Exploring the Remote Northern Yosemite Backcountry, California

The Trip

On this trip you will experience one of the most scenic and remote areas of Yosemite National Park and the Hoover Wilderness, walking with only a day pack and enjoying comfortable camps and delicious meals prepared by the pack station’s cook. 

The wilderness trip begins at the Twin Lakes trailhead and the Hoover Wilderness, ascending past the Sawtooth Ridge and around the base of Crown Point to Peeler Lake, where we enter the Yosemite backcountry. The hike will follow miles of meadow into Kerrick Canyon before climbing into the Stubblefield and Tilden Creek drainages. We will traverse more meadows as we climb up Tilden Canyon to beautiful Tilden Lake and then the long meadows of Jack Main Canyon to Dorothy Lake. We depart Yosemite at Dorothy Lake, entering the Hoover Wilderness and dropping down to Lower Piute Meadows, and finally out to Leavitt Meadows on the last day.

Prior to the nine days in the wilderness, we will spend two nights at a campsite near the Virginia Lakes resort to acclimate to the high altitude and do a training hike together. (Virginia Lakes is roughly equidistant from Lee Vining and Bridgeport, California.) We will meet by 4 p.m. on Sunday at the group campsite, and then do a day hike the next day to help us with acclimating to the higher elevation. All of our meals will be provided at the nearby Virginia Lakes Pack Station during our stay at the group campsite. We'll get an early start on Tuesday when we enter the wilderness at Twin Lakes.

The total distance hiked on six moving days is just over 50 miles with a cumulative trip elevation gain of about 8,000 feet. Note that there are some challenging hiking days: one where we walk over 11 miles, and another just under 10 miles long with 2,700 feet of elevation gain. Although we are walking with lighter day packs, and have three layover days, the trip should be considered moderately strenuous because of the aforementioned challenging hikes.

Pack animals will carry our gear while we enjoy the scenery with only day packs. There are three layover days on the trail plus another two days of car camping at Virginia Lakes for acclimation, which gives a total of 11 days for the entire trip. The packer will furnish delicious meals with a cook to handle all the kitchen chores, including cleanup.

Our layover days will be at the beautiful alpine gems of Tilden Lake (two days) and Dorothy Lake (one day). Refer to the itinerary for a more detailed day-to-day description of the trip.

On this trip you will deeply experience one of the largest roadless areas in the High Sierra and avoid the crowds that frequent more accessible areas of Yosemite. Join us for an exciting mule-supported hiking trip as we experience a truly unique and beautiful area of Yosemite National Park and the Hoover Wilderness.

Day 1: We will meet by 4 p.m. at a campground close to Virginia Lakes (at roughly 10,000 feet). Directions to the campground will be provided to trip participants closer to the start date. After a couple of hours of getting to know our fellow trip members, we will have dinner at the nearby pack station at about 6 p.m.

Day 2: This will be a day to acclimate to the higher elevation before departing on our backcountry experience. We will take a day hike in the Virginia Lakes area.

Day 3: After an early wakeup, we will gather our gear (up to 30 pounds, plus your tent) in duffels for the packer. Then after breakfast we will take a shuttle about 45 minutes to the trailhead at upper Twin Lakes. Starting at an elevation of about 7,150 feet, we have a long day of climbing in the Hoover Wilderness to Peeler Lake before crossing into Yosemite National Park at upper Kerrick Meadow where we have our first wilderness camp of the trip. (Campsite elevation: 9,332 feet. Distance: about 8.6 miles and 2,700 feet of elevation gain.)

Day 4: This is a day to enjoy high alpine meadows and wildflowers. It is also our longest trail distance of the trip (over 11 miles) and will test our stamina. We will join the Pacific Crest Trail and enjoy many clear, flowing streams and fine views of granite canyons, finally reaching our camp at Stubblefield Creek. (Campsite elevation: 7,761 feet. Distance: 11.8 miles with over 1,178 feet of elevation gain.)

Day 5: We start the day with a steep climb out of Stubblefield Canyon to Macomb Ridge and then descend into the Tilden Creek drainage. We follow the creek and climb to the rarely visited Tilden Lake, one of the largest lakes in Yosemite, where we will camp for three nights. (Campsite elevation: 9,186 feet. Distance of 6.5 miles with over 1,800 feet of elevation gain.)

Day 6: Layover day at Tilden Lake. Enjoy this picturesque lake or walk up Tilden Creek toward Mary Lake.

Day 7: Layover day at Tilden Lake. Another day to enjoy this scenic and rarely visited area of Yosemite.

Day 8: We descend to Jack Main Canyon, where we return to the Pacific Crest Trail and enjoy meandering Falls Creek and a series of high alpine meadows. We climb to upper Grace Meadow and then continue on to Dorothy Lake, which is located at the northeastern border of Yosemite. (Campsite elevation: 9,451 feet. Distance: 8 miles with over 1,300 feet of elevation gain.) 

Day 9: Layover day at Dorothy Lake. There are other nearby lakes to explore on a day hike.

Day 10: Our path descends away from Yosemite National Park and enters the Hoover Wilderness. The trail follows open, granite terrain past Stella, Bonnie, and Harriet lakes, and continues descending to our camp at Lower Piute Meadow. (Campsite elevation: 8,090 feet. Distance: 6 miles with about 300 feet of elevation gain.)

