30 min
MAP

Tuolumne
Meadows
to
Yosemite
Valley

Resupply

North
Tuolumne
Meadows

South
Yosemite
Valley

Sierra
Weather

North
Yosemite
Weather

Next Page
Sunrise HSC to Little Yosemite Valley

Maps and Miles

Miles & Elevations

Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley
Miles and Elevations

Backpacker Resources
and
Hiker Information

Lakg the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail.

Comments

Lower
Cathedral Lake Trail Junction
with the
John Muir Trail

9430 feet

4.05 miles South of Tuolumne Meadows

21.8 miles North of Yosemite Valley

The John Muir Trail
to
Upper Cathedral Lake

.54 miles

The John Muir Trail
Lower Cathedral Lake
to
Sunrise High Sierra Camp

4.39 miles

Maps and Miles

Miles & Elevations

Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley
Miles and Elevations

Page Index

Upper Cathedral Lake through Cathedral Pass and down and around to Sunrise High Sierra Camp.

Above:
At the Cathedral Lake Trail Junction under Cathedral Peak, the .5 mile trail out to the lower lake.

Lower Cathedral is at the end of a sweet half-mile spur trail. We explored Lower Cathedral Lake on the last guide page to our North.

Lay of the Land
The John Muir Trail continues climbing to our South, bending a bit Southeast as we hike away from the Lower Cathedral Lake trail junction depicted above. We hike up along a short segment of gently-rising terrain up to where we step onto the end of the second, smaller, shelf that Upper Cathedral Lake sits on. We are on the edge of the flat, but still a bit less than a quarter-mile distant from the upper lake itself.
Upper Cathedral Lake sits perched on this flat shelf on top and a bit set back from the edge of the cliff that makes up part of the grand basin wrapping around the South Shore of Lower Cathedral Lake and its associated meadow.

Upper Cathedral Lake is nestled-in surrounded by tufts of meadow and islands of isolated granite formations on this nifty shelf wedged-in under Tressider Peak and above the lower Lake.

Our Southbound John Muir Trail tracks up to near the Northeastern corner of Upper Cathedral Lake, then is deflected around the perimeter of the thin meadow wrapping the East and Southeast Shores of the Lake by restoration work.

Easy-Peasy
We continue a fairly non-taxing middle-difficulty of the middle-level of difficulty climb as we pass beyond the flat around Upper Cathedral Lake onto the low grade leading us up to 9720 feet of elevation across Cathedral Pass.

A gentle grade brings us up to and through Cathedral Pass. The transition from rising to descending is subtle, and we find it somewhat ironic that these gentle grades are bringing us into one of the most sheer and precipitous landscapes in the world: The Yosemite Wilderness wrapping around Yosemite Valley.

So begins our 16.71 mile great descent into Yosemite Valley.

What a Long, Strange Trip its been
Hiking from Tuolumne Meadows to Cathedral Pass puts the Central Yosemite Wilderness at our feet without spending too much effort to put ourselves at the top of the Mighty Merced Watershed. Well, we did hike to this position from Meeks Bay, a long ways to our North, up on the West Shore of Lake Tahoe.

Our plan is to drop into the Central Yosemite Wilderness along the classic route of the John Muir Trail, then climbing out along a different route. Our plan is designed to give us as much scope and perspective on the Central Yosemite Wilderness as possible while fitting perfectly, complimenting really, the overall design of our Tahoe to Whitney backpacking trip.

The Numbers
Our tour of Central Yosemite is going to add up to seven extra days to our trip duration, somewhere around fifty extra miles, and somewhere short of eight thousand extra feet of both ascending and descending to our overall Tahoe to Whitney backpacking trip totals.

Good to the Last Drop
The bottom line with the Golden Triangle Route through the heart of Yosemite is that every extra second, every extra foot of distance and elevation, and every drop of sweat this remarkable section squeezes out of our tired asses are time and energy very well spent experiencing some of the sweetest places on this sweet Earth.

