Tuolumne Meadows
to
Happy Isles Trailhead
in
Yosemite Valley

INTRODUCTION
Part I
of the
Golden Triangle

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Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley
TRAIL GUIDE INDEX

INTRODUCTION

Off the Crest
The Golden Triangle is an alternative route off the Sierra Crest hiking down to and through Yosemite Valley as part of our backpacking the Sierra Crest Trails from Tahoe to Whitney.
Call it a significant detour off our Crestline route.

Into the Valley
The Golden Triangle alternative route takes us down to Yosemite Valley following the JMT route. We'll hike a different route back up to the Sierra Crest through Central Yosemite to resume the John Muir Trail in Lyell Canyon 5.6 miles South of Tuolumne Meadows.

Social Mecca
We'll hike the John Muir Trail "backwards" down off the Sierra Crestline to the Valley for a couple of days of camping in Camp 4, or maybe hang out with some of the employees. We'll mingle with the crowds of touristas, meet some of the cool employees of DNC, some cool Yosemite National Park employees, and of course meet as many of the backpackers and climbers who gather here every Summer from every part of the world as possible.

Yosemite Valley's
Traditional Backpacker-Climber Camp

Back to the Sierra Crest
Yosemite Valley back to John Muir Trail
in
Lyell Canyon
via
Vogelsang Pass
Departing the Valley to return to the Sierra Crest brings us back through Happy Isles to follow the JMT for 4 steep miles climbing up to Little Yosemite. From Little Yosemite Valley we break off the route of the JMT hiking up the Merced River to Merced Lake. From Merced Lake we access the trails over Vogelsang Pass.
From Voglesang High Sierra Camp we can either intercept the Southbound JMT in Lyell Canyon 5.6 miles South of Tuolumne Meadows or hike through Tuolumne Pass directly to Tuolumne Meadows.

That's the Golden Triangle.

Golden Triangle Mileages
My tentative figure for the distance from Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley and back to the JMT in Lyell Canyon via Voglesang Pass is 49.2 miles.

This figure is obtained using the 27.3 miles figure given for the distance to Tuolumne Meadows on the Happy Isles trail sign, rather than using the 20.9 miles given by the trail sign along the JMT behind the TM visitor center.

We add that 27.3 miles to the 27.5 miles to Yosemite Valley cited by the trail sign at the Lyell Canyon Trailhead to obtain the total trailhead to trailhead distance of The Golden Triangle route departing and returning to Tuolumne Meadows via Yosemite Valley at 54.8 miles.

We reduce this by the 5.6 miles from the Lyell Canyon Trailhead to where the trail down from Voglesang High Sierra Camp intersects with the John Muir Trail. This means that The Golden Triangle adds 49.2 miles to the distance of our Tahoe to Whitney backpacking trip.

As we build the guide South we will reconcile the various differing miles figures cited on different trail sign posts along the same trail.

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John Muir Trailhead sign at the Wilderness Boundary in Tuolumne Meadows.

Note that the distance to Tuolumne cited on the trail sign at Happy Isles is 27.3 miles.

Trail Guide
INDEXES
NORTH & SOUTH

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Backpacking Trail Guide
INDEX

TYT-PCT
North

Sonora Pass
to
Tuolumne Meadows

Backpacking Trail Guide
INDEX

JMT-PCT
South