For your date, a no sweat ford within a couple hundred yards of the bridge site would be my plan a.? My plan B would be the Hell-for-Sure pass route, just because of its historic connection and the description of the high traverse XC route above the S San J into Florence Lake.

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This is a pretty good map showing where canisters are required:

Adding one more question to this thread regarding requirements between Kennedy Meadows and Horseshoe Meadows. ?Are bear canisters required in this stretch or is Ursack okay? ?I'm having a hard time deciphering what info I find. ?

Any word on if/when s. fork of Sn. Joaquin bridge will be replaced?? Any changes in recommended alt route after a year of pct/jmt hikers??

Thanks

Judy McGuire

Have to agree with Jim on this one. That area, at least on day one, is hiking through mostly forest until you get into some altitude. Once we arrived at the Ottoway Lakes area, it became a more interesting hike. Red Peak pass and the area over to Three Peaks Fork was really scenic, mostly granite, dotted with small lakes and ponds. And yes from there, you can descend down into Merced lake and up Lewis to Vogelzang on onward. Worth the hike IMO.?

On Fri, Mar 22, 2024 at 06:57 AM, ravi_jmt2013 wrote:

I am somewhat curious why the Chilnualna Falls trailhead out of Wawona is not a more popular entry point to do loops in southern Yosemite

There's lots of pleasant but unspectacular forest hiking, with the occasional nice lake, at least until one has gone east quite a ways.? It's sort of like walking south on the Illilouette Creek Trail from Glacier Point: nice enough but not A-list stuff.? At least based as of my last excursion back there (17 years ago!), there's evidence of a fair amount horse traffic leading back Buena Vista Lake.
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Jim Ringland

This isn't really related to the JMT and is not a search for a "workaround" but I am somewhat curious why the Chilnualna Falls trailhead out of Wawona is not a more popular entry point to do loops in southern Yosemite, potentially making possible long loops that could incorporate parts of the JMT. The starting elevation is not much different from Yosemite Valley and rises up quickly to the falls, just as one would hiking up to Nevada Fall from Happy Isles. Then, you're at higher elevations and could cross over Merced Pass and Red Peak Pass, eventually coming down to either Merced Lake or Vogelsang, and then proceeding to Tuolumne (either via Rafferty Creek or Lyell Canyon) and then back on the JMT toward Happy Isles. I'm not suggesting crossing Donohue Pass which would not be allowed on this permit.

Maybe there are good reasons why this isn't a common entry point for longer trips, but the quota is large, YARTS serves Wawona, there's a campground and lodging in the area for prior to the hike, etc...?

On Tue, Mar 19, 2024 at 10:20 AM, Tim Mulholland wrote:

My daughter (18) and I will be in Yosemite this coming weekend - that's the good news. The bad news is that the weather is looking pretty poor - rain and maybe some snow most of the time we'll be there (Sat - Mon). I've been to YOSE several?times and done the typical stuff in the valley. But, I'm trying to figure out what may be interesting and doable in poor weather. I'm hoping to have some opportunities for interesting photographs because of overcast skies. I'm also looking for things to do in YOSE and the valley that might not jump out at the typical tourist. We'll be prepared for hiking in inclement conditions. We're staying in Wawona. Tioga & Glacier Point Roads are closed, along with the road to Mariposa Grove (could we walk in??).

One more.? In the Valley, go part way up the Yosemite Falls Trail.? It starts at Camp 4, near the Lodge.? The views from Columbia Rock, about 1000 feet above the Valley floor, will give you a different perspective on the place than most folks get.? You can probably go higher, close to the base of the upper falls.? I suspect the narrow steep path leading to the top of the falls will be too snowy to hike, but you might take a look.? It is on the south facing wall of the Valley, but up top follows a narrow, sheltered defile that can collect snow.? Really nice if you can go all the way, but that's generally an excursion for later in the spring of for one of those snowless winters.? ?The 2022 trip I linked earlier shows the route up to and a little beyond Columbia Rock.??
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Jim Ringland