Wild Nature
These trail guide efforts reflect my belief that everyone
should see It, spend some time in It, soak up Its ways, and reflect on It.

I speak of substantial lengths of time and space within Natural spaces unmitigated by human influences.
Yup, that's what you need.

Our mental and physical health, as well as our meaning, both as individuals and as a society rely on this relationship between man and Nature.

Cultivate yours.

Let's plow on.

Yosemite miles sign cites 5.5 miles as the distance from Tuolumne Meadows to the Lower Cathedral Lakes junction.

I cite 4.05 miles from the Post Office in Tuolumne Meadows to this junction, while I am assuming that the Yosemite Trail Miles Sign above, and all of them referencing TM, are refering to the distance to Tuolumne Lodge, which is another mile and a half to the East beyond the location of the Post Office.

That distance, from this trail junction to Tuolumne Lodge, is 5.51 miles by my measurements, hiking there along the routes described on this guide above, and depicted on the maps linked to below.

We discussed these mileage issues above, as we crossed the Wilderness Boundary hiking here on the John Muir Trail.

Steel Yosemite Miles Sign
4.5 miles to Sunrise HSC, and 19.6 to Yosemite Valley from Cathedral Lakes trail junction.

Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley
Lower Cathedral Lake Trail Junction
MILES and ELEVATIONS

We can skip from one Yosemite Trail Miles Sign to another leading down to Yosemite Valley on the
Miles and Elevations page linked to above.

This allows us to compare the miles cited on the Yosemite Trail Mileage Signs with those cited on the guide, and against other sources and in comparison with our own mapology.

Another Aspect.
Power of Sunrise contrasts revealing surface complexities while burning them into and beyond our range of perception on Cathedral Peak as we climb towards Upper Cathedral Lake.

Tresidder Peak comes into view rising above the forest as we approach the upper flat, and our changing position begins to unmask the full view of the mountains ringing Cathedral Lakes.

Upper Cathedral Lake Marker
along the
John Muir Trail

9600 feet

4.59 miles South of Tuolumne Meadows

17.21 miles North of Yosemite Valley

The John Muir Trail

to
Sunrise High Sierra Camp

3.85 miles

Maps and Miles

Miles & Elevations

Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley
Miles and Elevations

Page Index

Approaching Upper Cathedral Lake we find the expansive meadow wrapping its North Shore opens up nice views of Tresidder Peak beyond meadow and lake.

The gentle slope of the upper basin up towards Cathedral Pass, being the lowest point below the Left flank of Tresidder Peak, gives us some indication of the moderate degree of difficulty of our upcoming hike through the pass.

Cathedral Meadow Restoration Orders.

Upper Cathedral Lake meadow restoration notice.

Translation
Go Wide, and stay the heck out of the tired meadow.

Full Moon approaches set as the Sun behind us approaches rise.

It's been a bright, almost full Moon night.

We get up early on the trail, and are up earlier the longer we stay on the trail. Arriving into the heart of Yosemite indicates we've been on the trail for awhile now along the hike down from Lake Tahoe. We are getting up quite early, as it suites our plans.

Our plan now is to set-up so we hike into Yosemite Valley in the morning, at the beginning of a day, rather than hiking in at the end of the day. We are going to push to camp in Little Yosemite tonight, then make an early hike into The Valley the next day.

Oh, and the stillness.

The very early morning has some of the most still moments of the day.

Be chill, Observe the Still.

As the image above shows the Sun rose before the Moon set we know that the Moon is a bit past "Full." A full Moon happens when Moon set and Sun rise happen at exactly the same time. This represents the time the Sun, the Earth, and the Moon are all on exactly the same line at exactly the same time.

That alingment defines the actual moment constituting a full Moon.

Sometimes "fullness" lines up with our observed Sunrises and sets, other times it does not.

It is a full Moon when the Sun rises at the moment of Moon set. (Morning)
It is a full Moon when the Sun sets at the moment of Moon rise. (Evening)

The position of the Moon above indicates that we are past full Moon.

