hiking – Trails

South Yosemite Loop

marc — Mon, 06 Jun 2016 18:30:40 +0000

A decent 2 night backcountry hiking trip, complete with an ascent of Half Dome. It’s an incredibly scenic trip but it’s also a serious butt-kicker — so only do it if you get excited each time the trail goes uphill. Also, for this trip you will need to get both a wilderness and a half dome permit (visit the Yosemite National Park Service webpage for info on this). This backpacking trip was part of our week-long road trip in northern California.

How long?
3 days, 2 nights (really just 2 half days, 1 full day and 2 nights)

How many miles?
26 miles / 42km

How?
Hiking + wilderness / backcountry camping
Map required, compass optional (i.e. well maintained & sign-posted trails & prominent features all around; still I would carry a compass just in case)

Maps?
National Geographic Trails Illustrated Map #206 or #306 (I’d recommend #306 over #206 though)

Itinerary:
Glacier Point -> Little Yosemite Valley campground -> valley between Illilouette Ridge and Mount Starr King -> Glacier Point

Leg 1: Glacier Point -> Little Yosemite Valley

The route for this leg is incredibly simple: starting from Glacier Point follow the Panorama trail until it merges with the John Muir trail and follow this one until Little Yosemite Valley. This first leg is just over 7 miles of hiking, and mostly downhill. So you can set off in the afternoon if you want to arrive at the campground in the early evening.

Right off the bat, at Glacier Point, you are already treated to a very fine view.

This leg is incredibly scenic. Stepping out of the parking lot, it’s just BOOM! and already you will be overwhelmed with a jaw-dropping view over Yosemite Valley and Half Dome. But it will continue: the Panorama trail has well deserved its name. You will also walk by two very beautiful water falls: Illilouette Falls, and then later, the much bigger (and popular) Nevada Falls.

Illilouette Falls with Half Dome in the background.

Since it’s so scenic, enjoy the views and take your time. Have a snack or, why not, a late lunch at either Illilouette Falls or Nevada Falls. Or just sit down and gaze over the valley below.

Take a rest at Nevada Falls and enjoy the view.

Pitch your tent at the Little Yosemite Valley campground. The whole point of pitching your tent here is so that you can leave your tent and all your heavy stuff here and only carry water and some snacks for the Half Dome ascent (that part is the real butt-kicker of this trip, so you want travel as lightly as possible on that bit) in the morning of the next day.

Half Dome ascent:

For the Half Dome ascent, simply follow the John Muir trail some more until the Half Dome ascent trail branches off. The trail will go uphill modestly at first and you will walk across a pleasant forest. Just before you get to the famous Half Dome cables, right after the sign telling you that you now really, really need a permit to continue on this trail, you will have to deal with a first, very steep section that will take you right above the tree line. The views will be worth the effort. You will be quite exposed to the elements here. In our case this was just the sun, but even at 8am it was already burning fiercely — remember you are at altitude here.

Above the tree line at last.

After that first serious uphill bit, you get a short respite and then you will reach the much dreaded cables. Be sure to bring gloves (though there is a good stockpile of old gloves at the foot of the cables) and shoes with solid grip. You don’t need any climbing skills to manage the cables, but it’s still not for the faint-hearted or those with serious vertigo issues. It’s quite steep and since you are at altitude you will find that you will need to catch your breath from time to time. You are also extremely exposed here (and will stay so at the top), so don’t attempt the ascent if you see a storm heading your way.

Up it goes. Gloves and shoes with good grip are required.

The view from the top will be well worth the effort though and just simply knock you off your feet. Enjoy it!

This fellow will wait for you at the top and try to steal your picnic. Don’t let him.

Once you have caught your breath and got your senses back from the stupendously amazing views, just retrace your steps back to Little Yosemite Valley. It’s all a walk in the park (well OK literally this whole trip is…) from here.

Back down the cables. It’s easiest going backward. That also helps if you have vertigo and don’t want to have to deal with this view.

Leg 2: Little Yosemite Valley -> valley between Illilouette Ridge and Mt. Starr King

Follow the Jon Muir trail until the Panorama trail branches off, follow this one for just a short, but steep ascent through a wooded area, then take stop following the Panorama trail and instead take the trail that branches off to the left. Follow this one for one km or so, until you reach a fork in the trail, follow the left one for about 3 miles, then when you reach the next crossing at the foot of a big rock, follow the trail to the right and cross the little stream.

Walking across a little forest.

Follow this trail for about a mile until you reach a clearing with good views of the Illilouette Ridge to the West and Mount Starr King to the NE. The ground is quite sandy here.

