Tree, Poison Flat, Carson Iceberg Lake Tahoe to Mount Whitney: Your Backpacking Guide to the High Sierras Yellow Flower
Banner, Summit City Creek just South of Second Ford
Heading downstream crossing partially ducked rock section South of the upper Summit City Creek ford

 

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Backpacking Miles and Elevations

Carson Gap to Lake Alpine

The Tahoe to Yosemite Trail
through the
Western Mokelumne Wilderness

 

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MILES
NORTH

TYT-PCT-TRT

Echo
Summit
to
Carson
Pass

MILES
SOUTH

TYT

Lake
Alpine
to
Saint
Marys
Pass

MILES
NORTHEAST

TRT
ALT-ROUTE

Meyers
to
Meiss
Cabin

MILES
INDEX

PCT-TYT

Mokelumne
Wilderness
Miles

REGION
MAP
S

TYT

Echo Summit
to
Lake Alpine

Mokelumne
Wilderness

TRAIL
GUIDE
INDEX

TYT-PCT

Carson
Gap
to
Lake
Alpine

MAPS
INDEX

Carson
Gap
to
Lake
Alpine

ALL
MAPS

INDEX

ALL
GUIDE

INDEX

PERMITS
El Dorado

SIERRA
WEATHER

CARSON PASS
WEATHER

EBBETTS PASS
WEATHER

Miles & Elevations

The Tahoe to Yosemite Trail

Carson Gap to Lake Alpine Campsite
26.28 miles

Backpacking Miles
The Western Mokelumne Wilderness
in the
El Dorado National Forest

Our view South from the Carson Gap, where we exit the Lake Tahoe Basin on the unified PCT-TYT routes, overlooks our upcoming route options South along both trails.

Towering to our South is the Round Top - Sisters Massif around which our so-far unified Tahoe to Yosemite and Pacific Crest Trail routes now split into different directions.

The Southbound Pacific Crest Trail bends Southeast through Carson Pass to Forestdale Divide passing East of most of the Round Top Massif, while the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail climbs Southwest right over Round Top and the Sisters dropping into Summit City Canyon wrapping around its Southern flank.
Check out the situation and our route options on these maps.

Carson Pass Region
CPMA 15 min Backpacking Map
Echo Summit to Lake Alpine
30 min Backpacking Map


The Miles figures below measure our two route options for hiking the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail South from Carson Gap to Round Top Lake that pass by Woods Lake.
The miles figures for our third TYT route option to Round Top through Carson Pass off the PCT, the Eastern Route, are available on the Carson Pass to Ebbetts Pass miles page.

PROCEEDING SOUTH ON THE TAHOE TO YOSEMITE TRAIL

Exiting the Lake Tahoe Basin
First Cutoff South of Carson Gap to Highway 88
Location  Elevation Mileage
Carson Gap 8800 0  
  -440 .51    
Highway 88 8360 .51  
  -160 .46    
Paved Road to Woods Lake 8200 .97  
  +40 .63    
Route 1>
Woods Lake footbridge
8240 1.60  
  +80 .19    
Route 2 > 
Lost Cabin Mine Trailhead
8320 1.79  
Total elevation Loss
Carson Gap to Woods Lake
-480 feet
over
1.79 miles

Woods Lake
Note that both the Woods Lake footbridge and Lost Cabin Mine routes up to Round Top are accessed near the end of the paved road to Woods Lake.

After crossing Highway 88 at the snow shed we follow the dirt road down and to the Southwest to the paved road to Woods Lake.
Check out this hiking map of the Carson Pass Management Area:

Carson Pass Region
CPMA 15 min Backpacking Map

The Bottom Line
The Lost Cabin Mine route is the quickest and shortest way up to Round Top and therefore the steepest. The footbridge route is gentler and longer, while the trail out of Carson Pass is the longest and least steep.

Route 1
to
Round Top Lake

The Footbridge Route
via
Winnemucca Lake
to the
Round Lake Junction

The mileages measured on this route to Round Top Lake are counted from the Carson Gap.

The figures below measure the distance to Round Top if we cross the footbridge Eastbound from just North of Woods Lake.

This route runs Southeast from the footbridge to the Winnemucca Lake trail junction, where we will turn West up to Round Top. This is the middle route. The trail up to Round Top via Carson Pass joins us at Winnemucca Lake coming from the Northeast, while the trail up to Round Top via Lost Cabin Mine is to our West.