The reason is the Moon is orbiting the Earth counter-clockwise, relatively moving towards the Sun when transitioning through its phases. In the image above the Moon has already "orbited" closer to the Sun past, or above the position of full alignment in the morning.

This evening the Sun will set before this just past-full Moon rises.

Upper Cathedral Lake, with Mendlicott Dome rising in the background. Yosemite.

Climbing Mendlicott Dome
The Bacher-Yerian Route

Aspects of Cathedral Peak
North Yosemite Backcountry in distance while climbing to Cathedral Pass above Upper Cathedral lake.

Note the line running from the collar of forest around Polly Dome cleanly up to the pointy crest of Cathedral Peak. Check out how this terrain looks when we get views of Cathedral and Tresidder Peaks as we descend from the end of Cold Canyon to Glen Aulin along the combined routes of the Tahoe to Yosemite and Pacific Crest Trails through the North Yosemite Backcountry.

The line formed by the ramp of terrain from the back of Mendilcott Dome East up the crest of Cathedral Peak create a distinctive line looking from the North, as well as our view from the South above.

It's quite a view.

The Sierra Crest wrapping around the North Yosemite Backcountry in the furthest distance beyond Cathedral Peak and Upper Cathedral Lake.

The two images above highlight how different season's light changes how everything is, and how it looks.

North Yosemite backcountry from above Upper Cathedral Lake.

See the brightly-lit wall in the lower Right hand corner of the distant granite range above?

Our PCT-TYT route passes around the nose of the base of that that face as it drops into Virginia Canyon along the very delightful Spiller Creek. Spiller Creek runs down the great canyon we can see on the far Right of the image. That canyon runs up to the Sierra Crest. All above the brightly-lit wall in the lower Right corner.

North Yosemite Backpacking Map

Spiller Creek runs down the canyon on the far distant Right below Whorl Mountain and Matterhorn Peaks, which rise above Spiller Creek's Canyon as the highest points along the Sierra Crestline. Well, Matterhorn Peak is along the Sierra Crest, with Whorl Mountain being a bit down on the Western Face ridgline separating Spiller Creek in its canyon on the Right from Matterhorn Creek in Matterhorn Canyon on its Left.

To the Left of Matterhorn Peak sits the iconic two major teeth of the Sawtooth Range segment of the Sierra Crestline. Matterhorn Canyon winds its convoluted way down the West Flank below the Sawtooths.

Further left along the Crestline, at the end of our most-distant view of the Sierra Crestline sits the tilted-top pyramidal shape of Quarry Peak. Most of the peaks on the far Left of the image are below the actual Sierra Crestline.

We're hiking South up beyond Upper Cathedral Lake approaching Cathedral Pass looking back to our North at the North Yosemite Backcountry, specifically the ridgeline descending West off the Sierra Crest at Matterhorn Peak dividing the Matterhorn drainage on the Left from that of Spiller Creek on the Right.

The route of the PCT-TYT runs across both canyons just at our level of visibility across the treetops.

9720 feet

5.09 miles South of Tuolumne Meadows

16.71 miles North of Yosemite Valley

The John Muir Trail

to
Sunrise High Sierra Camp

3.35 miles

Maps and Miles

Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley
Miles and Elevations

Page Index

Looking North at Cathedral Peak beyond the low saddle of Cathedral Pass.

Looking South down the meadow running South from Cathedral Pass.

We take note of how this little high meadow reminds us of the much longer run of the great meadow down Cold Canyon.

Meadow Dogs, otherwise known as Belding Ground Squirrels did not seem as common up here as in Cold Canyon.

Looking North and South across Tuolumne Meadows as we hike across the North Yosemite Backcountry into the Central Yosemite Wilderness gives us three wonderful perspectives on each from the other.

One perspective looking at the terrain we approach, the another as we hike through, and finally looking back as we depart.

My head is spinning as if on a swivel.

Looking down Matthes Crest after crossing Cathedral Pass on the John Muir Trail.

