Stubblefield Canyon Clouds, Yosemite National Park Lake Tahoe to Mount Whitney: Your Backpacking Guide to the High Sierras Piute Peak, Seavy Pass, Yosemite.
Hetch Hetchy Reservoir above O'Shaughnessy Dam in the bottom of the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne River.
Stubblefield Canyon Clouds
Hetch Hetchy Reservoir above O'Shaughnessy Dam in the bottom of the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne River.
Piute Peak, Seavy Pass

 

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Backpacking
Lower
Jack Main Canyon

down to the
Tilden Canyon Trail Junction

Hiking The
NORTH
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK

Hiking
A SIDE ROUTE

Alternative Route
Linking the PCT & TYT to Hetch Hetchy and the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne River

 

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The art of walking

 

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Trail Guide
INDEX

Highway 108
to
Highway
120

SOUTH
GUIDE PAGE

Tilden Canyon Trail Junction
to
Hetch Hetchy

7.5 Topo
MAP


Lower
Jack Main Canyon
30 min
MAP

North
Yosemite
Backcountry
Sonora
Pass
to
Tuolumne Meadows

MILES
AND
ELES
TOPO MAP INDEX

SONORA PASS
to
Tuolumne
Meadows

Resupply

North
Kennedy Meadows

South
Tuolumne Meadows

National Forest
PERMITS

Toiyabe
&
Stanislaus

All
Weather

Local
Weather

All maps index

NORTH
to the
PCT-TYT

Upper
Jack Main
Canyon

SOUTH
on the
PCT-TYT

Wilmer
Lake
to
Stubblefield
Canyon

Grand Canyon
of the
Tuolumne River
MAP
(Click the Map)

North
Yosemite National Park

NEW
DRAFT TRAIL GUIDE PAGE

Our Current Position

Jack Main Canyon
TRAIL JUNCTION
at
Wilmer Lake
to the
Tilden Canyon Trail Junction

To & From
Our Current Position


PCT
Sonora Pass

to
Wilmer Lake


27.44 miles

Leavitt Meadow
to
Wilmer Lake
(Chain of Lakes Route)


25.39 miles

KEY
POSITION
North

TYT-PCT
Trail Junction
Jack Main
Canyon


Wilmer Lake
to
Hetch Hetchy Reservoir
via
Lower
Jack Main Canyon


17.9 miles


TYT
Kennedy Meadows

to
-Wilmer Lake-
Tahoe to Yosemite Trail

25.13 miles

Access,
History,
and
Perspective

YOSEMITE
HISTORY

Wilmer Lake
HISTORY

Wilmer Lake
to
Tuolumne Meadows
via
Pacific Crest- Tahoe to Yosemite
Trail Route


46.27 miles

Backpacker's Information
Index

MAPS

Upper
Jack Main Canyon
Detailed Backpacking Trails
MAP


Lower
Jack Main Canyon

Detailed Backpacking Trails
MAP
Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne River
Large-Scale Backpacking Trails
MAP

Wilmer Lake
Miles and Elevations
Along the PCT

Backpacker Resources and Hiker Information

Though this trailads.

Backpacking Trail Inforamtion

Wilmer Lake Down Jack Main Canyon
to the
Tilden Canyon Trail Junction

Index

 

North Yosemite Backcountry

Weather and Road Information

These are the closest ground stations, point and regional forecasts to Jack Main Canyon

Check out the ground reporting stations for real-time snow and temp data.

