Sonora Pass to Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite, Miles and Elevations

Miles & Elevations

Pacific Crest Trail

Sonora Pass to Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite

Backpacking Miles

Emigrant Wilderness in the Stanislaus National Forest

Backpacking South on the Pacific Crest Trail from Sonora Pass first brings you through a small bit of the Emigrant Wilderness in the Stanislaus National Forest.

The Pacific Crest Trail shortly turns East into the Toyiabe National Forest at Kennedy Canyon, then South at the base of Kennedy Canyon towards the Northern Boundary of Yosemite National Park at Dorthy Lake Pass.

The trail guide South from Sonora Pass

Sonora Pass to Bensen Lake backpacking Map

All distances are measured from the Sonora Pass

Location                         Elevation          Mileage

Start: Sonora Pass                  9643                    0

Below is the mileage for the "locals" shortcut up the ridge arm descending down to Sonora Pass off the Northern side of the Leavitt Massif. The shortcut intersects with the Pacific Crest Trail where the PCT finally reaches the ridge arm. This is also the Winter route up to the top of the Leavitt massif. See the map for route details.

Shortcut Route

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Sonora Pass                              9643                    0

                                            +xx                              xx

PCT/Shorcut Juntion            10,480                     .8

If you take the shortcut route, you must subtract 1 mile from all the subsequent mileages down to Tuolumne Meadows.

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Rather than heading straight up the Northern crest line of the Leavitt massif, as the shortcut route above does, the Pacific Crest Trail heads Southeast, then gradually works its way back West, traversing the Northern flank of the Leavitt massif along a long well-graded trail between the mountain's shoulders.

Pacific Crest Trail Route

Distances are measured from the Sonora Pass

PCT/Shorcut Juntion              10,480                  1.81

As you can see, the shortcut South up from Sonora Pass saves you one mile. But you will have to do a small bit of climbing with your pack. I have taken this shortcut during all four seasons. Crampons and Iceaxe are required during Winter, and expert skills are necessary in Summer if you are carrying a very heavy pack.

The Gap above Latopie Lake  10,800                 2.38

Latopie Lake trail Junction      10,780                  2.66

The Latopie Lake Loop

Below: 2.38 miles South of Sonora Pass you will climb towards a gap along the branch of Leavitt's crest-line running East and West. Great views South and East open up from the gap. At your feet to the South you will see Latopie Lake nestled in a few hundred yards below the line of the trail.

The mileage and elevations below reflect the route down from the unmarked Latopie Lake Junction to Latopie Lake, and then back around to the PCT South of Latopie Lake.

This is marked as the "Latopie Loop" on the 30 minute backpacking map.

In the past I prefered the Latopie Loop to the Pacific Crest Trail through here due to the poor trail quality of the PCT as it crossed a massive ridge of very unstable talus above Latopie Lake. And I've spent many first nights of a trip at Latopie. In recent years the Stanislaus National Forest has been breaking up this old nasty scree-trail section of the Pacific Crest Trail that loops around Latopie Lake into a nicely bedded trail.

That's a lot of hard work, and my thanks go out to the trail crews who did the hard work to break up all of this high altitude skree to ease our way through this beautiful landscape.

If you decide to have lunch or camp at Latopie Lake, you don't have to backtrack back up to the PCT the same way you came down to it. If you continue down and South past the lake a short distance, and work Southwest along a short cross country route, you will navigate yourself back to the Pacific Crest Trail at the point where the PCT passes through the gap dividing the Leavitt Lake basin from the Kennedy Lake valley.

See the map for specifics on the Latopie Lake Loop.

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Latopie Lake Loop

(1.64 miles total from leaving to rejoining the Pacific Crest Trail)

Distances are measured from the Sonora Pass

Latopie Lake trail Junction   10,780                  2.66

Al Camp by Latopie Lake       10,400                 3.07

Back to the PCT at the gap above Kennedy Lake                                                   10,640                  4.3

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The Pacific Crest Trail Route

The following entry is measured from the Sonora Pass following the PCT route, with no shortcut or Latopie Lake Loop.

