Advertisement: Climb to the highest peak in Yosemite and camp by a beautiful alpine lake.
More photographs.
Difficulty: 24 miles, 4000 feet of elevation, some snow travel
Preparation: We originally intended this hike as a "Roof of Yosemite" hike hitting, additionally, Mount Florence and then returning up Rafferty Creek. However, I had somewhat under-researched the route, and we were underprepared both in equipment and in fitness to complete the route. We did not have ice axe nor crampons; we managed to climb on rock for the most of the steep parts of the route, only traversing snow in short sections or flat sections. The snow was heavily sun-cupped this late in the season and made travel very slow (but felt safe -- that's how deep the sun cups were). Watch for moats and soft snow near the edge of the rock.
Summary: Lyell Canyon is part of the PCT superhighway -- you will see a lot of people. But once you climb out of the canyon, you will likely have the higher lakes all to yourself, and they are really beautiful. A more leisurely trip could stop at the lakes and spend half a day exploring the area instead.
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| Climbing out of Lyell Canyon |
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| The beautiful high alpine lake where we camped |
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| Avoiding the snow on the way up to Mt. Lyell |
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| The summit block of Mt. Lyell from Mt. Maclure |
More photographs.
Difficulty: 24 miles, 4000 feet of elevation, some snow travel
Preparation: We originally intended this hike as a "Roof of Yosemite" hike hitting, additionally, Mount Florence and then returning up Rafferty Creek. However, I had somewhat under-researched the route, and we were underprepared both in equipment and in fitness to complete the route. We did not have ice axe nor crampons; we managed to climb on rock for the most of the steep parts of the route, only traversing snow in short sections or flat sections. The snow was heavily sun-cupped this late in the season and made travel very slow (but felt safe -- that's how deep the sun cups were). Watch for moats and soft snow near the edge of the rock.
Summary: Lyell Canyon is part of the PCT superhighway -- you will see a lot of people. But once you climb out of the canyon, you will likely have the higher lakes all to yourself, and they are really beautiful. A more leisurely trip could stop at the lakes and spend half a day exploring the area instead.
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