MEGA TR: Adventures in the Ansel Adams & Yosemite Wildernesses
Dates: Monday, May 7th – Friday, May 11th
Locations: Ansel Adams & Yosemite Wildernesses, including Donahue Pass (11,056 ft.), Mount Lyell (13,120 ft.), Simmons Peak (12,497 ft.), Kuna Crest South (11,812 ft.), Koip Peak (12,968 ft.) and Mount Wood (12,657 ft.).
Skiers: Enginerd & UCL
Photos: As noted
Synopsis: Towards the end of April each year, Enginerd and I start pouring over topo maps to piece together potential multi-day tours into the High Sierra. It is one of my favorite activities of the year, as there is so much potential for exploration deeper into the range. This year, the High Sierra had a pretty weak winter, so snowpack depth was of paramount concern. Lightranger was nice enough to link us to some NOAA snow coverage and SWE models that over layed on maps. Using this enabled us to quickly scrap some ideas we had been thinking about in the more Southern Sierra, as the snow coverage looked really thing.
It was clear the Ansel Adams Wilderness had the most snow, particularly once you got in deeper past the Eastern edge of the Sierra Crest. We really liked the idea of skiing inside the Eastern flank of Yosemite National Park, back by Mount Lyell, Mount Maclure and Simmons Peak. Admittedly, these are pretty rarely-skied peaks given the level of commitment to get back into them and the distances involved. To properly time skiing the East aspects on Simmons Peak in their morning prime, you are really taking 3 days.
From there, Enginerd through out working Northeast along the border of the Park and the Tuolumne and Mono county lines. We wanted to head to the vicinity of Kuna Crest, which had Koip Peak to offer. Similar to Mount Lyell, Koip Peak was a 50 Classic Sierra Ski Descent, so it looked promising. Our exit plan was to then traverse from Parker Peak to the summit of Mount Wood, and try to ski the longest holding ribbon of snow on the Eastside down as low as possible to Silver Lake.
Ultimately, the trip was awesome. Our total mileage was 46.9 miles with 16,221 ft. of elevation gain (per Enginerd's GPS, so likely not capturing micro terrain changes).
Day 1 – Silver Lake to West End of Waugh Lake
Unfortunately the weekend before the trip, I came down with a nasty sinus infection from my twin toddlers. I have found my wife and I are constantly getting sick or on the verge of getting sick with toddlers. Such is life. In any event, after basically getting no sleep at Tioga Pass the night before due to sinus congestion, I was entering this trip at a very low energy level. I even puked in the parking lot before we took off. Not ideal.
The customary trailhead shots. We were going light, although carrying the boots on the back to start always adds weight. Photos: UCL, Enginerd
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...b9x2NnB-X2.jpg
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...5KVr5pV-X2.jpg
Day 1 was 9.4 miles and 3,038 ft. of elevation gain. The first half was going to be entirely dry trail walking until we got up around Gem Lake. From there, there was snow cover that allowed skinning, albeit with broken patches. Photos: Enginerd, UCL, Enginerd, Enginerd
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...LbHVzdD-XL.jpg
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...9qWVVZt-XL.jpg
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...G8hs2TR-XL.jpg
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...6JwJ6WR-XL.jpg
Once we got to snowline, the benefit was the ability to skin. However, the approach became significantly more adventurous. In addition to Rush Creek, there were a myriad of smaller creeks pouring down into the drainage. All of these had high Spring water, so it was essential to find crossings. If you stuck close to the "trail" (which was now buried under snow), you could find the designated crossings. However, the snow cover largely dictated whether you could find the trail, and the most efficient way to travel. So there was a lot of looking for the best way to cross water. Photos: Enginerd, Enginerd, UCL, Enginerd
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...TgLnDLg-XL.jpg
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...ZtP6QWK-XL.jpg
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...W7GQ73P-XL.jpg
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...2f8dgXG-XL.jpg
Honestly, I felt like death during Day 1. I was running at like 15% and starting to question if I was even going to make it to our bivy spot. It never dawned on me to quit, but between being sick and having no sleep, I was running on fumes. My goal was just to get to the bivy spot and crash, hoping to feel better the next day. Photo: Enginerd
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...RTjBrQw-XL.jpg
At least the views were super scenic. We took light weight running shoes with us the entire trip this year, given the Day 1 approach and the fact we knew we would have some dirt hiking out the last day. It worked well and they really didn't add a lot of weight. Photos: Enginerd
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...B8wG8Rw-XL.jpg
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...KZ4MgvM-XL.jpg
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...nnKqVBZ-XL.jpg
At the far West End of Waugh Lake, we found a flat bivy spot on some rocks and cooked dinner. I barely ate anything, feeling nauseous, and just tried to crash. Photo: Enginerd
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...H9kPGFC-XL.jpg
