We picked up our permit at the Big Oak Flat entrance before driving down into the valley proper. We saw one couple on the trail. Yosemite requires that campsites be at least 4 miles from Tuolumne Meadows. Soon after a set of stone steps, look for a major climbers trail branching left (see photo). hello. I mean come on, just look at this place! 9006 Yosemite Lodge Dr, P.O. Can nicely pair with doing a side trip up half dome setting up camp in little Yosemite valley. Once you get to Upper Cathedral Lake, circle around to the right of the lake and crest the small ridge behind the lake for stunning views of Lower Cathedral Lake and the surrounding countryside. There was no particular reason that I slept badly, as the night before had been uneventful. I remembered a magnificent spot where I’d taken a break when I was last on this trail, so I motivated the guys with tales of rock formations where you can look down Echo Creek all the way across to the Clark Range. We decided to hang out for a bit and we’d found a lovely calm pool of the Merced where we could swim. Day 3 And it was, indeed, chill. We set up our tents and set about gathering firewood as dusk fell. Cathedral Lakes are nestled at the foot of Cathedral Peak. Eventually we slithered into our tents and sacked out. My friends believed me, though with some skepticism. We just had to descend to the valley, so it shouldn’t be too much of an adventure today. Do not get suckered into an earlier, smaller path that follows the stream. Length 8.6 miElevation gain 1551 ftRoute type Out & back After stashing the car, we did a final gear check and then caught a shuttle over to the main visitor center area of the valley. Miles and I decided that we would try to continue up the ridge line to Sunrise peak proper. 12 reviews of Yosemite Cathedral Lakes "Magnificent. Hike from Tuolumne Meadows down to Yosemite Valley. Yep. We ate some mediocre sandwiches and fries and then hopped aboard the YARTS bus up to Tuolumne. Once we joined up with the main trail in the Merced canyon, we were greeted with fold after fold of granite slabs, evidently glacially polished and gushing with the artery of the Merced River. I took out my bear canister with my left-over food and put it inside one of the many food lockers at the trailhead. We passed the time reading, chatting, and waiting for-fucking-ever for a pot of water for hot chocolate to boil atop this expertly built fire. We ascended the pass on the way to Sunrise Lakes and then boot-skiied down a few snowfields on our way down to Sunrise Lakes, where we couldn’t help but take a mid-morning swim. Log in. We scarfed down some dinner after returning to camp, and then hit the hay. It was early in the morning, icy, and my legs didn’t want to warm up. Want to do this trip yourself? I did this hike with a couple 13 year old boys.. I told my companions to keep quiet as that gave us better odds of meeting some bears. Knowing that I’d wrecked my buddies, I let them sleep in on this last day. Cathedral Lakes Trailhead to Yosemite Valley via Half Dome is a 32.9 mile moderately trafficked point-to-point trail located near Yosemite Valley, California that features a lake and is rated as difficult. We hiked on and on past places where I wondered.. is this the spot? Echo Creek to Happy Isles It is not crowded at all. CalTopo: here. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. as it was in bloom in the burn area, and Dom holding up the rear with his knee injury. Oakland to Yosemite Valley to Tuoulumne Meadows. YOLO. BEARS, OVER THERE! Yosemite National Park charges a fee to enter. The water was surprisingly warm (well, I thought so, at least), and I taught the guys about proper LNT principles for swimming: wet your bandana and use it to wipe the gross icky sunscreen / bugspray / sweatyick / whatever from your body, then use your stored water to rinse this out in the dirt at least 100 feet away from the lake. The next photo shows what a magnificent view you can see from Clouds Rest… see that beautiful fuzzy guy beached on a rock in the bottom left corner? Cathedral Lakes. HI, We mostly just trudged along, trying to make mileage knowing our day ahead wasn’t just a cakewalk. I noted a stream not too far to the left of the trail and a series of slabby cliffy bits with altitude-stunted trees up to the right. Lower Cathedral Lake is typically less populated than nearby Upper Lake and has some of the mot beautiful scenery on the JMT. And then we noticed why. The trail through this area is the famous John Muir Trail, which sees high traffic all season. We also visited my favorite campsite on Echo Creek, where we saw a pair of bears! Provisions in hand and fangirl photos taken, we headed over to the backpackers section of Tuolumne Meadows campground. As always, the burn area made for an interesting juxtaposition of apocalypse and beautiful wildflowers. Sometimes people just get hurt. To the trail.. Day 1 trail head to sunrise camp.. So