Trip Report - Winter Camping near Yosemi te

“Photos here.

[I haven't proofread this, so if there's a typo, well, sorry....]

First, some background.

Plan A was to car camp Friday night, ski up Tioga Road (Hwy 120, closed for the winter) to Tioga Pass Resort (a rustic, yet luxurious backcountry ski lodge), stay there Saturday night, ski up over Mono Pass, camp at Lower Sardine Lake (elev. 10,400?) Sunday night, ski out Bloody Canyon on Monday and drive home. Plan B was needed because one large group had booked the entire lodge, so the itinerary was the same, but we would camp in the general vicinity of the lodge on Saturday night. Plan C evolved due to iffy weather forecasts, and would consist of car camping and doing day trips. Plan D was a last minute change because our "guide," whom we planned to depend on for avalanche avoidance and other important safety stuff, opted out Thursday night due to weather concerns. This plan cut out the Mono Pass part and would consist of just camping near Tioga Pass for 2 nights and skiing around there on Sunday.

OK, so we drove to Lee Vining and found no good places to car camp, as our choices were pitching our tents in the slush/mud/sagebrush along Tioga Road or in the slush/asphalt of the Mono Basin visitor center parking lot (and risk getting evicted). So we opted for a motel popular with visiting ice climbers, Murphey's Motel. It was a good place - clean, cheap, and convenient.

It was snowing Saturday morning, so our plan was to start up the road for an hour and make a go/no-go decision at that time. Well, it was really only snowing a little, and there was no wind, so we opted to continue. About a third of the way up, we met some of the resort staff driving into town for supplies. It turned out that several people from the large group had cancelled, so they could accommodate us! So it was back to Plan A, or D, or whatever.... Good thing BowlderMan always carries his credit card.

About 2 miles from the resort, Penguino decided to shortcut a wide switchback and headed off road. It turned out a snow bridge he was crossing collapsed and he ended up knee deep in a creek with skis on. He was able to climb out OK, right into the waist deep snow, with his ski pants side zippers fully open, of course. Fortunately, temps were not particularly low, so he managed to reach the road after about a half hour.

Ultimately, we reached the resort about 4 hours after we started - not bad for about 6.5 miles and 2000 feet elevation gain. We hung out in the main lodge building until a staff person led us to our cabin, "The Bunkhouse." It was perfect. That night, they served us a delicious dinner while we speculated on how it compared to the backpacking food we would have been cooking and eating while the snow fell. We also enjoyed the beer cooler and the wine that the other group had had the resort pack in for them.

Anyway, it was snowing again (very lightly again) Sunday morning as we ate an enormous and delicious breakfast prepared by Bob, a Rupert-from-Survivor lookalike. We headed toward Tioga Pass, from where we veered off toward the flanks of Mt. Dana. We skied up through the forest for a while, enjoying the peacefulness of it all. We found a nice little hill, where I successfully completed my first backcountry telemark turn - on the first try! Then it was back to Tioga Pass for lunch, which we ate under the eave of the little ranger hut (it's the east entry of Yosemite NP). We skied down a ways, where we had earlier spotted a good hill to practice our downhill skills. We made about a half dozen runs there, and I completed several more telemark turns in the nice powder (also fell a few times - a sign that I was challenging myself).

We then headed back to the resort, where we had stashed our packs. We hung out there for a while to warm up and dry out, then it was down to Ellery lake for our campout. Miraculously, the skies parted, the sun came out, and it pretty much stopped snowing. We had a great spot and made a nice camp. During the night, temps dropped to 0 degrees, a new record for me. But I stayed toasty warm in my new fleece pants and fleece sleeping bag liner.

Monday morning, I was up before 6 making my breakfast and hot drinks. We headed down the hill at about 8:30. The grade was just about perfect for my skis, weight, etc., as I rarely had to put the brakes on, and almost never had to stride or pole. We made it down in an hour, including a few breaks to cool the quads.

The drive home was a piece of cake. Hard to believe I was waking up at 9400 feet and zero degrees one minute, and less than 12 hours later I was at sea level taking a nice hot shower.

Gear report

I wore my Precip jacket a lot - the first time I'd really tested it. It was great. A lot less moisture accumulation on the inside than I expected.

As noted above, the fleece pants (Campmor, 20 bucks) and fleece sleeping bag liner (REI, 40 bucks) were da bomb!

Credit card: don't leave home without it!!”

“Credit card = ultimate piece of gear.”

“Oh, and great trip report. Sounds like y'all had fun!”

“Nice trip report and pics BowlderMan! Ha, Men in silly hats! Nice accomodations, too.

Good job on the telly-turn , btw!

I can usually take a few in a row until something goes terribly wrong!”

“Forgot to mention the "silly hat party," organized by the other group at the resort. That's why you'll see the photos of me in my lycra balaclava. These other folks were super friendly. They were pretty serious backcountry downhillers, the kind who willingly scramble up really gnarly slopes of remote canyons to ski down through fluffy powder, risking death-by-avalanche!”

“Yeah, aero, that resort was great! I will likely take the family up there next winter. For people with reservations, they not only haul your gear up there, but drive you up the road as far as they can drive in a 4WD, leaving only about 2-4 miles of skiing to get there.”

“Looks like good times BM !!”

“Great pictures! Don't you love it when a plan comes together?”

“Nice report and great pics! Looks beautiful.”

“Yeah, Tango, ain't that the truth! In this case, we just missed getting clobbered by the weather. Snow Nymph told me they got 16 inches of snow in 2 days at Mammoth, and another huge storm is due in tomorrow. And to unexpectedly get into the resort was great fun!”

“Great report and pictures! I've always wanted to see Tioga Pass in the wintertime. I guess I need to learn to ski now! Thanks for sharing!”

“It does look like you had a fun trip. The snow was beautiful.”

“Hey Hikin Mike! Actually, you wouldn't have to ski, it's just a little more efficient if you do. You could certainly snowshoe, or even just walk up there in certain conditions. It wouldn't be much different than skiing going up, but a lot slower coming down....”

“Hmmmm....there's two plastic sleds in the garage.... :D Hee-Haaa!”

“Plastic sleds, huh? Well, I guess you could take that shortcut directly down Lee Vining Canyon past the ice climbers. That first pitch might be a bit tricky, though.... :-)”

“OK, I emailed my trip report to Penguino (the guy who fell in the creek - he doesn't post here, as far as I know, anyway). He had a few "corrections."

I wrote:

We skied down a ways, where we had earlier spotted a good hill to practice our downhill skills.

He corrected:

We skied down a ways, where we had earlier spotted some clean lines to practice our downhill skills by dropping in at the head of the southern couloirs of Gaylor Peak.

I wrote:

We headed toward Tioga Pass, from where we veered off toward the flanks of Mt. Dana.

He corrected:

We headed toward Tioga Pass, from where we traversed a portion of the Sierra Crest by wickedly enchaining the flanks of Mt. Dana

and finally,

I wrote:

We found a nice little hill, where I successfully completed my first backcountry telemark turn - on the first try!

He corrected:

We found a nice escarpment, off which I successfully completed my first backcountry telemark turn - on the first try!

I guess I need to work on my trip reporting skills....”