Tuolumne Bound

“I'm heading up to Tuolumne Meadows on Thursday for 3 days of BP'n. I'm planning on heading up to the Vogelsang / Tuolumne Pass area. Has anyone been up there yet this year? I imagine there's still plenty of snow since the Raferty Ck trail is on a NE facing slope and is rather wooded. Last weekend in Carson Iceberg the Skeeters were out too so I expect to have to deal with them as well. I'll also be trying out my new camera.”

“By bksldr7...
We did a day hike last weekend to Budd Lake from Tuolumne Mdws. The
meadows have just begun to turn green with lots of flooded areas. We
encountered patches of snow in shaded areas above 8000 ft. and
significant patches in open areas above 9200 ft. At Budd Lake which is
at an elevation of 10,000 ft. the lake was 90% covered with ice and the
ground was 75%-80% snow covered. Small creeks are especially tricky as
snow bridges will no longer support one's weight even without a pack.
Rock Cress and Indian Paintbrush are blooming in the warmer rock
pockets at around 8000 ft. Most flowers have not yet begun to bloom
above that and meadow areas show barely a tinge of green above about
8800 ft.

White Wolf and Tuolumne Mdws HS camps are supposed to open around June
14 with the store in TM open now.

Water flow levels have peaked on the Merced River but the river is
still high and cold; about average for this time of year. The falls in
Yosemite Valley are spectacular! One can hear the sound of water
everywhere!”

“That's about what I expected and that's pretty much what I've been encountering every weekend since I hung up the skis. If it all works out, I'm gonna try to summit Amelia Earhart Peak.”

“I've just returned (6/7-6/10) from a failed summit attempt of Matterhorn Peak in the north-east portion of Yosemite. We were hoping to go to Snow Lake/Burro Pass, but got as far as Robinson Lake before the snow got too deep for safe travel. Tried to go to Peeler Lake the next day and had the same luck.

There is still lots of snow up there!”

“Well last year I hit the trail headed north out of there and found little snow, have fun!”

“It was June 17 that we headed out. Only significant snow that we encountered was above 12,000 ft and that was only in patches.”

“I've run into those conditions in the same locale in August. Peeler is about 9400' but the route up Robinson tends to be a little more wooded and longer then the approach to Tuolumne Pass. As long as I don't need crampons I'll make it. I'll be leaving the crampons at home for the rest of the summer.”

“The amount of snow took us, or more accurately my hiking partner, by surprise. He has done that route several times at this time of year and has never had problems with snow...except this year!

Hope you have a great trip and be careful!”

“I started out of Tuolumne at 4pm on Thursday. I was a bit worried driving from Sea Level to 8600' then climbing to 10200 but no problems starting out. The weather was beautiful and as always Tuolumne Meadows was awesome. I started the hike with DEET applied and had no problems with the skeeters. I saw one other hiker who was constantly waving, bobbing and weaving so the skeeters were there, just not bothering me.

After 2 miles of hiking through the emerald fields of Tuolumne Meadows I started climbing up Raferty Ck. The trail was in excellent condition and I didn't run into snow on the trail until about 9600' but only patches. At about 9800' the patches became fields of sun cups but still no big deal as I rarely took more than 20 steps through the snow. At 7pm I was atop Tuolumne Pass (10K) and started my traverse to Vogelsang HSC. This is when the snow first became an issue as the nearly 1 mile traverse was under snow. As the trail is along a steep hillside the going was slow and I began to notice the altitude working against me. After fighting the short snowy section I made it up to Vogelsang and there wasn't a sole around. I set up camp above Fletcher Lk, took some pictures, cooked dinner and hit the sack as I was tired and cold.

The next morning, wherever there had been water, there was now ice as the temps dropped into the mid 20's. The sun, however, hit camp at about 6:15 am and it warmed up quickly. The surrounding area was beautiful with snow capped peaks perfectly reflecting in the lake. By mid morning I was dayhiking down Fletcher Ck to Emeric Lk. The route, now downhill, was relatively snow free. Fletcher Ck was flowing full with plenty of waterfalls seperated by slow meanders in the greening meadows.

Back at camp, I spent the rest of the day chillin' and reading before going out on an early evening day hike up to Townsley Lk. Climbing up to the lake was scenic with waterfalls and snowfields contrasting against deep blue skies. Townsley Lk (10400') was about 80% iced over and surrounded by 12K peaks. After taking in the scenery I dropped back down to camp and cooked dinner before turning in. Again, overnight there was a hard freeze.

The next morning, I got up at 5:30, picked up my bear bag out of the bear locker and ate breakfast, packed up camp and was on the trail by 6:30. Instead of attempting the snowy traverse, which would be very icy that early in the morning, I cross countried down to Tuolumne Pass. From there it was a downhill stroll of 5 miles to Tuolumne Meadows. After a total of 6 miles of hiking and about 2.5 hours on the trail, I finally passed another hiker on the JMT (everyone says Yosemite is so crowded, I beg to differ). Near the TH, I ran into a PCT thru hiker and gave him a ride to the store for resupply.

All in all it was a beautiful trip, I love the high country during early season conditions. There were no signs of Bear the whole trip. The skeeters were out but the DEET was working. I saw only a handful of people in the three days so that was nice, and the high country is starting to really open up.”

“What a pleasant outing. It must've been beautiful. Thanks for writing about your experience. Any photos?

Nice to see you help out a fellow hiker like that.”