Quite a view from your bedroom for the night.

Walk a bit off the trail to the left (what we did) or the right (closer to the river) and pitch your tent here. Not too many people venture to this part of the park (I think), so you should be all by yourself at this spot. If the skies are clear you will be treated to quite a show in the night sky, as evidenced by this AMAZING time-lapse I was able to record when we did this trip (being quite the humblebrag here, I know).

Leg 3: valley between Illilouette Ridge and Mt. Starr King -> Glacier Point

Get back on the trail, at the first crossing take the trail to the left, ford the river and at the next crossing take the trail to the right. Follow this one to the end. It will merge with the Panorama trail and take you right back to Glacier Point.

When you do this hiking trip in spring, expect to ford the river in waist-deep water. Don’t forget to unclip all straps of your backpack in case you fall in.

When we did this trip, in early June, the water was flowing fast and deep at the official fording point of the trail. We did not think this was safe, so headed 1/3 or 1/2 mile upstream where the river was broader and forded it there. Still the water was waist deep (and COLD) and moving swiftly, but we managed to safely cross it. If you do it in late summer or autumn, you should be fine to ford it at the designated spot.

The hike after the crossing is uphill to the finish and it will become steeper as it goes on. IF you do this in summer, expect it to be brutally hot by the time you reach Glacier Point. We went straight to the little shop they got there and got ourselves some well deserved ice creams.

Notes:
Half dome cables are only installed from Memorial Day (late May) to Columbus Day (early-mid October), so if you do this trip in winter or spring, then you can only ascend half dome with proper climbing equipment (and probably need a separate permit for that).

The data tracks below are approximate. I did not record them on my gpx watch, so retraced them using a map creation tool. They should be pretty accurate, but use with care. Since it all follows established trails, use a map and only use the location files when in doubt.

Data files (click on the links, then download whatever format you prefer from the gpsies site):

Leg 1: http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=ipfiybcwfuakamii
Half Dome ascent: http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=uneghphwfbsoluim
Leg 2: http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=kjaohyusnkcsjmad
Leg 3: http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=pxyachmcvhnyzixf
Complete route: http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=sgxgmbsfzueftato

Mount Le Conte Loop in the Smokies

marc — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 09:00:37 +0000

It’s surprisingly difficult to find a looping route for a 1-night backpacking trip in the Great Smoky Mountains. The Mount Le Conte loop is one such possibility though. However even here it involves hitchhiking back to your start or bushwhacking it — I found the latter impossible due to the dense vegetation. That said, it’s a great trip, even if the weather is fairly adverse as it was when I did this trip in March 2016.

How long?
2days, 1 night

How many miles?
17 miles / 27.61km

How?
Hiking + wilderness / backcountry camping
Map required, compass optional, unless you plan to bushwhack back to the start (trails are. well maintained & sign-posted; still I would carry a compass just in case)

Maps?
National Geographic Trails Illustrated Map #229 or #317 (I’d recommend #317 over #229 though)

Itinerary:
Newfound Gap -> Mount Le Conte -> Newfound Gap

Leg1: Newfound Gap -> Mount Le Conte

The route is reasonably straightforward: start from Newfound Gap and take the Appalachian Trail until the Boulevard Trail branches off, then follow the latter until you reach the Mount Le Conte shelter where you’ll spend the night. The the next morning, follow the Alum Cave trail down. When you hit the highway (route 441), you can either hike the road back up to Newfound Gap, hitchhike or try to bushwhack it back. I originally intended to do the latter, but the vegetation was too dense. Also conditions were very poorly (fog) with visibility less than 10-15 meters, so I did not want to risk getting lost. So I hitchhiked back up, which worked quite well thanks to a trio of kind Floridian backpackers.

If you do this hike as an overnight, be sure to reserve a backcountry permit from the Great Smoky Mountains NPS webpage. You have to select the Mount Le Conte shelter — there’s only 12 spots and on weekend, even in winter they will go fast. You can book the permits up to 30 days in advance and print them off at home; no need to collect them in person from the backcountry permit office in the park.

I arrived at Newfound Gap at around 1pm and it started raining just as I had got my stuff ready and was about to set off. However the clouds overhead were mostly scattered, even if densely so, and so I decided to wait that shower out — no need to be soaked right from the start. And fair enough, 10 minutes later it had stopped again. So I set off. Another 10 minutes later it was pouring down again — doh! Luckily I brought a wide rimmed hat and was wearing a quite water resistant coat and equally water repellent hiking pants. Also most of my clothes were synthetic and quick to dry, so no need to worry too much. Also I had spare clothes and my backpack is actually completely water proof — you can actually immerse it underwater. In the end it was not too bad: there were several showers as I hiked to Charlies Bunion (where it rained hard and was windy as hell) and then back to the Boulevard Trail. But once on the Boulevard Trail it stayed mostly dry, though foggy and overcast. In the evening the skies finally cleared a bit and I had great, lonely, views from the Cliff Tops overlook.