View of Matthes Crest from Sunrise HSC trail junction.

Our trail moves West to begin a gentle traverse along the ridgline bringing us up under the end of
Colombias Finger.

Echo Peaks to our East.

The alingment of Cathedral Peak with Echo Peaks creates the outline of an amalgamation of their peaks when viewed from certain perspectives as we descend towards Glen Aulin on the PCT-TYT.

Matthes Crest running South from Echo Peaks.

Almost paved trail traversing up to pass under and around Colombia's Finger.

Hiking South getting under the East Flank of Colombia's Finger, which rises above us to our West, our Southbound Right.

Looking back at Echo Peaks and Cathedral Peaks along their shared crestline.

I really like how these peaks look from the bottom of Cold Canyon, and again the unique views we get as we descend towards Glen Aulin High Sierra Camp.

Now we are getting views North, at the North Yosemite Backcountry back through the "gunsight" at the North Yosemite Backcountry, above, just as we got some good looks from from up there in Cold Canyon at this West end of the Cathedral Range.

Sooty Grouse couple and I surprise each other, but nobody freaks out.

Looking at Matthes Crest from Colombia Finger.

Cathedral Pass to Yosemite Valley
15 Minute topo hiking map

Things are taking a turn towards awesome.

Above us to the West rises the East Flank of Colombia Finger.

Second, closer look at the East Flank of Colombia's Finger.

Sweet crackage.

Our last look at the East Flank crest of Colombia's Finger.

Leroy and Margot.

Leroy was Climbing local walls and exploring the vertical as Margot was hiking about exploring the horizontal.

Nice break spot with great views under Colombia Finger, though with no water nearby.

That's Clarks Peak of the Clarks Range almost directly to our South.

Central & South Yosemite Hiking Map
30 minute topo hiking map

Unveiling
The Holy Heart of Yosemite

We've been pointed almost directly South since passing the Upper and Lower Cathedral Lakes hiking up to and over the gentle rise of Cathedral Pass's 9680 feet of elevation.

Hiking South from Cathedral Pass our views are limited to the sweet meadow descending gently in elevation to our South, and the stunning canyon walls bracketing the meadow. To our East, our Southbound Left, we have a fascinating view of the amazing shape and structures of Matthes Crest's sheer cliffs, buttes, and gaps along its quite complex and convoluted ridge line opening to our view as we hike South. It's shapes and structures are well-accented by an amazing range of textures and subtle graduations of color and contrasts across its many distinct surfaces under changing light conditions.

Behind us, turning to look North-Northeast, we see the distinctive line-up of Cathedral Peak and Echo Peaks along their shared ridgeline.

To our West the crestline dropping off Tresidder is running up to the pointed spire of Colombia Finger, most of which is masked from view during our traverse by the terrain itself, until we hike up to the end of the ridge.

After hiking South through Cathedral Pass our trail bends gently to our Right, to the West, to begin a gentle climbing traverse along the moderately-forested ridgearm of the Western wall of the canyon surrounding this high meadow. As I mentioned, the Western wall is the spur of ridge running South from Tresidder Peak who's end is capped by the distinctive Colombia Finger.

As our hike to the South end of the Colombia Finger ridgearm progresses we get far enough South to put us beyond the South end of Matthes Crest. Our changing position begins to open up amazing views, first to our East looking past and around the South end of Matthes Crest opening up grand views of the Southern end of the Cathedral Range. Wow. An angry ocean of great granite whitecaps opens up to our East, then of the Clarks Range in the South Yosemite Wilderness as we get to the end of Colombias Finger.

As we get closer to the end of the ridgline terminating under Colombia's Finger we begin to emerge from forest cover and views obscured by terrain we get our first sweeping views South of the whole darn Central Yosemite Wilderness.

Central & South Yosemite Hiking Map
30 minute topo hiking map

All of the Central Yosemite Wildeness is visible from here. Except the lower elevation areas masked by the terrain. Though we can see the massive gash of the Merced River Canyon, its rim is masked by the terrain.
To put this fine overview in layman's terms, "That's some heavy-duty shit, man." No Joke.