Latopie Lake trail Junction   10,780                  2.66

Gap above Kennedy Lake      10,640                  4.49

Taking the Latopie Loop route takes .19 of a mile off of the Pacific Crest Trail route.

Sonora Pass area options

RECAP

You have two trail options for "shortcuts" heading South between Sonora Pass to the Gap overlooking Leavitt Lake's basin and the valley to the West holding Kennedy Lake.

The first is the "locals" shortcut from Sonora Pass straight up the Mountain's Northern ridgeline that reaches down to the Sonora Pass. This shortcuts the Pacific Crest Trail route by 1.01 miles.

The second is the Latopie Lake Loop. Comparing the Latopie Lake Loop with the Pacific Crest Trail's track around Latopie Lake indicates that taking the the Latopie Lake loop is shorter than following Pacific Crest Trail route by merely 1.2 miles. Though shorter than the PCT route, the advantage of the Latopie Loop is that it brings you to the beauty of Latopie Lake, and a fine high altitude camp or lunch site.

The distance from Sonora Pass to the Gap on the Pacific Crest Trail above Kennedy Lake, with no shortcut or Latopie Lake Loop is 4.49 miles.

The distance from Sonora Pass to the Gap on the Pacific Crest Trail taking both the shortcut and the Latopie Lake Loop is 3.29 miles

Continuing South on the Pacific Crest Trail

mileages are measured from Sonora Pass on the Pacific Crest Trail route

Gap above Kennedy Lake      10,640                  4.49

Mine Road                                10,600                   6.54

Junction at top                        10,525                   7.01

Kennedy Canyon Junction        9680                   7.97

The above junction offers you the option of winding around the Emigrant Basin on the Pacific Crest Trail or cutting through the Emigrant Basin to enter Yosemite at Bond Pass. Bond Pass lays West of Dorthy Lake Pass.  See the Sonora Pass to Bensen Lake 30 minute map.

(See the Kennedy Canyon to Bond Pass miles and elevations )

Camp at Kennedy Creek Crossing  9040           9.28

Four-Way Junction                   8600                   12.63

Cinco Lake Junction 1              8680                   12.82

Cinko Lake Junction 2              8920                   14.63

West Walker Junction              9020                   15.35

Lake Harriet                              9230                   16.3

Dorthy Pass Lake                     9480                    17.48

Dorthy Lake                              9394

Bond Pass Junction                  9360                   18.95

Tilden Lake Junction                8160                    25.69

The Tilden Lake Junction is the Last derivation of the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail off of the Pacific Crest Trail route between this point and Tuolumne Meadows. The Tilden Lake Loop rejoins the Pacific Crest Trail down to Tuolumne Meadows just East of Wilmer Lake. See the Sonora Pass to Bensen Lake 30 min map for route details.

Wilmer Lake Junction              7960                    27.44

I beam ford at Wilmer Check Dam   7960         27.74

Camp at far end of Wilmer lake       7960          28.03

North: Tilden Lake Loop Junction rejoins Pacific Crest Trail here. South: TillTill Valley 1  

