We started this trip on June 1st, 3 days after the Tioga Pass Road opened, having been closed since October 2021 due to snow.
Days/Nights - 4/3 Miles - 24
Elevation Gain - 4,488
Starting Elevation - 8,169 Ending Elevation - 8,169
Highest Elevation - 9,941 See AllTrails here
There is always a palpable energy as you approach your trailhead in a car, knowing that you soon will set off for several days. This trip was no different, with 5 of us packed into a pick-up truck winding through the Tioga Pass and spotting recognizable peaks that we would be visiting over the course of the next 4 days. The previous few days were tenuous as the road had only opened a few days earlier and there were some late season snow storms that left conditions to be somewhat unknown to us, because very few people had done the trails before us - meaning there were few trip reports to offer us what to expect. Nonetheless we arrived at the Sunrise Lakes trailhead beside the glacial alpine lake - Tenaya Lake.
Day One
Our first day started with a 3 mile, 1,200 gain hike straight up to Sunrise Lakes. Sounds easy enough right? An average of 400 ft gain per mile. Well it's not! It's really hard in fact! 2 of the miles are mostly flat, with the other mile being a brutal 1,000 ft gain. This of course puts you at around 9,500 feet where the oxygen is 30% less than sea level, and the 30+ lbs on your back wants to topple you backwards, where frankly if that happened, there would be nothing wrong with lying where you landed for a half hour or so. It starts with a water crossing almost immediately. There are rocks laid out for summer crossings, but due to the snowmelt they were all submerged, meaning we were about knee high crossing some very frigid water. The trail meanders for about a mile and a half, before you begin the ascent to Sunrise. As mentioned above, it is a steep set of never ending switchbacks over granite steps (usually - but we had snow) and it is known in hiking circles as "The Wall".
I was the slowest of our group, and due to the amount of snow, and I fell behind. Not having a visual on the group, I got lost for 45 minutes, so I was left trying to scramble up the mountain in search of tracks. I resigned myself to possibly having to camp out alone as I was so lost and tired, but knowing the others would be worried about me, I slogged on and cursed every step, particularly each time my foot broke through the snow and left me thigh high with scratches on my legs from the ice crystals. Why do we do this!
Eventually I found the trail and miserably continued on until I saw my group patiently waiting for me at the summit, and offering me some polite encouragement. It was embarrassing to say the least.
From there it was about a half mile walk to Sunrise Lakes, where we changed our plans slightly and took the first (and best) site we came across - a granite slab on the banks of the lower lake. This would be home for 2 nights.
The view was magnificent, and the mosquito's - swarms of them, were bloodthirsty savages that would land 50 at a time if you stopped moving for 10 seconds.
(Scroll down for days 2, 3 & 4)
Day Two
Our second day was our longest day with the most climbing - about 9 miles and 2,000 feet elevation gain was going to get us up to the Clouds Rest summit and back to camp retracing our steps. For this we had day packs (versus our back packs) and the lightened load made this a relatively easy hike compared to how I was feeling the previous day. The trail heads downwards from Sunrise for a mile or so, and there are several water crossings - seasonal streams, along the way. This is followed by a 3 mile upward ascent. As you start climbing Clouds Rest comes into view for most of the walk and seems tantalizing close and within reach.
We took a break at the foot of the final push and then set off to climb the spine. Rather oddly, having climbed this 5 previous times, I developed a morbid fear half-way up and sat down with a death grip on a rock and really thought I could not get up it. It is a straight drop on both sides, with the right side being about a 6,000 sheer granite void. Julie, one of my group members, had the same feeling as me. We sat, motionless, for a good 15 minutes, and discussed the pros and cons of back tracking. Eventually, a woman in her sixties passed us, and the pure feeling of shame prompted me to say "F.ck this Julie, we have come too far not to do this" and she agreed. So like a crab, I scuttled up the remaining 500 yards with her.
Once on the top, it opens up, my fear subsided, and you are treated to a 360 degree view of the Sierras that no photo can ever do justice to. After about an hour on the summit, some clouds started to form which can often lead to thunderstorms and lightening, so we set off on the 4.5 miles back to camp at Sunrise Lakes.
(Scroll down for days 3 & 4)
Day Three
Sometime during the night my sleeping pad burst, meaning I essentially lay awake all night on the cold hard ground. It was unrepairable so I had to prepare myself for another night of the same. We packed up camp and headed up past the 2 upper Sunrise Lakes, before climbing through some fairly significant snow up towards the crest before starting down hill to the Sunrise High Sierra Camp, where we had the luxury of using the pit toilets.
After a short break we joined the John Muir Trail and walked through one of the most beautiful meadows I have ever seen, before starting a climb again up to Columbia Finger (another pass with indescribable views). We stopped again here before making our way down to Cathedral Lakes, again finding a lot of snow on the trail and getting minorly lost a couple of times. Once at the lakes, we scouted around for a site, and basically found what I can only imagine was the BEST site around - a little granite compound, steps from the lake, with views of Columbia Finger on one side and the Cathedral Range on the other side. I had always wanted to visit this area and it did not disappoint.
(Scroll down for day 4)
Day Four
We woke to mild rain on our final day, so we packed fast, donned our rain gear, and headed towards Cathedral Lake Lower. I was a tiny bit nervous about this day as I had planned the trip using a climbers trail that is not listed on any official park websites or trail maps. I found only one good review from an absolute legend in these parts - Ted Muller. Ted and I conversed a little by email and he gave me detailed instructions as to where the "S curve" was, a place where so many people reported getting lost, and then he kindly invited me on a back packing trip for his 80th birthday, which I unfortunately had to decline. The AllTrails reviews for Medlicott Dome Approach were filled with people who had both gotten lost, and/or turned back at the infamous "ledge" which is part of the "S curve". The ledge is an 18 inch step, about 6 feet long, with a 800 foot drop on one side and can be seen behind the green backpack in the 9th photo below.
Well, we did get mildly lost, but looking like an away crew from Star Trek, we ambled through the granite and forest with our GPS phones out and eventually found the "trail". When we got to the dreaded ledge, we actually traversed the rocks behind it and avoided it. A little nerve wracking, but totally manageable. It is then a very steep descent down for a mile or so, over loose rock and unmanaged trail.
Once at the bottom, it was a meandering 3 mile walk that eventually brings you to the banks of Tenaya Lake, and then the river crossing we had on our first day. Mission completed, and I would do it again in a heartbeat.