The Central Yosemite Wilderness bounded by the Cathedral and Clarks Ranges rising above the shores of the Merced River is always reminiscent of classic Hokusai scenes to me, but executed in granite by ice, rather than in water by winds. I believe the link I see between Hokusai and the Sierra is centered in their shared expression of the overwhelming power and beauty of Nature, the smallness of man, and the timeless consistency of great forces interacting on scales beyond the gratifications of men.

Merced Canyon
Yeah, that description covers experiencing, describing, and depicting the Sierra Nevada as well as angry asian oceans.

From our position under Colombia's Finger our view is not centered on Yosemite Valley, but our eyes are naturally drawn to the grand granite gash of the Merced River cutting the Central Yosemite Wilderness into two distinct parts, with an angry looking sea of mountain peaks rising far above both of the banks of the hidden depths of its deep granite channel.

Again, wow!

Cathedral Range Rises above the North Bank
To our Left, the terrain rising above the Northern Bank of the Merced Canon runs up to the top of the Cathedral Range, of which we have just hiked over the Southwestern-most end of the range.

Clarks Range Rises above the South Bank
Above the Right, the furthest, or South bank of the great canyon of the Merced River a great spur runs Westward off the main line of the High Sierra Crestline from where the Cathedral and Ritter Ranges intersect. This is the Clarks Range.

We're going to stand here, maybe even stop for a while and take off the pack, while we are overwhelmed by the grand scale of natural beauty before us for awhile, before continuing on our trail around the base Colombia's Finger to lose this remarkable view dropping into the top of Long Meadow.

Western Flank Wonderland
The most interesting thing to me is that the Cathedral Range, The Clarks Range, and the Sunrise Mountains are all Western-flank mountain ranges that are not part of the Sierra Crestline. Everything from all the flanks of all these ranges drains West into the Pacific Ocean. None of the mountains we see from here are actually along the Sierra Crestline.

The actual line of the Sierra Crest South of Tioga Pass is represented by the Kuna Crest rising above the East side of Lyell Canyon, which turns even further East to the South of Yosemite, bisecting Mammoth Mountain before running South along the Mammoth Crest.

MET: More Hokusai

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A unique view of Cathedral Range, Yosemite.

We are gazing East by Southeast from under the Eastern flank of Colombia's Finger. The rising dome in the upper-Left corner of the image is the second to last structure on the end of Matthes Crest, the low dome to its Right being the last.

On the far-Right edge of the crestline we have the majestic bulk of Mount Florence, to its Left the pointy peak of the ridge directly North of Mount Florence, Peak 11981.

To the Left of that we can see Vogelsang Peak, with a triangular streak of white/light terrain just Right of its rounded crest. Can you see the faint white, slightly triangular vertical streak down the face of Vogelsang?

The pointy peak rising from behind Vogelsang Peak's Left shoulder is either Simmons Peak or the the peak immediately to the South of Simmons Peak. I can't tell from here, with the way the relative positions of this sea of peaks one-to-another rotates with our position.

Getting context on this ocean of mountain peaks is an amazing navigational-overview orientation challenge.

We a looking out across a vast amount of complex space, route lines, time, and finally; effort.

Tuolumne Meadows Hiking Map
15 minute topo hiking map

The Clarks Range
Rising above the South Bank of the Merced River

Our view above is looking almost directly South, just a bit East of South, from our position under Colombia's Finger. We are located at the very Southwestern end of the Cathedral Range looking across this part of the Merced River watershed rising above the South rim of Merced Canyon. That watershed is reaching up through the forests rising above the far South rim of the Merced Canyon into the sheer granite peaks topping the Clarks Range. We see the Clarks Range is stashed way-back in the Central Yosemite Wilderness.

Mount Clark is the highest peak on the Right side of the distant crestline.

The crestline in the two images above show the major peaks of the Clarks Range.