Sonora Pass Weather Forecast

NWS
Sonora Pass Forecast

Yosemite Weather Forecast

NWS
Yosemite to Kings Canyon Forecast

Regional Forecasts

NWS
Regional Forecast
East Sierra

NWS
Regional Forecast
Northwest Sierra

All
Emigrant Wilderness
& N Yosemite

Regional Weather Information
All
High Sierra Weather Resources

Real Time Ground Reporting Stations

North
of
Yosemite

Sonora Pass
Reporting station

Leavitt Lake
Reporting station

Leavitt Meadow Reporting station

Horse Meadow Reporting Station

South
of
our Position

Tenaya Lake

Tuolumne Meadows

Tioga Entry Station

Northeast

Slide Mountain

All Ground Reporting Stations

MesoWest
N Calif Stations

Calif Snotel

Note that the ground reporting stations above are North and South of our position backpacking across the North Yosemite backcountry.

The reason is that there are no automated reporting stations near our route across the North Yosemite Backcountry.

Thus the human measured Wilmer Lake station below.

The reporting stations above are given to ascertain snow conditions and temps at various altitudes and aspects of exposure.

Temps and snow conditions of various aspects and elevations of Sierra terrain is informative about similarly situated locations.

Human Measured Stations

Wilma Lake

Road Conditions

Caltrans Hwy 108

Big View: Radar

North California
Radar

Big View: Space

Western US
Satellite

All
Weather and Fire Information

 

All
High Sierra Weather
Resources

 

Comprehensive
High Sierra Fire and Smoke
Information

 

> Forum <

Lakg the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail.

comments

Wilmer Lake Trail Junction
Jack Main Canyon

Trail sign indicating 17.9 miles from Wilmer Lake to Hetch Hetchy via Lower Jack Main Canyon.

Trail sign indicating 17.9 miles from Wilmer Lake to Hetch Hetchy via Lower Jack Main Canyon.

Hiking downstream from Wilmer Lake brings us through dense forest away from the Falls Creek Ford point to the South end of this little rock bowl, where our trail bends Southwest, shortly to run up along the bank of Falls Creek again.

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Down Falls Creek:
The Pool

Falls Creek below Wilmer Lake.
Falls Creek below Wilmer Lake forms up into a long pool, maybe a couple of hundred yards long.

Trail Downstream
Trail down Jack Main Canyon from Wilmer Lake.

Trail South down Jack Main Canyon from Wilmer Lake.

Pool on our Left, to our North, with granite hedging the trail on our Right.

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Wilmer Lake across Falls Creek Pool
Wilmer Lake across Falls Creek.

Wilmer Lake across Falls Creek.

Looking beyond the end of the pool we can see the strand of terrain dividing Falls Creek from the little dast of blue marking the location of Wilmer Lake beyond.

The Pacific Crest Trail runs that strand.


Fish
 

Falls Creek Pool Fish.

I've got some shots of fish in the pool somewhere.

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Wilmer Lake across Falls Creek Pool
More of Wilmer Lake across Falls Creek.
A better look at Wilmer Lake beyond the end of Falls Creek pool, where the pool begins to transition from a placid pool feading fish, meadow and forest, back into a force of Nature cutting granite.

Wilmer Lake
Spit of terrain dividing the pooling flow of Falls Creek from Wilmer Lake.

Looking across the spit of terrain dividing the pooling flow of Falls Creek from Wilmer Lake.

Note the verdant apron around Wilmer Lake. That holds skeeters!

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Falls Creek
Exits
The Pool

Falls Creek flowing out the Pool.
Falls Creek picks up speed after passing through the pooling around Wilmer Lake.

At the End of the Pool
Last look at Wilmer Lake upstream across the pool of Falls Creek.

Last look at Wilmer Lake upstream across the pool of Falls Creek.

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I Spy
Two PCTers Hiking By

Pacific Crest Trail hikers crossing the strip of land separating Falls Creek from Wilmer Lake.

Pacific Crest Trail hikers crossing the strip of land separating Falls Creek from Wilmer Lake.
We're looking across the width of the widest part of where Falls Creek pools-up here, pinched and pooled-up by the shape of the glacial sculpting.