1.60 miles refers to the distance of the footbridge from the Carson Gap.

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Location  Elevation Mileage
Woods Lake footbridge/ Woods Lake Campground 8240 1.60  
  +325 .72    
End of Forest 8565 2.32  
  +415 .7    
Winnemucca Lake Junction 8980 3.02  
  +380 .88    
Round Top Lake Junction 9360 3.90  
Total elevation Gain
The Footbridge to Round Top Lake
+1120 feet
over
2.3 miles

3.9 miles is the total distance from the Carson Gap to Round Top Lake across the footbridge route via Winnemucca Lake.

This puts the distance between the footbridge to Round Top Lake at 2.3 miles. That's half a nice day hike, for those of us who are just visiting for a day...

 

Carson Pass Region backpacking Map

Route 2
to
Round Top Lake

The Lost Cabin Mine Route
to the
Round Lake Junction

The mileages below are measured from the Carson Gap to Round Top following the Lost Cabin Mine trail.

This route heads West through the top of the Car Campground next to Woods Lake to connect with the Lost Cabin Mine Jeep Road, which narrows to a trail, which tracks South up to the top of Round Top.

1.79 miles refers to the distance from the Carson Gap.

El Dorado National Forest PDF map of the trail through the campground to the Lost Cabin Mine trail.

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Location  Elevation Mileage
Lost Cabin Mine Trail Jnct 8320 1.79  
  +80 .31    
Lost Cabin Mine 8400 2.1  
  +280 .14    
Rock Cabin past Old Car
and Trap
8680 2.24  
  +680 1.16    
Round Top Lake Junction 9360 3.40  
Total elevation Gain
Lost Cabin Mine Trail to Round Top Lake
+1040 feet
over
3.40 miles

3.4 miles is the distance from the Carson Gap to Round Top Lake on the Lost Cabin Mine route.

This puts the distance between the Lost Cabin Mine trail junction at the Car Campground to Round Top Lake at 1.61 miles.

 

Route 3
Carson Pass to Round Top Lake

The third route up to Round Top from Carson Gap is to continue South on the Pacific Crest Trail through Carson Pass to the Winnemucca Lake trail junction.

It is 1.26 miles from Carson Pass to the Winnemucca Lake junction on the PCT and 2.14 miles to Round Top from there.

This puts the distance to Round Top from Carson Pass at 3.8 miles.

Adding 1.39 miles for the hike from the Carson Gap to the Carson Pass, Route 3 totals up to 4.79 miles.

See: PCT Miles and Elevations, Carson Pass to Ebbetts Pass

 

Carson Pass Region backpacking map

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Continuing South
from the
Round Lake Junction
on the
Tahoe to Yosemite Trail

Summit City Creek backpacking map

Round Top Lake Junction
is
Our new mileage Zero Point

This guide measures mileage South from our exit from Lake Tahoe Basin at the Carson Gap.

As there are three routes from the Carson Gap up to the trail junction at Round Top Lake, we have either walked 3.9 miles from the Gap to Round Lake via the footbridge route, 3.4 miles via the Lost Cabin Mine route, or 4.57 miles from the Carson Gap to Round Top via Carson Pass and the Winnemucca Lake trail junction.

To simplify measuring trail mileages further South from the Round Top Lake trail junction where these 3 routes all converge is to make the Round Top trail junction the new zero-point for measuring distances South to the end of this TYT section at the Bee Gulch Trailhead on Highway 4 at the East shore of Lake Alpine.