I headed on up. dang. Gratuitous glamour shot: Even though the spot we stopped wasn’t exactly the optimal spot I’d planned, we still had magnificent views, and not just of Miles. Mileage: 34 miles A row of cars was already parked along the road when I got there. On the far side is more flat grassland, flanked by low, woody hills; distant views southwards towards the valley are not for another mile or so. Tuolumne Meadows & the Cathedral Lakes Trailhead. They tell all. Still, it won’t be anything compared to the bus loads of people you see in the Valley, but don’t expect a ton of solitude during peak season. We got a bit spread out at this part, with Miles and Max trudging ahead quickly, me getting distracted by photographing every. Meanwhile, Dom + Max proved again what nerds they are—they talked about freakin’ programming The Entire Way. No photos for you armchair adventurers, you’re gonna have to get out there and try that for yourselves :), Day 2 Who: Me, Miles, Dominic, and Max [[MORE PHOTOS OF OUR BUTTS WITH A BEAUTIFUL VIEW]]  REDACTED :P. After our refreshing swim and snack, we headed up towards Cathedral Pass. We dropped our packs and I told them they should think about going for a dip. Expert guides, all-inclusive tours, top-rated on TripAdvisor! The Lakes Past the lake, the John Muir Trail rises gently up a slope to Cathedral Pass, the highest point on the route between Yosemite Valley and Tuolumne Meadows. The area is popular with rock climbers. Oh wait, are you not supposed to out your sources? Hikers will enjoy views of Cathedral Peak and Echo Peak and access to Long Meadow, Sunrise High Sierra Camp, and Sunrise Lakes. However, the true culprit is the altitude difference. We were treated to views of trees growing on impossibly steep cliffs, seemingly clinging to just an inch of soil gathered here and there. Epic Yosemite Backpacking: Toulumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley via Cathedral Lakes, Clouds Rest and Half Dome After my many trips to Yosemite National Park, the one thing that was left on the bucket list, so to speak, was to hike from the high country of Toulumne Meadows all … It was busy and full of tourists but not nearly as bad as Yosemite Valley. flower. We were all happy and feeling good—well, except maybe Dom. For sure. I awoke when I felt like it and crawled out of the tent to find Miles awaiting the sunrise proper and reading, cuddled in a little gully of granite. Half-Day Hike: Hike in from Tioga Road on the Lower/Upper Cathedral Lakes Trail (John Muir Trail). Sunrise and sunset with the reflection of Cathedral Peak on the glassy water is the best way to end and begin your day on the trail. We ate some snacks, stretched, and some of us, well, some of us just had to outdo everyone else. After approximately 4 miles of quiet solitude in the forest, you will reach Cathedral Lakes: a pair of high alpine lakes surrounded by the quintessential green meadows that Yosemite is famous for. You’re welcome. Where: Yosemite NP Cathedral Lakes to Yosemite Valley. Yosemite’s most popular path, Mist Trail, deserves every bit of attention it gets: This spectacular, rainbow-streaked trail skirts 317-foot Vernal Fall and 594-foot Nevada Fall and extends to Little Yosemite Valley.Hike 1.2 miles (one-way) and 1,000 vertical feet to the top of Vernal Fall; going on to Nevada Fall adds 1.5 miles and 1,000 feet to your trip. The trail offers a number of activity options and is best used from March until October. Soon enough the trail flattened out and opened up and we had our first glimpses of Cathedral peak. And that’s what happened to Dom :(. In 2018 I vowed to introduce as many friends, acquaintances, and friends of friends as possible to backpacking, with the hope of spreading the gospel of Leave No Trace and helping it propagate. Elevation gain/loss: +4,000ft/-8,650ft Descending thousands of feet over miles and miles can wreak havoc on a person’s knees, and it’s important to train, even if you think you are in shape. Summit Half Dome! Have done this a few times and it’s definitely a great weekend backpacking trip. Stop at Lower Cathedral Lake and sit on the granite banks enjoying the tranquil waters before heading up the trail to the truly epic view of Upper Cathedral Lake. After that, Dom and Max were convinced and stripped and dunked as well. One of the most iconic destination outside of Yosemite Valley is Cathedral Lakes. 