and there was enough of the use trail on the semi-loose rock to avoid the snow fields. The top of the pass...wow...what a giant, huge view of Yosemite. Conness is just giant from here.
The decent down to Roosevelt Lake is straight forward, start off to the right (west? north?) of the creek/drainage but the natural flow of the rocks and brush keep you moving on both sides of the creek. It wasn't hard at all, I felt more need to limit my damage to the bryophytes and riparian vegetation than I was worried about getting cliffed out.
Camped at Roosevelt Lake, there is a handful of great spots in the sand well back from the shoreline. After waking up and hiking towards the south end of the lake, I wish I'd spent the night on the rocky outcrops on the southern third of the lake, better flat sandy spots, not as exposed to the winds.
The "off trail" hike over Young Lake was fine, it's hard to stay on-contour so I came in a little low and connected with the maintained trail at Lower Young Lakes. I had read the middle and upper lakes are gorgeous.
On to the pics...
Camped on edge of Cold Canyon
Shepherd Crest in the the McCabe Creek canyon
Upper McCabe Lake
Upper McCabe Lake from the shoot up to Don't be a Smart Pass
The last shoot up to Don't be a Smart Pass
Conness and Roosevelt Lake
Ragged Peak and Peak 11255 in the morning sun
Lower of the Young Lakes
Great pic on the hike from Young Lakes to Dog Lake of the enitre south side of Yosemite, Lyell on the left and Cathedral on the right.