The granite formations composing Bailey Ridge and the Western wall of Jack Main Canyon buldge out towards each other into a unique configuration pinching their East and West walls almost together. This point is just a bit further down the canyon to our Right from where the image above was taken. We are almost at the downstream end of the pool where the pinched canyon backs up Falls Creek

I figure all the sediments in the whole basin holding Wilmer Lake along this segment of Falls Creek are mostly the result of erosion sweeping down sediments to beging caught-up in this big "sediment trap" created by the shape and configuration of this little open bowl carved into the flank of Bailey Ridge.

I suspect this whole little bowl holding Wilmer Lake is sitting on a solid granite base long ago covered by silt deposits, meadow, forest, and Wilmer Lake.


Winter Route

One of the licence plates marking the Winter Trail in Jack Main Canyon.

Old licence plates used as Winter blazes marking the trail for the snow survey and other Winter Travelers.

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Fat Creek Moving Downstream

Bailey Ridge below Wilmer lake.
Turning the bend around the end of the pooling section Falls Creek hurries down into short green forested area. We see a nice formation of Bailey Ridge just downriver from Wilmer lake. After its short quick run down from the pool Falls Creek widens out through this bit of gentle descent.

Trail Work Trail Drain
Hard rock trail work in Jack Main Canyon.

Trail work in Jack Main Canyon.

A runoff drain.

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Wheeee
Closer to Bailey Ridge below Wilmer Lake.
Falls Creek starts picking up some downward speed as we approach the formation on Bailey Ridge we observed above.

Into the Bend

The shape of Jack Main Canyon below Wilmer Lake.

As we move down Jack Main Canyon below Wilmer Lake we begin to see, and get a feel for how our trail and Falls Creek follow the shape of Jack Main Canyon. Ahead we make out the next feature in the canyon deflecting our trail. we bends along the base of the sheer segment of canyon below.

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Through the Bend

Peak 8279 looking down Jack Main Canyon.

Entering the slot of the canyon looking down Jack Main Canyon.
In the distant-Left we see a a formation along Bailey Ridge descending to the center of the image from the Left.

Beyond the near formation we can see another, massive pale-gray granite arm of Bailey Ridge. Beyond that we can see the dark mass of Tilltill Mountain.

That's how I see them. I could be wrong. Check out and align the map the next time you hike through to the bottom-end of this gorge like section of the Lower Jack Main Canyon trail.

Note the trail at our feet bending down to our Right.

We're going to follow Falls Creek down into the forest in the middle-Left distant that we can see the tree tops of


West Wall of Jack Main Canyon
West Wall of Jack Main Canyon through steep, deep, and narrow segment of the canyon below Wilmer Lake.

Looking up at the sheer Western Wall of Jack Main Canyon as we hike through this narrow & deep segment of canyon below Wilmer Lake.

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My Kind of Rock Garden

View of hard rock trail climbing towards Wilmer Lake.

Looking back up a view of trail climbing upriver.

Jack Main Canyon displays the same 100+ years of trail work that makes Yosemite so distinctive.

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Upriver Series of Mini-Falls

Jack Main Canyon below Wilmer Lake.

Looking back up the canyon from the end of the gorge-like segment. Our viewpoint above, just a bit East of North, has us looking at the formation descending down to pinch off the pooling segment of Falls Creek along Wilmdre Lake.

As we see below, we are also much closer to the next bit of forest.


Down River

View down Lower Jack Main Canyon.

Looking downriver we see Falls Creek bending away to the East as we make our way down to the nice stretch of canyon floor with strips of forest and meadow with rising distributions of both temperate ferns and dry manzanita, the distribution determined by just how those ancient glaciers cut the literally fantastic jumble of granite peaks and ridges.

We also notice it is getting warmer as we descend.

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Wildflower Walkway
Wildflower trail in Lower Jack Main Canyon.

Sweet layer of delicate white flowers seemingly floating on air at the end of their thin threadlike stalks.

The lack of traffic allows the brittle display to prosper.


Into Forest Bits

Meadow and Forest along Falls Creek, Lower Jack Main Canyon.

