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Hiking The Tahoe to Yosemite Trail from Lake Alpine to Saint Marys Pass
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| Trail Guide Index: Highway 4 to Highway 108 | Trail Guide North: Mount Reba to Lake Alpine | Trail Guide South: Lake Alpine to Rock Lake | 7.5 Topo Map: Lake Alpine Area | This 30 min Map: Lake Alpine to Saint Marys Pass | Lake Alpine to Saint Marys Pass: MILES AND ELEVATIONS | ALL TOPO MAPS Lake Alpine to Saint Marys Pass | Resupply Here: Lake Alpine. Resupply South: Kennedy Meadows | National Forest: Stanislaus | Weather | all maps index |
Lake Alpine: Highway 4, Calavaras Ranger District, Stanislaus National Forest
Lake Alpine Backpacker's IndexLake Alpine Backpacker Resources and Hiker Information
Lake Alpine is a backpacker resupply point along the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail. |
Lake Alpine Hiking Information
The Pacific Crest Trail crosses Ebbetts Pass on Highway 4 fourteen miles East of Lake Alpine. |
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Hiking South into the Carson Iceberg Wilderness on the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail
Lake AlpineElevation: 7360 So Far (Southbound on the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail) Hiking South into Lake Alpine off of Mount Reba we have just finished the third of five sections of the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail between its Meeks Bay trailhead on Lake Tahoe on our way South to Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite. We have hiked a total of 68 miles South from our starting point at Meeks Bay on the North side of Desolation Wilderness down to Lake Alpine. We have a bit less than 120 miles remaining on our hike down to Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite. We have backpacked across a few beautiful preserved wild areas in the Sierra. We have hiked across the lengths of the Desolation Wilderness, the Meiss Roadless Area, the Carson Pass Management Area, and have just arrived here at Lake Alpine after crossing the Mokelumne Wilderness. Our hike down from Meeks Bay has passed through a variety of administrative units. We have hiked through sections of The Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, The El Dorado National Forest, and we entered The Stanislaus National Forest when we crossed the North fork of the Mokelumne River at Camp Irene. A short ways South of Lake Alpine we will enter the Carson Iceberg Wilderness and will remain within it until we reach Highway 108 through Saint Marys Pass. South of Highway 108 we will remain within the Stanislaus National Forest after departing the Carson Iceberg Wilderness when we enter the Emigrant Wilderness as we continue our hike South on the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail. We will finally exit the Stanislaus National Forest when we enter Yosemite National Park through Bond Pass. Click on the red dots along the hiking maps linked to above for that particular location's trail guide page. Trail Guide North into the Mokelumne Wilderness: Mount Reba to Lake Alpine Trail Guide South into the Carson Iceberg Wilderness: Lake Alpine to Rock Lake |
The Big Picture
Where Lake Alpine sits in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range Miles and Elevations segments for the Trail Sections of the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail are divided by the natural re supply points cut through the Sierra Nevada Mountains by the trans-Sierra highways. These highways also mark many of the boundaries of the various North Sierra Nevada Wilderness Areas and National Forests that we cross, are are where the main resupply points are located. The list goes down as far as I've constructed trail guide...so far.
