TL;DR
This was a fun short overnight we did on a whim. Starting from Tuolumne Meadows from the Young Lakes via Dog Lake trail head, the trail meanders 7 miles up to the high country through forest and open meadows. We did this as an overnight but would be great as a two-nighter, allowing for more time to enjoy the lakes and perhaps scramble up Mt Conness. Depending on the time of year, check snow and creek reports. We did this hike mid-July on a mediocre snow year and some creeks were dry already. Permits can be reserved using Yosemite’s online permitting process or at one of the Wilderness Permit Stations. Young Lakes sit at 9800ft elevation.
Thoughts
We picked these permits up on a whim when Yosemite announced they would be releasing the reserve in-person permits through online lottery. Kudos to Yosemite for coming up with a system like this as quick as they did. The process from a user perspective was seemless. I applied to the lottery the same way I always do for permits. Instructions were very clear as to what I needed to do, from the online ranger presentation, submitting the access code to get my permit and parking pass PDF, to arriving at the park and just showing my permit print-out and ID. So just a thank you to the park operators in general, this year has been rough but thank you for doing your best to make a place like Yosemite accessible and safe for everyone involved. From a backpacker’s perspective, it was as easy as can be.
By the way Pohono got punted to the fall. Maybe we’ll be back in September?
We had never started from this trail head before. I was in part, inspired by this article from The Outbound Collective. Seemed like a nice, straightforward trip with a rewarding destination. Over the years I’ve come to realize how much I really love the alpine wilderness. I love those granite lakes and camping at the tree line. This hike checked all the boxes. And like any first trip of the season, short and sweet just to get back into the swing of things.
Right from the parking lot, the hike starts with some gain with typical Yosemite switchbacks. Eventually you’ll top out and begin alternating between switchbacks and meadows. The weather was pleasant when we went so we weren’t plowing through our starting water supply. I imagine it could get quite hot though. Delaney Creek was the first water source we crossed, it was still going strong. Dingley Creek was the second and served as a nice lunch spot on the way out. The area around Dingley Creek also had some beautiful views of the Tuolumne area and Cathedral Peak.
It didn’t take too long until we arrived at the lower Young Lake. There were a handful of camping spots on the northern side but I had that alpine lake feel in mind so we pushed on. The second lake was easy to find but was still to foresty. After a little bit of meandering we found a steep trail cutting up next to a waterfall. We followed that and finally found the upper lake in all its alpine glory.
Not a ton to say about this trip. It was short, it was great to be outside after three months of shelter in place, and got to test our setup out in preparation for Lost Coast. Any trip to Yosemite is a good trip.
shout : into : the : wilderness 