Wonders of Yosemite

This Yosemite backpacking tour begins with rendezvous in Yosemite Valley on the patio of Curry Village in front of the Yosemite Mountain Shop at 6PM on Day 1. The Mountain shop is located on the street-facing side of the Curry Village Pavilion (closest to the parking lot). You will easily spot your guide waiting for you in a Wildland Trekking hat. We’ll conduct an orientation meeting, after which we’ll get settled in the Backpackers Camp a stone’s throw away from majestic Tenaya Creek and under the spectacular domes and cliffs of Yosemite Valley. We’ll enjoy dinner either at Curry Village or in camp.

• Hiking Mileage: 7 miles
• Elevation Gain: 1200 feet
• Elevation Loss: 1400 feet

We enjoy a quick breakfast in Yosemite Valley and make sure all loose ends are taken care of before we board a shuttle to our trailhead at Glacier Point, one of the most beautiful spots in Yosemite. Here, after taking in the incredible panoramic views of the High Sierra, we begin our adventure. Taking advantage of our high elevation trailhead, today’s hike is initially downhill along the sparsely forested slopes of the east-facing Illilouette Ridge. We reach the crossing of Illilouette Creek at the half way point of our day and carefully ford the knee deep stream. After a filling trailside lunch we continue up the Illilouette Canyon to our forested campsite along the banks of the Clark Fork of Illilouette Creek. Here, after a hot and satisfying dinner, we’ll fall asleep to the sounds of the stream filled with the snow melt of the Clark Range high above us.

• Hiking Mileage: 9 miles
• Elevation Gain: 2500 feet
• Elevation Loss: 300 feet

After an early wake up call, we eat a hearty breakfast and continue our hike up Illilouette Creek towards the rocky ramparts of the Clark Range. On the trail we maintain a constant but manageable ascent as we approach the Merced Pass Lakes, sight of an infamous plane crash in the 60’s. A few more miles bring us to our destination for the day, incredible Lower Ottaway Lake. One of the most beautiful lakes in Yosemite, it is situated in a rocky amphitheater surrounded by colorful Red Peak, Ottaway Peak and Merced Peak. These peaks are made up of red and yellow metamorphic rocks which are some of the oldest rocks in the Sierra Nevada. As we set up camp and prepare for dinner the west facing peaks above us light up with one of the best shows of alpenglow in the Sierra!

• Hiking Mileage: 9.5 miles
• Elevation Gain: 2000 feet
• Elevation Loss: 2500 feet

It’s another early rise this morning as we traverse around Lower Ottaway Lake and begin our ascent to the highest trailed pass in Yosemite, Red Peak Pass. We follow in the footsteps of Ansel Adams, who originally scouted out this route in the 1920’s and made the first ascent of nearby Red Peak. Once at the pass, we pause to catch our breath in the rarified air at well above 11,000 ft. It’s almost all downhill from here to our campsite along the Triple Peak Fork of the Merced River. But first, high above tree line, we trek through one of Yosemite’s most beautiful alpine regions with views stretching from the park’s northern borders to the jagged peaks of the Minarets, far to the south. Finally, descending into a lodgepole forest, we reach camp and can relax along smooth granite slabs and soak our tired feet in the ice cold waters of the Merced.

• Hiking Mileage: 6.7 miles
• Elevation Gain: 1600 feet
• Elevation Loss: 200 feet

We have a mellower day today with a moderately easy hike to our night’s camp near Washburn Lake. So we linger a little longer and savor our breakfast and hot drinks around the morning campfire. Once on the trail we amble along the west bank of the Merced enjoying the relatively level trail through the glacially smoothed landscape. After a scenic riverside lunch, the trail steepens a bit as we continue our descent toward Washburn Lake, which we soon reach. After setting up camp among the granite boulders, we have a little time to enjoy the area, perhaps take a swim or just lie back and watch the clouds go by.

• Hiking Mileage: 7 miles
• Elevation Gain: 1600
• Elevation Loss: 1600 feet

Today we pack up and hit the trail as we continue following the Merced River as it makes its way from the high alpine peaks to the floor of Yosemite Valley. We soon pass a set of falls as we amble past the Merced Lake Ranger Station and then a little farther along the bustling Merced Lake High Sierra Camp. But, the sounds of the campers quickly fade as we contour the shore of bucolic Merced Lake. The granite cliffs become taller as the trail descends along the river and the cascades become more numerous until we reach our days goal near glacially smoothed Bunnell Dome. Here we set up camp as the setting sun’s rays shoot up canyon, illuminating the domes and high peaks of the Cathedral Range.

• Hiking Mileage: 8 miles
• Elevation Gain: 300 feet
• Elevation Loss: 2900 feet

Today, we sadly pack up camp for the last time and prepare for our last day on the trail. But, we’ve saved some of the best for last as we hike past many of Yosemite’s most iconic features, including Half Dome, Clouds Rest, Liberty Cap and two of the most photographed waterfalls in the world: Vernal and Nevada Falls. It’s almost all downhill and the miles quickly go by as our trail hardened muscles and our lightened backpacks make the hiking seem easy. Too soon we’re at the trailhead and aboard the shuttle to Curry Village where we’ll have an early afternoon lunch and bid farewell to Yosemite and the great adventure that we had.