Round Top trail junction to Highway 4
     21.15 miles

Location  Elevation Mileage
Round Top Lake Junction  9360 0    
   -1196 2.3    
Fourth of July Lake  8164 2.3  
  -724 1.31  
Summit City Creek Junction 7440 3.61  
  *** ***  
Boy Scout Camp *** ***  
(Summit City Junction
to Horse Canyon)
-560 2.43    
Horse Canyon 6880 6.04  
  -160 .8  
Telephone Gulch 6720 6.84  
  *** ***  
Rock Zone  *** ***  
(Telephone Gulch to Upper Ford) -160 1.71    
Upper Ford 6560 8.55  
  -440 1.32  
Water/Granite Flat campsite 6120 9.87  
  -40 .22    
End of Canyon Campsite 6080 10.09  
Water Access *** .3    
Total from Campsite to Lower Ford -640 .97  
Lower Ford Summit City 5440 11.06  
Climbing to Forest Entrance +80 .32  
Enter Unblazed forest 5520 11.38  
Across Enchanted Forest to Exit -40 .71    
Forest to Munson Jnct  5480 12.09  
200 feet to top of climb +160 .47  
Munson Meadow Junction 5640 12.56  
  -360 .57  
Camp Irene 5280 13.13  
  +3440 5.24  
top of Mt Reba  8720 18.37  
  -240 .87  
Bee Gulch Junction 8480 19.24  
  -1000 1.4    
Trail Jnct above Lodge 7480 20.64  
  -160 .51    
Hwy 4 Bee Gulch Trailhead 7320 21.15  
  +40 .34    
Al's hidden Camp 7360 21.49  
Total elevation Gain
Round Top Lake to Lake Alpine
+ feet
over
21.49 miles

21.49 miles is measured from the Round Top Lake Junction to my campsite behind (East, up Silver Creek) the backpacker's camp on the East Side of Lake Alpine.

Add the distance of the route you chose to hike up to Round Top Lake to determine the total miles you've hiked from Highway 88 to Lake Alpine.

Carson Pass Region
CPMA 15 min Backpacking Map
Echo Summit to Lake Alpine
30 min Backpacking Map

Mileage Totals
from
Carson Gap to Lake Alpine

Carson Gap to Lake Alpine
on the
Lost Cabin Route
24.89
Carson Gap to Lake Alpine
through
Carson Pass
up to
Round Top Lake
26.28

Carson Gap to Lake Alpine
on the
Footbridge Route
25.39

More
Miles and Elevations
North
TYT & PCT
Echo Summit to Carson Gap
South
TYT
Lake Alpine to Saint Marys Pass

Have you comments, questions, or experiences about this section of the trail?

MILES
Northeast
Meyers to Meiss Cabin

Miles North
:
 Echo Summit to Carson Pass                                 Miles South: Lake Alpine to Saint Marys Pass

Note
The Ups and Downs of the Tahoe to Yosemite, and every other High Sierra Trail

This trail guide, like the High Sierras, divides itself into ups and downs. Our miles are generally done either going up to the top of the mountain, or we are coming down from the mountaintop into the valley that separates us from the next mountain.
This means that the mileages and elevations between the peaks and the valleys is going to be important in determining how many miles we can reasonably expect to cover each day.
This will be instrumental in planning where we are going to camp every night, and ultimately this information would nornally determine how many days it will take us to reach our goal. This in turn establishes our proper food load. Except this section.
This section of trail begins climbing fine, well-used trails over Round Top and the Sisters, and ends climbing over the mightly Mount Reba, but these climbs will not determine our pace through this section of trail.

The difficulty of our mileage here will be determined not by how well we climb, but by how easily we can find the best route through the unmaintained segment of trail that lays between our beginning and ending climbs.

Remember this important rule: Every descent route holds many mini-ascents, and every ascent has many mini-descents within its route. Our mileage will very rarely just go up, or just go down. We are going endlessly up and down.

The great rock roller coaster.

 

Backpacker Forums

Post it on
TahoetoWhitney.Org
The Backpacker's Forum.

Above we come to the Front Page of the High Backpacking Trails and Topics Forums. Below we break the forums down into categories:

High Sierra Trails High Sierra Topics

Anyone can post text comments in the existing forums, but only members can post up new topics, along with images, maps, and formatting.

Become a Member

If you have experiences, comments, questions, trip reports, trail conditions updates or pictures and videos of the Tahoe to Yosemite/Pacific Crest Trail from Carson Gap to Lake Alpine, most especially how the unmaintained segment of trail was looking, and how it felt to you.

You can post up here as an unknown hiker or as a member:

Section
CARSON GAP TO LAKE ALPINE

MILES
Northeast
Meyers to Meiss Cabin

North
:
 Echo Summit to Carson Pass                                                                South: Lake Alpine to Saint Marys Pass

Trailhead

Contact
Alex Wierbinski

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Backpacking Lake Tahoe to Mount Whitney

Your guide to the High Sierra Crest, including the Tahoe to Yosemite, Pacific Crest, and John Muir Trails

© Lake Tahoe to Mount Whitney: Crown Jewel of the Pacific Crest Trail