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Anyone have suggestions for a nice 2 or 3 day backpack in Yosemite NP that would end up at a nice backcountry lake?

Not sure when you're going (snow can linger well into July in the high country), and there's always the permit issue. But one of my favorites is Young Lakes, about 6 trail miles due north of Tuolumne Meadows. If you're a fast mover, taking the Pacific Crest Trail out of Tuolumne and going up to McCabe Lakes is also very nice. Then if you don't mind some moderate cross country, you can head SE from McCabe, around the east side of Roosevelt Lake and then down to Young Lakes and back to Tuolumne for a very nice loop. Its kind of rocky and barren around Roosevelt, but Young and McCabe are both in nice forest, good for camping.

thanks for your suggestion, that looks to be a nice little loop.

You need to check on trail head reservations if your days of departure are not flexible if you're coming out of Yosemite valley or Tuolumne Meadows. Those are pretty popular places and are probably already totally booked up. However, you could plan something out of Hetch Hetchy or Wawona if trail head spots are unavailable from the popular places.

My suggestion would be to go in from the east side of the Sierra. The west side is too crowded.

In case you missed it:

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (AP) — There was a time not long ago when a climb to the top of Yosemite National Park's Half Dome was a solitary trek attempted by only the most daring adventurers.

Over the past decade, however, the route has been inundated with up to 1,200 nature lovers a day seeking to experience the iconic mountain that is stamped on the California quarter, stitched on a line of outdoor clothing and painted on the side of the park's vehicles.

Now officials want to permanently limit access to the granite monolith, frustrating both hikers who journey there for a transcendent experience and advocates who say the plan doesn't go far enough to protect a place in a federally designated wilderness area.

Full Article @ http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... =146058247

I made an overnighter to Ostrander Lake last summer. It was a very enjoyable hike and you camp right by the lake. The only problem is the lake sits at roughly 8,500 so there was plenty of snow up there in late June. I have a trip report and pics under my profile.

There are endless options for Yosemite! The important thing is to go!!! You can't go wrong with whatever you pick!


Edit: I just saw the date on the original post. Oh well, go to Yosemite again!

John9L wrote:I made an overnighter to Ostrander Lake last summer.

I visited Ostrander on a dayhike and really wish I could have made it an overnight.

Remember, the snow pack is different every year. Last year there was a lot of snow. I'm hearing there is a lot less this year, so if that continues, then you could go earlier.

Yeah, there was basically no Sierra snow pack up until 2 weeks ago. Several large systems dropped a good amount, but still place the Sierra at roughly 40 to 50% of where they should be at this time of year, so really not that much. I guess California has February and March left for the winter, and also April if it's going to be a year like last year (which I doubt), but the pack will be substantially less this year than last. Last year was nearly recording breaking. The long December event and the numerous late February to May events left 160% to 175% of normal.

Examples: Mammoth Mountain had their largest snow year ever recorded, with 668.5 inches total. So far this year, they are reporting 108". Last year, when I did the MR on Whitney on February 6, the North Fork had all the vegetation buried under 20 to 30 feet of snow. This year, they barely had anything and it was basically all rock that was visible in the webcam until the recent storms. As it is, the coverage looks to be in the 2 to 3 foot range. Passes were open up until 2 weeks ago, passes that only opend in late May or June last summer. http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/snow/PLOT_SWC