The highest peak on the far Right is Mount Clark, the next peak to its Left along the Crestline is Gray Peak.

Can you see the three granite slabs on the otherwise uniformly forested low ridge in the middle-distance? We can see them more clearly on the upper image, right above the granite horn. Merced Lake lays at the base of the far side of the position of those slabs on that ridge.

Though we cannot see it from this angle, the bottom of the Merced Canyon is carved through pure, dense, close-grained granite of the most magnificent composition. I am comparing Yosemite/Merced granite against all the granite compositions up and down the Sierra Crest. (It changes dramatically) This stuff here is the cadillac of High Sierra granites in terms of density, uniform composition, grain, and color. It is also especially amazing in terms of its extent, its depth, and its wide distribution.
From our position here we can see dense forests running down to and up from the rims of the Merced Canyon proper, but we cannot actually see the rim or even the canyon itself. The high elevation forests and Clarks Range Crestline we can see from here more than makes up for what we will soon be looking into as we descend further down towards the Canyon of the Merced on our way down to Yosemite Valley.
Our descent will ultimately bring us down to the very edge of the granite gorge making up the North Rim of the Merced Canyon, from where we are going to get fantastic views up, down, and down into the Merced River Canyon as we continue to add increasingly fantastic views and perspectives along our descent into Yosemite Valley.

This is the only place I say this:

"It gets better as the lower we go."

Our position under Colombia's Finger gives us a stunning perspective on the Clarks Range Mountains rising above the South bank of Lake Merced, really rising above the South Bank of the whole length of the Upper Merced River, albeit as seen through the bad images above. In the image above the Sun was rising, reflecting off all the sheer granite surfaces, washing everything out for the camera. But not the eye! It was a sweet view under the harsh rising Sun.
A good thing about Sunrise and Set is that the low position of the Sun serves to better contrast the wild nature of the amazing formations running up to the the Clarks Range Crestline.

It makes them stand out.

Central & South Yosemite Hiking Map
30 minute topo hiking map

Hiking thought thinly forested slope descending from Colombia Finger to enter the top of Long Meadow.

Cathedral Pass to Yosemite Valley
15 Minute topo hiking map

Colombia Finger across upper Long Meadow.

Our John Muir Trail route came around the base of Colombia Finger before dropping into the top of Long Meadow.

Triple lane trail worn into Upper Long Meadow.

Long Meadow bending as we approach the upper reaches of this branch of the Cathedral Fork of Echo Creek.

Ford point of Cathedral Fork of Echo Creek in Long Meadow.

Cathedral Fork drying out very early in the Summer during drought and dry times.

9520 feet

7.63 miles South of Tuolumne Meadows

14.17 miles North of Yosemite Valley

The John Muir Trail

to
Sunrise High Sierra Camp

.81 miles

Maps and Miles

Miles & Elevations

Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley
Miles and Elevations

The trail tracking East off our John Muir Trail route out of this junction shorty drops into the canyon to our East to follow the Cathedral Fork of Echo Creek all the way down to the floor of the Merced River Canyon just a short ways below Merced Lake.

This trail opens up nice loop routes around the North-Central Yosemite Wilderness, or longer alternative routes to the length of standard route of the John Muir Trail linking Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley by swinging through Merced Lake before following the river down to Little Yosemite Valley to rejoin the JMT route.

The 15 minute Cathedral Pass to Yosemite Valley map covers this optional route
for hiking down to Yosemite Valley from Tuolumne Meadows.

Page Index

Back the way we came, out of the Northeast, back to Cathedral Lakes and Tuolumne Meadows.

Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley
Upper Long Meadow Lake Trail Junction
MILES and ELEVATIONS

Down the Mountain on the John Muir Trail.

We draw near Sunrise High Sierra Camp.

Hiking Southwest on the JMT in Long Meadow opens up a wide range of classic Yosemite trails to amazing features along many interesting loop and trailhead to trailhead trips.

