High Sierra Topix

I'm planning a trip from Tuolumne Meadows to Mono Meadows this summer (Vogelsang / Lyell Fork / Red Peak Pass). The idea is to get to the backpacker's camp in TM with enough light to set up the night before I head out. The hard part is transporting myself and a full backpack from Mono Meadow TH to Toulumne Meadows. Yosemite does not offer any public transportation on the Glaicer Point Road except for tourist sightseeing busses. The hiker's buss leaves Yosemite Valley at 8:20am and YARTS doesn't arrive in TM until 6:50pm. One leaves the valley to early, the other arrives at TM to late for my preface. This leaves two options: hitch hike or hire a ride.

Does anyone have comments on hitch hiking in Yosemite? This option seems to be viable though it carries to intrinsic hazards of bumming a ride.

Hiring a ride is attractive but not straight forward. I understand Yosemite prohibits private for hire transportation but that does not preclude clandestine operations. Does anyone know of such a service? I have thought of going to Camp4 to see if any of the climbers there would be willing to give me a ride for a handsome fee. I haven't been there since it was called Sunrise Camp and was a climber's/backpackers free for all so I am not sure this is a viable option (My age certainly shows now).Comments?

Thanks in advance for your help,

Ken
CalMntHiker

Hitching in Yosemite is really easy. Helps to be female :P

First of all, the entire Tuolumne Meadows campground, including the backpacker's section, is CLOSED for renovation. It was closed last year, it will be closed in 2023, and it may still be closed in 2024. See: https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/tmcamp.htm

Secondly, I was thinking of a similar trip for this summer using the public transportation in the park. See: https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/ ... tation.htm

It sounds like you are planning to leave a car at Mono Meadows and then somehow get to Tuolumne Meadows to start your hike. I'm thinking it would be easier to do this hike in reverse (more elevation gain overall, but easier on the first day, and easier to get a permit), but starting at Glacier Point. In this scenario, I would drive up to Tuolumne Meadows and leave my car there and take the "Tuolumne Hiker's Bus" on its return leg to the Valley. It leaves the Meadows around 2 pm. I would then spend the night in the backpacker's campground in Yosemite Valley and take the Glacier Point tour bus one way to Glacier Point the next morning. Unfortunately, that bus will not stop to let you off at any trailhead other than Glacier Point. All these bus rides should be reserved in advance.

To do the hike starting at Tuolumne Meadows, if you can hitchhike from Mono Meadows to Yosemite Valley, you could spend the night in the backpacker's campground in the Valley and then catch that same "Tuolumne Hiker's Bus" leaving the Valley at 8 am and getting to Tuolumne Meadows about 10:30 am. By the way, that bus will let you off at any trailhead along the way.

Another option is to leave your car in Yosemite Valley, stay the night at the backpacker's campground there, take the bus to Tuolumne Meadows the next morning, and do your hike as planned but hike all the way back down to the Valley instead of coming out at Mono Meadows. You might need an extra day.

-Phil

Being in Tuolumne Meadows last summer I assumed the campgrounds would be finished. Silly me. It seems the only viable option is the 8am hikers bus from the Valley. The 10:30 drop off in TM is not optimal for a good first day hike but I will get over that. Getting a ride from the Mono Meadow to the Valley is real easy. I am committed to starting in TM. I have hiked this area from a multitude of trail heads and do not want to hike up the Illilouette Canyon. Long gone are the days I could hike the length of the Illilouette Canyon in a day. But I can make that hike going downhill. Unsurprisingly I think finishing a hike in the Valley is unattractive for a multitude of reasons.

Thanks for the help. The logistics for this trip are easier now.

BTW Lower Ottoway Lake is one of the Sierra's true jewels and deserves at least one sunset. The west facing red rocks create a stunning sunset light show setting this lake apart.

-Ken

At one point you could take the tourist bus to Glacier Point and ask the driver to drop you off early at Mono Meadows. When I did this trip, I couldn't get a ticket, so I connected the two ends. Getting from Nevada Falls to Mono Meadows involves some hiking that I found unpleasant--although it was a very hot trip. Here is my trail report. Great trip overall, minus that last push through burned forest during a heat wave.

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