Hoover Wilderness - Virginia Lakes to Yosemite NP - Tuolumne Meadows - 06/25 - 06/28, 2015

Trip Logistics
  •      When - June  26– 28, 2015
  •      Hoover Wilderness – Virginia Lakes to Yosemite NP – Tuolumne Meadows
  •      Total Elevation Gain – Approx 1500 ft.
  •      Total Mileage – Approx. 25 miles
      Pictures

This is part 1 of a section hike I and my friend Steve are doing from Tuolumne Meadows to Tahoe.  Our first section we planned to hike was Ebetts Pass to Sonora Pass in 3 days.  When Steve went to go check on where to pick up our permit we found out that was a bit of a wildfire burning by Markleeville and that Highway 4 at Ebbets Pass was closed…so much for getting the first section of our section hike done…and this meant a quick choice of a plan B.  Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne was offered up and I shot it down since I decided I’d like to skip the 100 degree heat at the start of the hike and I still haven’t quite recovered from my rattlesnake encounter on that hike.   The alternate alternate route chosen was Virginia Lakes in Hoover Wilderness and finishing ata Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite….I had never been out of Virginia so I was looking forward to seeing some new terrain.

We decided to start out Friday afternoon to get some miles in and to deal with the car logistics…we were also looking for an excuse for a dinner at the Whoa Nellie Deli…this however was not to be because of the construction that was going on on Tioga Road that delayed us a bit.  Nevertheless we were on the trail and on our way at 4 pm…apparently a great time to start hiking out of Hoover because we saw very few day hikers on the way out and no backpackers on their way up…leaving a nice peaceful hiking experience.  I had heard the hike to the pass was beautiful and sure enough we were not let down.  There is some pretty interesting geology in this area with lots of red rock.  The lakes were also really beautiful and a nice distraction to the steady climb up.  It was quite a treat at the top of the pass and looking down the other side with Virginia Canyon off to the left and our destination for the evening, Summit Lake, ahead of us.

There was a decent drop off of the summit and while the views were distracting it was obvious we were going to have to climb back up to the lake.  We arrived at the lake around 7 pm with plenty of light left to setup and cook dinner.    The trail hugged the lake pretty close and there weren’t any great sites that met all of the rules of staying 100 feet from the trail and the lake so we opted to pick an established site. We had a new meal of smoked chili and watched a great sunset to the west.  It didn’t take long to call it a night after the late afternoon hike.

The next day would prove to be a much longer day than Friday and would cover a good chunk of terrain I had never been through before.   After walking around the lake we headed down to the junction of the PCT.  Through the trees we could see some great peaks.  We did not run into many folks on this stretch just two fathers with their sons….and good thing we did since Steve noticed that my Platy was leaking.  We finally hit the junction with the PCT and was a little sad that we weren’t headed into Emigrant Wilderness and to Sonora Pass…but c’est la vie…we crossed a stream at the perfect stream crossing time of the day when our toes needed a rest.  At this point we were in the trees and the hiking was cool and downhill.  We also ran into a bunch of PCT hikers….a bunch…with their long scruffy beards and lightweight backpacks….they were awfully clean though but I guess they just came out of Tuolumne.

We didn’t know exactly where we wanted to camp on Saturday but I did feel strongly about not staying around Glen Aulin…I don’t like being deep in the trees if I can avoid it and no need to be around bear central station.   As we neared Glen Aulin we decided to just keep going and head out of Glen Aulin until we found a good place to camp on the Tuolumne…and boy did we find a a great place….our feet were sore from the downhill but the view  and the happy hour appetizers made up for the soreness.  Steve was pretty sure our campsite was one of the most spectacular he had ever been at.  Our views to the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne were pretty spectacular.  We settled in for a late dinner when someone said “I left me keys in the car” at the trailhead…at the start of the trail for our trip..DOH!!!!!!

Sunday started bright and early since there was a key situation to deal with.  There was discussion about skipping coffee…but that was ruled out…breakfast can be skipped but not coffee.  The great thing about getting on the trail early is the solitude and the cool weather and it was beautiful morning to be doing the hike on a normally busy trail.  We ran into a ranger on our way out and explained our predicament and she suggest hitchhiking…and hitchhike we did at 9:30 am on Tioga Road.  We had some extraordinary luck and the 3rd car that passed us pick us up….Osh from So Cal….what a great guy.  He was going to drop us off in Lee Vining and ended up taking us all the way to the trailhead….he was a fellow backpacker and had recently been in a similar forgotten key situation…Time for Steve and I to pay it forward!


It was a great hike and not a very popular trip….definitely got us very excited about doing Tuolumne to Sonora Pass and getting to the more remote areas of Emigrant.  All is well that ends well!

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