We turn around to take a look upriver after coming through the narrow slot of the canyon below Wilmer Lake, then descending into the forest.

Having followed the bend of the canyon to the Southeast we've dropped int a fairly flat bit of canyon floor pointed Southwest.

Little bits of meadow and thin forest along the canyon floor under some magnificant granite features.

Well, that's red mountain heather under the trees. Some kind of heather

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Details-Details
I identify this as the West Flank of Tiltill Mountain.
 

Bailey Ridge Beauty

Distinctive line of Bailey Ridge between Jack Main Canyon and Avonelle Lake.

Distinctive line of Bailey Ridge between Jack Main Canyon and Avonelle Lake.

Trail route bending towards the Southwest from the Southeast.

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Grounded at Last

silhouette jack main canyon granite sheet.
Hey Good Looking!
Ha-ha...
Silhouette Jack Main Canyon granite sheet.

Upriver View

Cascading bit of Falls Creek into a small but delightful fall.

Cascading bit of Falls Creek into a small but delightful fall.

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Walk through The Park

Water, Rock, and Trail.
Water, Rock, and Trail. And Liz...

Cool Observer
on a Hot Day
Lizard in Lower Jack Main Canyon below Wilmer Lake.

Lizard in Lower Jack Main Canyon below Wilmer Lake. The granite plates making up good sections of the floor of Jack Main Canyon beging transitioning between outcropping and meadow forest overcovering. The physical transition is indicative of a parallel series of transitions revealing changing aspects of the web of life as we move across elevations, composition of terrains, and exposure aspects.

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Hey

Butterfly and bud.

Butterfly and bud.

Butterfly Forum Entry Butterfly Forum

 

   

 

 


The Winter Roue

Licence plate Winter route markers above trail to Tilden Canyon Creek.

We see the 1956 licence plates marking Winter route above trail junction leading East to Tilden Canyon Creek below Wilmer Lake.

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Boggy-Meadowy-Pondish
Deep boggy area in Jack Main Canyon above trail to Tilden Canyon.
Not quite a lake, not quite a meadow, this super-saturated terrain may turn into a pond.

View Southwest

Peak 8273, Jack Main Canyon, Yosemite.

Southeast Flank of Peak 8273 descending to our Southwest as we hike to the narrowing end of this long, wide run of Jack Main Canyon.

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View Northeast

The Peak above Avonelle Lake, which also caps Bailey Ridge dividing Jack Main from Tilden Creek Canyons from each other.

Looking Northeast
Hiking Southwest
Turning around to take a look at the Peak above Avonelle Lake, which also caps Bailey Ridge dividing Jack Main Canyon on this side of the ridge from Tilden Creek Canyon on the other.

The nice meadow with all the brush before us, likely holding lots of berries and other goodies during Spring, are complimented by a quick run of bear signs as we run up to and trhough a gap before dropping down to the trail junciton to Tilden Canyon Creek to our East.


Bear Signs

Bear slashed lodgepole in Lower Jack Main Canyon.

Bear slashed lodgepole in Lower Jack Main Canyon.

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Bear Scat

Bear dookie along the trail in Lower Jack Main Canyon.
Bear dookie along the trail in Lower Jack Main Canyon.

Bear Notes

Another bear slashed tree not far from the previous.

Another bear slashed tree not far from the previous.

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Along West Edge
of
Lower
Jack Main Canyon

Hiking through forest and meadow segment down Lower Jack Main Canyon.
Hiking through forest and meadow segment down Lower Jack Main Canyon.

Pond Above Trail Junction
to
Tilden Canyon

Pond in Lower Jack Main Canyon just above trail to Tilden Canyon.

Pond in Lower Jack Main Canyon just above trail to Tilden Canyon.

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West Edge
of Jack Main Canyon
Gap descending Lower Jack Main Canyon.

