Miles & Elevations

Tahoe Yosemite Trail

Kennedy Meadows to Tuolumne Meadows Ken

Backpacking Miles: Meiss Country Roadless Ares

The trail South from Echo Summit to Carson Pass is a roller coaster for the first part to Showers Lake. After Showers Lake you drop down into Meiss Meadow, where you begin a gentle climb up to the Carson Gap, where the Tahoe to Yosemite and Pacific Crest Trails diverge.

Meiss Country Roadless Area backpacking Map

Location                         Elevation           Mileage

Start: Echo Summit                 7377                       0

                                           +143                         .91

Note: The Ups and Downs of the Meiss Roadless Area, and every other High Sierra Trail

This trail guide, like the High Sierras, divides itself into ups and downs. Your miles are generally done either going up to the top of the mountain, or you are coming down from the mountaintop into the valley that separates you 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 you can reasonably expect to cover that day. This will be instrumental in planning where you are going to camp every night, and ultimately this information will determine how many days it will take you to cover a given distance. This in turn establishes your proper food load.

Between Echo Summit and the Carson Gap in the Meiss Country Roadless Area along the Tahoe to Yosemite and Pacific Crest Trail there are 10.5 miles and 705 feet of elevation, respectively. But the elevation figure does not describe the first 6.8 miles between Echo Summit and Showers Lake.

From Echo Summit to Showers Lake the terrain can best be categorized as a roller coaster. You are climbing and descending constantly until you reach Showers Lake.

From Showers Lake a gentle decline across meadowed terrain mixed with forest brings you to the Northern  edge of the Meiss Meadow. A gentle grade brings you through Meiss Meadow to a low gap in the Southwestern Tahoe Rim. I call this gap the Carson Gap. It sits 200 feet above and a mile to the West of the Carson Pass.

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

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What do you think about these figures? Add your experiences, comments, or question about these figures.

Section: Kennedy Meadows to Tuolumne Meadows