The sign above is now referencing the trail climbing West from Sunrise High Sierra Camp to Tenaya Lake, located to the West of Tuolumne Meadows on Highway 120. The trail to Tenaya Lake also intersects with the North end of the trail to Clouds Rest.

The plot thickens.

Central Yosemite Hiking Map
30 minute topo hiking map

East, down to the Cathedral Fork of Echo Creek then South to Echo Creek all the way down to Echo Valley on the floor of the Merced Canyon located a short distance below Merced Lake.

The sign above indicates 9 mile descents, first from here to Merced Lake HSC on the North end of the lake, then another nine from there down to Yosemite Valley. Nine point one to Merced Lake & Nine to The Valley.

Call that the long way down to Yosemite Valley from here, with our JMT route being the most direct.

Our next option for hiking up to Echo Valley and Merced Lake will open up when we arrive at the Merced-Washburn Lakes trail junction. This junction is located a bit further to our South along our John Muir Trail route between the upcoming Forsyth and Clouds Rest trail junctions.

This peak always catches my eye and attention on the way through Long Meadow. I just like the "cut of its rock," its color and texture. I like the way it looks and feels in its role as the guardian of the bottom of Long Meadow.

Looking South down Long Meadow at Peak 9701.

Detail of Peak 9701 in Long Meadow, Yosemite, located at the end of the meadow beyond Sunrise High Sierra Camp.

Yosemite Triple Trail
Entering Lower Long Meadow approaching Sunrise High Sierra Camp.

Peak 9701 is off to our Left, our East.

9520 feet

8.44 miles South of Tuolumne Meadows

17.21 miles North of Yosemite Valley

The John Muir Trail

at
Sunrise High Sierra Camp

0.0 miles

Maps and Miles

Miles & Elevations

Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley
Miles and Elevations

"Mary Curry Tresidder, president of the Curry Company, established the Sunrise High Sierra camp in 1961 and also equipped it with a canvas dining tent and stone kitchen structure. It overlooks Long Meadow on the John Muir Trail a few miles from Cathedral Pass."
From Green, Yosemite and its Resources.

Yosemite High Sierra Camps
Access Information and History

I always visit the High Sierra Camps on my routes. I figure I will see what happens, say hello to the staff, and see if there are any cool folks hanging about. That would be friendy, and willing to share experiences.

So I ask what is happening there, what has happened, and what I should look for in the area.

Some of the staff-folks are "too cool for school," kind of like a poorer version of their snobby clients. Others of the staff and campers are nice folks. My point is that there is a mixture of characters naturally drawn to the High Sierra Camp environment, on both the staff and camper sides of the equation.

Though I'm not a great fan of the "idea" of camps in our National Parks for rich folks, I always stop by to check out the weirdness of the High Sierra Camp system, and see if there's anyone interesting to chat with, and pick up any interesting bits of news that may be running up and down the trails between the HSC camps.

Page Index

Foot trail to Sunrise High Sierra Camp from Lower Long Meadow.

Hiking through the narrowing neck of meadow pinched between encroaching forests dividing the upper length of Long Meadow from the lower reveals the last run of Long Meadow bends to our Southeast, off to our Southbound Left, making its last run down the mountain as a meadow before ending at the base of Peak 9701.

To our right we notice the Western edge of the bottom of Long Meadow is wrapped by a low granite wall, atop which is located Sunrise High Sierra Camp. A short trail from the sign above leads up to Sunrise High Sierra Camp.

Sunrise High Sierra Camp up on its rock perch above the Western edge of Lower Long Meadow.

A very well crafted stairway to Sunrise.

We've been hiking South in Yosemite for about sixty miles since entering the North Yosemite Backcountry, from where we've observed many examples of fine hard rock trail construction.

Yosemite has spent considerable time, resources, and the labor of generations of trail workers maintaining its status as the crown jewel of the National Park System.

As we are now approaching the heart of that jewel we are going to observe some of the oldest and finest trail work in Yosemite. In fact, we are going to be able to physically trace out previous "administrative" approaches to trails and public access by observing carefully.