When the trees cleared, there were plenty of wild and foggy views to be had on the first few miles.

The upside of the iffy weather: hardly anybody on the trails, even though it was a Saturday. The rain and clouds actually let you appreciate that you are truly in a temperate rain forest. At times you will walk in dense fog and when it lifts, you get treated to a wild view of fog hanging in valleys and hugging densely forested mountains.

So you start the hike on the famous Appalachian Trail. In the Smokies, the Appalachian Trails runs pretty much along the state border between North Carolina and Tennessee so you can have all kinds of fun walking with one leg in one state and the other in the other state. If you really just want to get up to Mount Le Conte as quickly as possible, just continue until the Boulevard Trail branches off the Appalachian Trail. However, you can also hike a mile or so further along the Appalachian Trail to Charlies Bunion. This is a rocky outcrop with some very fine views apparently. As I got there it was quite foggy, it rained hard and the wind was howling fiercely. Still the fog lifted now and then to reveal a wild sea of fog rushing through a long valley with steep mountains rising on either side.

Charlies Bunion in fog and rain.

So I did not stay too long at Charlies Bunion, but still, I was glad I came here — the trail otherwise stays mainly well within the trees, whereas here it had opened up and you can appreciate expansive views (even in the conditions that I had to deal with). From here you then trace your steps back for a mile or so and then hit the Boulevard Trail. You then just have to follow this one all the way to Mount Le Conte.

After the final climb, there will be a short trail branching off to the left to Myrtle Point — go there! It’s a fine view over the hills you just hiked through! The clouds had cleared by now and the view was fine indeed.

Now just head back to the Boulevard Trail and continue until a short while later you will come past the shelter. It’s just a lean-to, so it’s open on one side, but someone had hung a tarp along the open wall, which was quite a nice protection from the elements. Before you set up shop for the night though, just hang you backpack on the bear cable, then head, without all that heavy weight on your shoulders, up to Cliff Tops. If the weather is fine, this is a simply spectacular view. The cover image for this post shows me gazing over the Smokies from here. I stayed here until sunset, which was really quite spectacular, then headed back to the shelter for dinner and to get ready for the night.

Impressive sunset as seen from Cliff Tops overlook.

All 12 spots at the shelter had been reserved for the night, but I was the only one who had bother to come out in this weather. It was going to be an eerie night all alone on top of Mount Le Conte. The fog rolled back in during the night, and there was some large-ish animal (a bear? unlikely as it was still winter, really, but possible… — I certainly did not fancy to go outside and check!) that busied itself with some task behind the shelter.

A cold, foggy, lonely morning at Mount Le Conte shelter.

You are at ~6,500 feet here, and in March that means it gets really cold. So hopefully you brought some warm & dry layers and a warm sleeping bag. I had hung my rain soaked hat outside and in the morning it was frozen solid, as was the water in my bottle. It was a pleasantly lonely, calm, foggy and eerie morning.

Leg 2: Mount Le Conte -> Newfound Gap

It would stay foggy all the way down to Highway 441. The hike back down is easy: just follow the Boulevard Trail until the Alum Cave Trail branches off, just past the Mount Le Conte Lodge (still closed in March; otherwise you might be able to get some warm food and drink over there), then hike the 5 miles downhill.

It stayed foggy all the way down the mountain.

Once at the trailhead, I quickly saw that the vegetation was too dense on the other side of the road, to bushwhack my way back up to Newfound Gap. I also had enough of walking in dense fog, so I just hitchhiked back up. The 5th or so car stopped, and some kind backpackers from Florida took me up to Newfound Gap. Inf atc they had permits for Mount Le Conte for the coming night, so I gave them an update on the trail and shelter conditions.

Once back up at Newfound Gap, the clouds and fog finally cleared and a crisp, spectacular, wintry landscape was revealed. The fog had frozen in the trees and the view was simply a marvel to behold.

Spectacular views from Newfound Gap — after the fog lifted and the clouds cleared.

Data files (click on the link, then download whatever format you prefer from the gpsies website):

Leg 1: http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=honcqxyugucmsoyw
Leg 2: http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=mcjsmnjjjkzlhlbe
Complete route: http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=qoeyfbdnscxvpyzz