Climbing to a lowe gap as we approach the trail East to Tilden Canyon. Falls Creek has turned South-Southeast (to our Southbound Left in the image above), to circle around this feature we are "gapping" above.

Falls Creek and our trail will rejoin at the trail junction and ford point for the trail East to Tilden Canyon.


Temperate Zones

Fine example of temperate forest in Lower Jack Main Canyon, Yosemite.

Fine example of temperate forest in Lower Jack Main Canyon, Yosemite.

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Butterfly

Butterfly in Lower Jack Main Canyon.
Butterfly in Lower Jack Main Canyon.

Lake Above Trail Junction

We reach a small lake before arriving at the trail junction East to Tilden Canyon.

We reach a small lake before arriving at the trail junction East to Tilden Canyon.

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Rotating Around
the
Lake Above Trail Junction
Views of the Lake above the trail to Tilden Canyon from Jack Main Canyon>

Views of the Lake above the trail to Tilden Canyon from Jack Main Canyon>

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Lake Above Trail Junction

Northeast across Small Lake above trail to Tilden Canyon from Jack Main Canyon.

Northeast across Small Lake above trail to Tilden Canyon from Jack Main Canyon.

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Lake Above Trail Junction

Looking North across the Small Lake above the junction to Tilden Canyon from Jack Main.

North across Small Lake above trail to Tilden Canyon from Jack Main Canyon.

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Miles
to Hetch Hetchy
EAST
via
Tilden Canyon

Trail junction in Lower Jack Main Canyon to Tilden Canyon.

Trail junction in Lower Jack Main Canyon to Tilden Canyon.


Miles Up Jack Main Canyon

Distance up Jack Main Canyon from junction to Tilden Canyon.

Up Jack Main Canyon.

Distance up Jack Main Canyon from trail junction to Tilden Canyon.

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Falls Creek Ford
to
Tilden Canyon

Lower Falls Creek Ford to Tilden Canyon, backpacking Yosemite.

Lower Falls Creek Ford to Tilden Canyon.

We last saw Falls Creek at the end of the long meadow-kinda flat section upriver, where it bend around the rock formation with the gap we hiked througn. Now it's back after cricling all the way around the rock feature. At this point Jack Main Canyon bends more to the Southwest while another arm of the canyon runs on a line pointed thirty degrees further South. Do check out the map of this very complex terrain.

The two cuts of the canyon split on Andrews Peak.

North: Upper Jack Main Canyon                                  South: Tilden Canyon Trail Junction to Hetch Hetchy

Trail Junction
EAST
to
Tilden Canyon

The Next Canyon to the East

Next Page South
down
Jack Main Canyon

Tilden Canyon Trail Junction
to
Hetch Hetchy
down
Jack Main Canyon

THIS PAGE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION: STAY TUNED FOR MUCH MORE!

COME ON BACK NOW, 'YA HEAR?

7.5 Minute Topo
Map

Upper
Jack Main Canyon
with
Tilden Lake and Wilmer Lake
Trail Map
7.5 Minute Topo
MAP


Lower Jack Main Canyon
Trail Map

Trail Maps
INDEX

Highway 108
to
Tuolumne Meadows

 

Miles and Elevations

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Backpacking Trail Guide

North

NORTH
to the
PCT-TYT

Upper
Jack Main
Canyon

Compass and map directions are the best.

Backpacking Trail Guide

South

SOUTH
to

HETCH
HETCHY

Tilden Canyon
Trail Junction

to
Hetch Hetchy

Backpacker Forums

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FORUMS
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FORUMS

The Trails Forum acts as your place to put up input, comments, relate your experiences, or ask questions about each segment and spot along the length of our combined TYT-PCT-JMT trails.

The Forum is your place to supplement the trail guide.

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

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OFF THE
PCT-TYT

Jack Main Canyon
to
Hetch Hetchy
Trailhead
Contact
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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

Snug tent after Snow Storm
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