Trip Advice: Cathedral Range (Yosemite) cross-country trip:

[audiorecordist]

Trip Advice: Cathedral Range (Yosemite) cross-country trip:

Hi all,

My wife and I are setting out on our first introduction to cross-country hiking/camping. We have been going out on the trails, almost once every Summer for the last few years, mostly explored Yosemite High Country, but also the High Sierra Trail and Mineral King. After exclusively sticking to regular trail itineraries, we want to step up our adventure spirit a tad and do an easy cross-country trip.

Our plan is to spend 3 nights visiting the following lakes, Nelson Lake, then to Matthes Lake, and then finally Echo Lake. Mind you, we’ve never really done much route finding, with the exception of cross-country day hiking around in the Saddlebag basin area, and then once we did a day hike from Cathedral Lake all the way to Echo Lake. So we have some idea of the technical skills, but still, not much experience. We will start from Elizabeth, and head towards Echo and then exit Cathedral trailhead.

That being said, how difficult is the route finding along this itinerary? I’ve read it’s fairly easy, and not a bad choice for a first time cross-country trip. Based on my findings, there’s a use trail from Elizabeth to Nelson. But from Nelson to Matthes, and Matthes to Echo, all mostly route finding is required. How difficult is the terrain in these areas? Would anyone have any advice for first timers? Anything I should watch out for? Thanks to all who have good info and experience.

I have Gaia GPS, and a somewhat detailed Tom Harrison map of the Cathedral Range. I am also familiar with the various peaks along the Cathedral Range, but not 100% sure about how visible they will be available to us as reference.



Thanks!
Happy trails!

[windknot]

This is a good choice for a first cross-country trip. The "cross-country" route to Nelson is indeed a use trail that is pretty much like a maintained trail, and from Nelson to Matthes you have pretty good line of sight the entire way so it's hard to get lost. The route from Echo Creek up to the ridge E of Matthes is steep but not scary -- but if you want to play it safe you can contour further southwest down Echo Creek where there's a less-steep route that will take you due north to Matthes. You can read/see photos of more details of the Elizabeth to Matthes leg of your itinerary from my report last year here.

[wildhiker]

See my trip report from last year:
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=22067
My first few days I hiked from the Cathedral Pass area (accessed via Budd Creek) to Echo Lake, Matthes Lake, and Nelson Lake. I describe routes between Echo and Matthes Lake and between Matthes Lake and Nelson Lake, with some photos. I took the easier route between Matthes Lake and Echo Creek, and then up the creek to Nelson Lake. The direct route to the ridge E of Matthes Lake looked way too steep for me.

The cross-country route from Nelson Lake going east to the Vogelsang area (I call it Rafferty Pass - see viewtopic.php?f=31&t=21003) has easier route finding and much better views than going west to Echo Lake. But Matthes Crest rising over Matthes Lake is pretty spectacular.

-Phil

[druid]

I agree with windknot that this is a good first choice. The daily distances are fairly short so you should have plenty of time for route finding. The last bit of use trail just before Nelson can be a little tricky to follow so be sure to allow a little extra time for this section.

If the direct route to Matthes looks too steep, you'll have plenty of time to head down Echo Creek and approach Matthes Lake from the SSW. You'll need to stay to one side or the other of the Echo Creek canyon where it gets steep around 9350'. Then from the creek area, there's a bit of fun route finding until you reach the slope south of Matthes Lake.

From Matthes, you have the choice of either following the outlet or going WNW over the little saddle to the Cathedral Fork. Once there it's easy walking up to the JMT.

[SSSdave]

Pre-trip, follow your route on Google Earth 3D. On your cc route best to NOT at first use your GPS unit and rather hand carry the paper map looking at it the whole way that will be a learning process of a very useful skill.

https://caltopo.com/map.html#ll=37.833, ... &b=t&a=mba

[audiorecordist]

Windknot, thanks so very much for your link and trip report, that is very detailed and just the right information I was looking for. Great photos! Much appreciate this info. We feel a whole lot more confident that we will handle this beginner trip. Thanks!

[audiorecordist]

See my trip report from last year:
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=22067

-Phil

Thanks Phil! Wow - your trip itinerary is amazing. I never even thought the whole Cathedral Range was crossable. Thanks for sharing! I will certainly read all of your very cool trip!

Thanks!

[audiorecordist]

Pre-trip, follow your route on Google Earth 3D. On your cc route best to NOT at first use your GPS unit and rather hand carry the paper map looking at it the whole way that will be a learning process of a very useful skill.

https://caltopo.com/map.html#ll=37.833, ... &b=t&a=mba

Thanks for that advice. Yes, we want to rely mostly on our map. We have the GPS, but the less screens the better for us.

[oddtiger]

Hi, my family did this loop (Elizabeth-Matthes-Echo) with kids over July 4th. We visited Nelson before in another loop and wanted to only set camp once, so we went straight to Matthes on Day 1 and camped there for 2 nights, and headed out via Echo back to Cathedral on day 3.

The route finding is pretty straightforward, especially if you are using Gaia GPS that would at least point you to the right direction. That's all you need.

The east side of the saddle between Matthes and Echo creek is a bit steep. Walking on the granite slab is actually pretty safe in dry season. If you don't feel comfortable with a backpack, move a bit south there would be a more broken path by shrubs/pines.

The route to Echo is just walking around Matthes crest. You can see the crest, not chance to get lost.

Here are some pictures of the saddle.

Bottom of the saddle

lower part

Laura working on it

moving a bit south whenever it's too steep

near the top of saddle

at the saddle looking down to Matthes

Matthes is very scenic

track on Gaia

[audiorecordist]

Hi, my family did this loop (Elizabeth-Matthes-Echo) with kids over July 4th. We visited Nelson before in another loop and wanted to only set camp once, so we went straight to Matthes on Day 1 and camped there for 2 nights, and headed out via Echo back to Cathedral on day 3.

Wow oddtiger, this is really helpful. You documented the entire route, but especially up the steep granite very well. I think we will attempt the route you laid out, seems pretty straight-forward in terms of navigation. In case we decide that the steep granite pass from Nelson to Matthes is too steep for our knees and weight of bags, we will likely go the longer route. Below I outlined that route.

Just to confirm, can you or anyone else confirm if I have the correct location of the two passes? Much thanks.