Around Mt Conness
Sunday August 15 thru Friday August 20
Mt Conness forms the north side of Tioga Pass into Yosemite from the East side (the highway cannot be seen or heard on the trip route).
See map below.
A moderate four day, high altitude,18 mile route.
It’s an OFF TRAIL backpack, except the 1st morning which uses an old gravel mine road and the last afternoon where we descend from the abandoned High Sierra Mine on the old mule trail.
Pace is about 1 mile/hr, typically three hours in the AM and 2 in the PM. I usually stop every hour for 10 min. In-camp time for fishing, etc.
About half an hour of easy rock hopping on one or two ft rocks the last day.
Will climb a 30 degree snowfield the seconnd morning (has always thawed out quickly - if not can go around Sheep Peak).
Basically it is uphill in the AM, lunch at the high point, then downhill to camp.
Sun - Optional acclimatization hike
Mon - Hike to camp on shore of McCabe Lake
Tue - Hike to camp near Young Lakes
Wed - layover, possible climb of Conness from south or Ragged via SW ridge (both are class 2), or fish, or .....
Thur - Hike to camp above Skelton Lake
Fri - Out via High Sierra Mine and old mule trail.
Yosemite National Park limits cross country trip size to eight.
I’ve done this trip five times so I have hopefully made all the mistakes (but then again...)
Hiking poles very useful, have at least a one. I will leave early and take a campsite at Sawmill walk in Campground on Saddlebag Rd (9800 ft) or at Saddlebag Campground (10000 ft).
Bear Cans are mandatory and can be rented at Lee Vining for $5 a week. I can pick these up before the trip.
For more info:
http://wikimapia.org/#lat=37.979048&lon=-119.3154716&z=14&l=0&m=p