Day 11: On our final day, the trail leaves the West Walker River as it descends toward Leavitt Meadows. (About 8.3 miles and over 1,700 feet of elevation loss.) A shuttle will take us back to Virginia Lakes where we end our adventure and begin the journey home.

Getting There

Our location for the first two nights will be at a campsite near Virginia Lakes Resort. The road to Virginia Lakes goes west from Highway 395 at a junction about equidistant between Lee Vining and Bridgeport. Directions to the exact location of our meeting place will be given at a later date to those who have signed up for the trip. 

Sierra Club leaders are not allowed to make carpool arrangements for participants, but a list of trip members to contact for possible ride-sharing arrangements will be provided before the trip. If you are flying in from outside of California, the nearest large airports are Reno and San Francisco. There is also a smaller airport at Mammoth Lakes.

Please do not make non-refundable travel arrangements until notified to do so by the trip leader.

Accommodations and Food

We will use our individual tents and sleeping bags for accommodations on all nights of the trip. At each wilderness camp, a latrine will be dug and a sit-down toilet and toilet tent will be set up by the packers. Folding chairs will be provided for comfort in camp. A large tarp will be set up in camp in case of rain. All meals will be prepared and served by an experienced cook, beginning with dinner on the first day and ending with lunch on the last day. The cook will also handle the cleanup after meals. Trip members will be able to fill out a food preference and dietary restrictions form online so the food and beverages provided can more closely meet trip member needs.

Trip Difficulty

A careful reading of the itinerary above will give you a good idea of the difficulty of the trip. The three layover days give the trip a moderately strenuous rating overall. The trip is suitable for most people in good health who follow a regular conditioning program and have at least some prior wilderness experience. A good rule of thumb is that participants should be able to hike at least 2 miles per hour at sea level on hikes of 6 to 8 miles that involve elevation gains of 1,000 to 2,000 feet. Note that the first trail day features an elevation gain of 2,700 feet and another day we hike over 11 miles. All the hiking on moving days is on trails, but we will have the opportunity of cross-country hiking on some of the layover days. Depending on the snowpack for the year, we may have some stream crossings that will require wading. The weather is usually quite good and dry at this time of the year, but you should be prepared for wet and cold just in case. Normal daytime high temperatures are in the 60s and 70s, and lows at night are from the low 30s to the 40s, but fairly extreme variations do sometimes occur and you should be prepared for colder nights and days. For most of the trip we will be at elevations between 8,000 and 9,000 feet, with the high point at around 9,300 feet. We have included a day and a half at elevation before we start on the trail as part of the trip to make sure everyone has at least that much acclimation before entering the wilderness. If you have had trouble adjusting to elevation you should consider spending more time at elevation before we meet.

Equipment and Clothing

Those signing up for the trip will be furnished, a couple of months before the trip, with a detailed checklist of required and optional personal items they should bring on the trip. These items will be very similar to what you would bring on a backpacking trip, except that the generous 30-pound limit means that you can indulge in a little more luxury. (Your tent is not included in the 30-pound limit.) You only need a day pack to carry gear since the mules will carry everything except what you will need during the day on the trail. The gear to be carried on the mules should be placed in one or two duffels bags that fit easily into the pack panniers (duffel dimensions to be provided). A sturdy pair of boots -- broken in but not worn out, with good quality soles -- are needed. Your sleeping bag should be comfortable to about 25 degrees Fahrenheit in case we get a cold spell. You can get by with a higher temperature rated bag if you are willing to wear a warm layer to bed. A quality tent is recommended since we are camping at relatively high elevations and need to be prepared in case stormy weather catches us in an exposed location. The packer will furnish stoves, cookware, cooking utensils (including eating utensils and plates for trip members) and food. You will also have a camp chair provided. You should bring a mug or insulated beverage container for your hot drinks and a plastic container for lunch sandwiches. The Sierra Club will furnish a group first-aid kit and a satellite phone in case of emergency. You are expected to furnish your own basic first-aid supplies, such as band-aids, blister material, headache relief, etc.

References

There are many sources of information on the Sierra Nevada in general, and also some that relate more specifically to the area we are visiting. The same is true of maps. We will list a few of each and leave it to you to search online if you want to find others.

Maps: 

• The Tom Harrison maps “Yosemite National Park” and “Hoover Wilderness” together cover our route. Go to https://tomharrisonmaps.com/product-category/yosemite-area-maps/ to find these two maps. 
• The National Geographic map “308: Yosemite NE: Tuolumne Meadows and Hoover Wilderness Map." Go to https://www.natgeomaps.com/ti-308-yosemite-ne-tuolumne-meadows-and-hoover-wilderness

Books:

• Wenk, Elizabeth and Mike White, Sierra North.
• Schaffer, Jeffrey, Yosemite National Park: A Natural History Guide to Yosemite and Its Trails.
• Muir Laws, John, The Laws Field Guide to the Sierra Nevada.
• Johnston, Verna R., Sierra Nevada: The Naturalist’s Companion.
• Hill, Mary, Geology of the Sierra Nevada.
• Stanley Robinson, Kim, The High Sierra: A Love Story.

Conservation

Our conservation focus and discussions will be on issues affecting Sierra wilderness areas. This includes how wilderness is defined, designated, and preserved. Our contribution to wilderness preservation will be to follow Leave No Trace principles. 

Sierra Club National Outings is an equal-opportunity provider and when applicable will operate under permits obtained from U.S. federal land agencies.