                                                            8400           29.24

TillTill Valley Junction II           8360           29.39

Gap at the top before Stubblefield   8920        30.2

Stubblefield ford and camps            7760          32.09

Gap between Stubblefield and Kerrick Canyons

                                                            8720           33.31

Kerrick ford and camps                   7960           34.67

Bear Valley-Pleasant Valley Junction  8000     34.7

Seavy-Buckeye Pass Junction        8880          38.47

Entering the Seavy Pass Bowl        9120          39.21

Exiting Seavy Pass Bowl                  9000          40.04

Bensen Lake Shortcut                     7720          41.91

Bensen Lake Junction                      7600           42.2

Pleasant & Pate Valley Junction     9400           45.3

Rogers Lake to Pate Valley Junction  9440       45.7

West Shore of Smedberg Lake      9219         46.7

Golden Sand Creek Ford East of Smedberg

                                                  9320        47.4

High Meadow below Bensen Pass 9760        48.2

Bensen Pass                                     10,160         48.9

1st Wilson Creek Ford                                            50.3

2nd Wilson Creek Ford                                           50.8

3rd Wilson Creek Ford                                           51.8

Matterhorn Ford                               8480             53.7

Junction to Miller Lake                     8480              53.8

Miller Lake                                          9446             56.3

High Point above Spiller Creek           9560          57.73

Spiller Creek Ford & Camp                  8760          58.9

Return Creek Ford & Camps               8560         60.2

McCabe Creek                                                         60.5

McCabe Lake Junction                          9120         61.2

Big Rock                                                  8680        64.5

Cutting out of the Meadow to Cold Canyon

                                                                8680         64.7

Glen Aulin Junction                               7920          68.2

McGee Lake Junction                          7960           68.4

Tuolumne Falls                                    8160            68.7

Bridge                                                  8600            69.3

Young Lakes Junction                        8640            71.8

Stables Junction                                  8600            72.2

Parsons Lodge-Soda Springs            8600            73

Bridge towards Visitor Center          8600            73.1

Trail Y @ Bridge, toward Store         8600            73.3

Tuolumne Store & Post Office          8600             73.8

miles and elevations index page: Lake Tahoe to Mount Whitney

previous miles and elevations page: Ebbetts Pass to Sonora Pass

Note: The Ups and Downs of the Pacific Crest Trail between Sonora Pass and Tuolumne Meadows. And every other High Sierra Trail...

This trail guide, like the High Sierras, divides itself into ups and downs. Your miles are generally done either going up to the top of the mountain, or you are coming down from the mountaintop into the valley that separates you from the next mountaintop. This means that the mileages and elevations between the peaks and the valleys is going to be important in determining how many miles you can reasonably expect to cover that day. This will be instrumental in planning where you are going to camp every night, and ultimately this information will determine how many days it will take you to cover a given distance. This in turn establishes your proper food load.

There are 73.8 miles between Sonora Pass and Tuolumne Meadows along the Pacific Crest Trail. The Sonora Pass is 1043 feet higher than the Tuolumne Meadows. But this gross elevation figure does not do justice to the constant ups and downs that virtually all Sierra trails present to their visitors. This segment of the trails between Lake Tahoe and Mount Whitney is certainly no exception.

The terrain between Sonora Pass to Tuolumne Meadows offers a fine range classic long distance high altitude travel options. From Sonora Pass you cover the great barren mass of the Leavitt Massif. Coming off the South side of Leavitt, you can either follow the Pacific Crest Trail down East, then South through the forests leading back up to Dorthy Lake Pass,  or you can continue on South to climb over Big Sam into the pink hued granites of the Emigrant Basin.

Both routes lead to the head of Jack Main Canyon in Yosemite's Northwest backcountry. The Pacific Crest and Tahoe to Yosemite trails will only part for one more short section before tracking together into Tuolumne Meadows. This is where the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail loops around Tilden Lake, while the Pacific Crest Trail traces its route around Wilmer Lake. The Trails rejoin again just to the Southeast, and above, Wilmer Lake.

The terrain between Jack Main Canyon to Tuolumne Meadows is lovingly described as Yosemite's Washboard. The reason for this name comes from the near proximity of each successive high altitude ridge to the next high altitude ridge. When you descend from the top of one 9500 foot ridge, you can bounce a rock off the next 9500 foot ridge that you will shortly be climbing. This section contains the closest set of mountain ridges you will be challenged by between Lake Tahoe and Mount Whitney. This section will have you climbing and descending at the highest frequency of the whole trip, until you reach Virginia Canyon.

From Virginia Canyon you have one low rise before you begin the long, mostly gentle, drop down to the unique culture and stunning beauty that characterizes all of Yosemite's High Sierra Camps, and especially Glen Aulin.

Remember this important rule: Every descent route holds many mini-ascents, and every ascent has many mini-descents within its route. Your mileage will very rarely just go up, or just go down. You are going endlessly up and down.

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Section: SONORA PASS to TUOLUMNE MEADOWS

Segment: SONORA PASS TO TUOLUMNE MEADOWS MILES AND ELEVATIONS