10.5 miles, +2,050ft/-600ft. ( Log Out /  They felt some kind of way about it. We started up the trail towards the little pass that would lead us to Sunrise Lakes, with Miles and me leading the way. Pick up the Tom Harrison Yosemite High Country map for navigation. so like xyz bitcoin 0101000010101” Nerds. We also visited my favorite campsite on Echo Creek, where we saw a pair of bears! Spirits were waning as the afternoon drew on and I dragged my boys further up along the shoulder of the Merced. We took our time with breakfast and then descended the trail, which was littered with mule poo. 11 miles, +200ft/-3,300ft. Once you’ve cleansed yourself of the nasty chemicals, JUMP IN MOTHERFUCEKR!!!! The Cathedral Lakes are two lakes located South of tuolumne meadow the lower lake is located at elevation 9,288 feet, while the upper lake is located at elevation 9,585 feet. This trip was the second trip of the summer with relative newbies who I’d met through DSA, and we took a classic route in Yosemite from Tuolomne to the Valley via Cathedral Lakes and Clouds Rest. We set up camp at my favorite spot in this area. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. We drove from Oakland down to Yosemite Valley on a sunny Saturday, stopping for mango chili lollipops at a gas station in the central valley and encountering the usual high-season traffic driving into the park. The Cathedral Lakes trailhead is one of the more popular destinations in the Tuolumne Meadows region of Yosemite, so you can expect crowds to frequent this area whenever the road is open. A marmot! We headed back to camp and roused our lazy buddies. Once atop Sunrise Mountain proper, we had magnificent views over the peaks to the northeast, plus most of our day’s route. i really liked your hike-story and the magnificent photos. We kept our eyes peeled and soon enough Miles hollered out: “BEARS!!!! We basically ran through the valley, swatting at any exposed skin the whole way. I got to sit next to Miles, who only proved himself to be just that perfect combination of chill, humble, and funny that I’d though the was. It is an 8-mile roundtrip hike to see both Lower and Upper Cathedral Lakes. You may hike along the trail and camp at another destination beyond. After that sudden excitement, we needed a bit of relaxing humanity and friendship, so we built a (terrifyingly large imho) fire in the existing campfire ring at our site. 4.5 miles to Sunrise HSC, and 19.6 to Yosemite Valley from Cathedral Lakes trail junction. There are two lakes that you can visit – lower and upper Cathedral Lakes. cool! Glorious. It’s my humble (lol) opinion that the view from Clouds Rest is far and away superior to the view from Half Dome. Re: Cathedral lakes - clouds rest - half dome - valley by AlmostThere » Thu Jun 05, 2014 1:33 pm You will need a wilderness permit with Half Dome on it, which at this point may be the most challenging part of your trip. I dropped my pack and waited for Miles. Our timing could not have been better. I know. It rules, y’all. Lower Cathedral Lake is among the most impressive of Yosemite's granite-wrapped High Sierra lakes. Fees are $35 per vehicle or $30 per motorcycle. Yosemite Valley: Tickets & Tours‎ ... Cathedral Lakes Trail is 7 mi /11.3 km roundtrip with an elevation change of 1000 ft/300 m with a 1 mi/1.6 km roundtrip spur trail to the Lower Cathedral Lake. Right? After a night at Cathedral Lakes, some may elect to continue their trip along the John Muir Trail, descending all the way to Yosemite Valley, about 19 miles from Upper Cathedral Lake. Both are lovely peaceful lakes surrounded by sharp granite peaks. We owe you one, Mr Squirrel. More photos: here Camp at Cathedral Lakes. Day 1 Spectacular. Swimming in icy lakes. We took a break a bit below the Bunnell Cascade. can I ask you some more questions? That’s definitely why I was behind. This trail is part of the John Muir Trail and continues for miles to the south, past the Sunrise High Sierra Camp and Yosemite Valley all the way to Mt. The return hike follows the same route. We weren’t alone. The trail descends somewhat steeply for a bit before ascending, most of the way through the forest. Yeah! You’re braver than you know. He was SO THANKFUL, just saying wow man thank u for doing this, without you I never would have tried it, I feel so good! We lugged our water back up to camp and puttered around for a bit. Camping is not allowed on the Panorama Trail or near Illilouette Fall. .. Oh, yeah I guess you can also see that glacially-sculpted knob that everyone wants to ascend. It's surrounded by Cathedral Peak in the east and by Echo and Tresidder Peaks along the southern shore, all of them over 10,000 feet (3,050 meters) in elevation. I tried to keep their spirits high by recounting the encounters I’d had with two bear cubs at the oasis of a campsite I was leading us towards. Box 578, Yosemite National Park, CA 95389 5.4 miles from Cathedral Lake Trail #2 Best Value of 410 places to stay in Yosemite National Park I recommend doing both lakes if you have the energy! Of course we had bears in mind after the previous night’s spotting and after my last experience in this campsite, but alas all we found was some snow plant. Of course, the view to Mt Clark in the south didn’t disappoint either. Expect to take 3 to 5 hours to complete this hike. Unfortunately, on this part Dom’s knees started to hurt and we had to slow down to make sure he was ok. 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