For example, we are going to encounter remnants of the previous asphalt-surfaced trail from Happy Isles up to at least as far as Nevada Falls, and I suspect paved trail once snaked its way up to the base of Half Dome.

Different generations of Park Honchos represent different approaches to administering wilderness and access to it.

Tahoe Billy manages High Sierra Camps. I met him at Sunrise in 2012 after talking to him at Glen Aulin during 2009.

Glen Aulin pictured above.

Tahoe Billy working the critical water scene at Sunrise High Sierra Camp during the great water shortage of 2012.

High Sierra Camp folks are fairly unique.

I mean the folks who work there.

Many of the "guests" are quite trying. Rich Jerks. At least the ones who expect "luxury" and servants as they show how superior they are, by being in the wilderness. I find them very petty.

I have come to see folks don't properly value things in the mountains if they don't carry them there themselves. It is a "character" thing.

Other "guests" are in the High Sierra Camps because its the only way they can get access to the Splendors of Nature. Some folks can't carry a pack in, mostly due to age, infirmity, or disability. Yet they still want to engage Nature, and the High Sierra Camps offer them a way to maintain access.

I find those "guests" offer much more rewarding encounters than the pampered snobs.

The HSC staffs are generally cooler the further away that each camp is located from the crowds of snobs, and according to the ratio of snobs to "engagers" the staff has to deal with.

Crossing
The Heart of Yosemite

Departing Sunrise High Sierra Camp and eturning to our downward-hike on the John Muir Trail we note a seasonal stream and shade between the path to Sunrise HSC and our next trail junction shorty beyond the stream, at the South end of Long Meadow.

We're going to stop, water up, eat a snack, relax and take in these nice views before resuming our descent past a whole series of classic Yosemite backpacker, and even destinations for fit and aggressive day hikers out of Yosemite Valley.

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Rare creek running during Fall into bottom of Long Meadow.

Water feeds the trees providing us a shady spot to water-up, cook-up some coffee and lunch, and relax while observing the wonderful terrain near and far.

View East-Southeast from just below, and a few feet South of Sunrise High Sierra Camp.
Looking Southeast while resting in Lower Long Meadow, Yosemite National Park.

Vogelsang Peak highest on the Right,

Parsons Peak in furthest, faint distant Center.

Peak 10702 in middle distant middle Left. It is on the Rafferty Peak ridgeline.

Closest Left is Peak 9701 guarding the end of Long Meadow.

I am kicking back enjoying some coffee in shade with lots of water.
Luxury, Al style.

The bottom end of Matthes Crest visible from the bottom end of Long Meadow.

The bottom of Matthes Crest visible over the ridge to our Northwest from the bottom of Long Meadow
near Sunrise High Sierra Camp.

Is this not delightful?

Time to hike on. Let's review the signs at the junction in the bottom of Long Meadow

9520 feet

8.44 miles South of Tuolumne Meadows

17.21 miles North of Yosemite Valley

The John Muir Trail

at
Sunrise High Sierra Camp

0.0 miles

Maps and Miles

Miles & Elevations

Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley
Miles and Elevations

Page Index

John Muir Trail from Sunrise High Sierra Camp to Yosemite Valley via Half Dome.

Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley
Sunrise High Sierra Camp Trail Junction
MILES and ELEVATIONS

This sign also indicates the route hiking up to the trail junction in Upper Long Meadow where a trail tracks East then South to the Merced River and Merced Lake.

That would be the long way back to Yosemite Valley, or the second half of a nice loop out of and back to Yosemite Valley.

Crossing
The Heart of Yosemite

Down!

WE
make our way down to the Rim of the Merced River, then down the North Canyon Wall to Little Yosemite Valley, where we will spend the evening before proceeding down into Yosemite Valley.

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Backpacking Trail Guide

PCT-TYT North

Tuolumne Meadows
to
Cathedral
Lakes

Backpacking Trail Guide

JMT South

Sunrise
High Sierra
Camp
to
Little Yosemite
Valley