On Tue, Mar 19, 2024 at 10:20 AM, Tim Mulholland wrote:

My daughter (18) and I will be in Yosemite this coming weekend - that's the good news. The bad news is that the weather is looking pretty poor - rain and maybe some snow most of the time we'll be there (Sat - Mon). I've been to YOSE several?times and done the typical stuff in the valley. But, I'm trying to figure out what may be interesting and doable in poor weather. I'm hoping to have some opportunities for interesting photographs because of overcast skies. I'm also looking for things to do in YOSE and the valley that might not jump out at the typical tourist. We'll be prepared for hiking in inclement conditions. We're staying in Wawona. Tioga & Glacier Point Roads are closed, along with the road to Mariposa Grove (could we walk in??).

You have some great options.

You can park at the bottom of the Mariposa Grove Road and walk in.? It's about 2 miles to grove itself, on a comfortably graded road.? There's also a foot trail.? From the Google Maps overlays (see ) it looks like the lower grove has only a few inches of snow so that's easily do-able with boots.? The upper grove still has more snow: 3 to 5 feet.? The park service grooms the road up so you might be able to walk with boots, but snowshoes or skies would be a safer, and having them would let you go off the main road.? The upper grove is a superlative place in winter (and the lower grove is mighty nice too).? From the parking lot to the upper grove and back could well be a full day excursion.

You could go up to Badger Pass, rent snowshoes, and walk to Dewey Point on the rim of Yosemite Valley.? Another great walk.??

Both of these are high enough that it looks like the precipitation this weekend will be snow.? Not that much is forecast, so I doubt the roads will be closed.? You will need either tire chains or a 4WD vehicle with mud and snow tires.? ?

From Wawona, you could hike the Chilnualna Falls Trail.? It's on a south-facing slope most of the way and looks mostly snow free if you believe the Google Maps overlay.? Looks like you hit snow before the falls unfortunately.? The base is a little lower too: it might be rain instead of snow there.? To be honest, it's a pleasant hike, but not a great one.

In Yosemite Valley, don't be afraid of the familiar things.? People evaporate 10 minutes away from the roads and the valley won't be that full this time of year.? Do your JMT segment: it looks like the winter route isn't too snowy to Nevada Falls, although Clark Point may have some.? ?(The Mist Trail will be closed.)? Note there's an overlook on the connector between Clark Point and the top of Vernal Falls with the park's best view of that falls.? (You are above Vernal Falls at the time.)? The winter route gets you pretty close to the base of Nevada Falls.? Besides that, even the walk to Mirror Lake is nice.? Do the full loop that goes a mile or two farther back the canyon above Mirror Lake.? ?And even I, who live out here and visit every winter, stop in at the tunnel view and the "Gates of the Valley" turnout regularly.?

So lots of choices.? If it were me, I'd spend most of the time up in the snow.? ?More fun than cold rain.? But then I'm quite familiar with the valley and you may not be.? It is an amazing place.

Some photo galleries:
Mariposa Grove (and other things) 2023: ?
Dewey Point 2022: ?
Dewey Point 2020: ?
This year's trip (a little underwhelming): ?

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Jim Ringland

JMT MATCHMAKER SHEET (Shared rides, packers, etc.)
Thanks to Jake Gagnon on the Facebook JMT groups, we have a place for JMT hikers to indicate their interest in sharing rides, doing car key swaps, or sharing packers for resupply. This is a simplified version of previous sheets. It is located in the shared Google Drive, which is shared between the main John Muir Trai FBl group, the annual 2024 FB group, the Ladies of the JMT FB group and the Groups.IO group. You can add your areas of interest on the spreadsheet, explain more in the Notes and find people with similar interests. If you find a match, feel free to message them on FB (if you're there) to work out the details. If you're not on FB, leave your email and they can contact you.?
Questions? Ask away. Inga Aksamit, Jake Gagnon and Joe MacLeish will manage the sheet.

Inga Aksamit

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