Yosemite National Park
Featuring:Valley Views and The Cathedral Range
I
spent the better part of the 1980's in Northern California. Every chance
I'd get, I would head up to the Sierras. More often then not, I'd spend
days in the backcountry of Yosemite National Park. This photo of me (right)
and a friend was taken at Tuolumne Pass on the way to Townsley Lake.
This is how my friend introduced to Yosemite: We drove to the Discovery View parking lot (Waypoint#Y029) in the middle of the night, set an alarm for pre-dawn to catch up on some sleep. When I awoke I saw all the famous peaks back-lit on the horizon, but I had no reference as to scale. As the sun broke and climbed higher in the sky, what I thought was *grass* down in the valley was 200-foot pine trees(!).
Click on the binoculars to see a demonstration of ExpertGPS displaying the Tuolumne Pass and Vogelsang area. yosemite_expert.jpg (Approx. 85 KB) opens in a new window.
GPS Map
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Download the free GPS Map in GPS eXchange (.gpx) file format, which can be read and transferred to your GPS using free GPS software. (The .gpx file will appear in a new window where you can File > Save as... on your computer)
GPS Map Details
File Name yosemite.gpx
File Size: 60 KB
Revised: 20 June 2003
Class B1 Data
Waypoints: 160
Routes/Tracks:
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"MIRROR" - For an easy walk. Start at Ahwanee Hotel (*****), and then stroll back to Mirror Lake. Back in the 80's, we would treat ourselves to breakfast at the Ahawanee after being in the backcountry for several days. To our chagrin, the guests and wait staff did not seem to be offended by our rough look, fragrant aire, and baited desire for a real meal. These days I do believe is a dress requirement for lunch and dinner. Tour the hotel, it is what I call rustic grandeur. My wife and I honeymooned there in '94.
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"NORTH DOME" - If you want a little more challenge, capture the view of the North Face of Half Dome from the top of North Dome. The hike is pretty much straight up from Yosemite Village but levels out (relatively speaking) above the falls. You may opt to leave the dog behind on this one.
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"STARR KING" - Everyone must make the pilgrimage to view Vernal and Nevada falls. Very crowded though; be prepared for snowcones, cigarettes... As I recall, the trail to the first bridge may even be wheelchair accessible. Get past all that jazz and plan an overnighter in Little Yosemite Valley or leave trail and blast up to Starr King Lake.
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"CLOUDS REST - 1" and,
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"CLOUDS REST - 2" is the shortest downhill route to the valley from the north. Even though the mileage looks doable in one day, don't plan on it.
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"TOWNSLEY" will take you into the backcountry to the Vogelsang area which has highest density of points of interest second only to the valley.
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"ELIZABETH" - Another easy walk with only a modest elevation gain is the hike up to Lake Elizabeth from Tuolumne Meadows. The watershed upstream of the lake is one of my secret backdoors to the backcountry, especially Nelson Lake.
Adventure Travel Tip
Delta-T in the sierra backcountry is extreme. You can be hiking in shorts at mid-day then freeze your sweat soaked clothes at night. Try wearing convertible hiking pants with legs that zip-off to make shorts.
References
To create this GPS Map, I extracted trail data from the NPS found at National Geographic MapXchange and waypoint data from and the Topografix California waypoints list. Someday I'll return to Yosemite with my GPS, but for now this post-facto documentation of my travels is best I can do.