(Trail Guide ASAP: I can't wait to put up the Southern Sierra Trail Guide Pages...) Note: The locations listed on the miles and elevations pages are linked to the trail guide page for each location. Each of the above sections of the Tahoe to Yosemite and Pacific Crest Trail can be hiked as individual backpacking trips one section at a time, or modified into nice hiking loops and in-and-outs using local trails and trailheads to supplement, or even tie together sections of the Tahoe to Yosemite and Pacific Crest Trails. |
Lake Alpine on a Roadmap
| Road Map showing Lake Alpine, our trail heads and nearby backpacker resources. | ||
| Lake Alpine is a gateway South into the Carson Iceberg Wilderness, and North into the Mokelumne Wilderness. |
The Local Lake Alpine Picture: Topo Hiking Maps
Local Topo Maps, Miles, and Elevation Information Southbound Tahoe to Yosemite Hiking Topo Maps 7.5 Topo Hiking Map South: Lake Alpine Area Big Topo Hiking Map South: Lake Alpine to Saint Marys Pass Miles and Elevations South to Saint Marys Pass
Northbound Tahoe to Yosemite Hiking Topo Maps 7.5 Topo Hiking Map North: Lake Alpine Area to Bee Gulch 7.5 Topo Hiking Map Further North: Bee Gulch to Rock Bowl Big Topo Hiking Map North: Carson Gap to Lake Alpine Miles and Elevations North to Carson Pass Click the Red Dots on the maps for related trail guide pages |
The Big Picture: Topo Hiking Maps
Backpacking Topo Maps North and South Planning Maps To plan your trips North or South from Lake Alpine you should refer to the free downloadable USGS topo map series. The 1 x 2, 30 minute, and 7.5 series topo maps are free to download and open in the also-free Adobe Reader. You can top this all off by downloading the free Terrago Toolbar for Adobe from the USGS site, which gives you limited trail measurement capabilities. Hopefully Terrago will improve their flawed product to improve mileage accuracy, but it's free, so I can't complain too much. A terrago "upgrade" made it impossible to accurately measure distance with their tool. I made a valiant effort to inform terrago about the terrible mistake they made during their "upgrade," but it was like beating my head against a corporate brick wall. The terrago tool will help you measure trail distances if you use it very carefully. Here's the USGS Store site. It will provide you with the proper maps to plan any backpacking trip in the US. For Lake Alpine, navigate the map to Stockton Ca, and follow Highway 4 up to Lake Alpine. Check the "mark points" selection, click the desired quadrangles and select the map sizes you want to download, then download them. Unzip the file and open it with Adobe. You can refer to the Topo Hiking Map Information on each of my Map Pages to determine which maps you may want to download. I have set myself up with a well-organized collection of USGS maps covering all my main routes and side trips from Lake Tahoe to Mount Whitney in various scales. I find these maps real helpful to properly plan trips. Use these detailed USGS topo maps, and the maps, mileages, and trail guide pages laid out here on Tahoe to Whitney to plan the details of your backpacking trips starting at, or hiking through Lake Alpine. Hiking Maps For trail use I prefer to carry the USDA National Forest Wilderness Maps when hiking either the Mokelumne (North of Lake Alpine) or Carson-Iceberg Wilderness (South of Lake Alpine). These maps are a fine balance between size and detail. Each well covers its respective wilderness area. The new 2009 plastic maps are better in field conditions, but the color, labeling, contrast, and accuracy of the new maps leaves a lot to be desired compared to the older 1988 paper map. But the paper maps fall apart at the seams and disintegrate in moisture. One step forward, two steps backwards... Familiarity gained studying the detailed USGS maps during your planning stage will make better sense of your trail maps during your trip. Where to Obtain your Topo Trail Hiking Maps for Lake Alpine North: USDA Forest Service Mokelumne Wilderness, ENFIA. South: USDA Forest Service Carson-Iceberg Wilderness, Toiyabe National Forest. They offer a plastic version of the old 1988 map. I've got to get one of these before they disappear...
Though long-distance hikers may consider these USDA topo hiking maps too "big," the extra coverage provided by these "whole wilderness" topo maps allow the backpacker to clearly and correctly identify terrain features within their range of vision. I always want to know what I'm looking at, and how my route fits into the "big picture" of the overall terrain. Unlike topo hiking maps that only display a "sliver" of the terrain, these wilderness-sized topo maps allow you to situate and saturate yourself in the terrain. Good Long-Distance Backpacker Practice I send myself my selected hiking topo map for the upcoming trail section in my resupply packages. As all of the resupply points have mail service I mail my last map back to myself from the re supply point when I finish that section. |
Hiking Into and Out Of Lake Alpine on the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail
Exactly Where We Are at Lake Alpine Hiking Southbound into Lake Alpine down from the top of Mount Reba we exit the Mokelumne Wilderness into a vast field of Mule Ears. Continuing down across Mount Reba's Southwestern flank we turn into Bee Gulch's rich down-mountain meadow (pictured below, and yes, it was full of friendly bees.) to drop down to Highway 4 through the Bee Gulch trailhead. We've hiked 8.38 miles South from Camp Irene to Bee Gulch Trailhead on Highway 4. It's now break time at Lake Alpine.
Below: At the East side of Lake Alpine the Southbound Tahoe to Yosemite Trail exits through the Bee Gulch Trailhead. The Southbound hiker crosses Highway 4 to continue down the paved road close by the East shore of Lake Alpine to the Silver Valley Trailhead. Just past the trailhead we will enter the Carson Iceberg Wilderness. The Bee Gulch trailhead is nestled into a cramped roadside alcove in the dense forest along the North side of narrow Highway 4.
Above: Though hard to see from the road, the Bee Gulch Trail head sits almost directly across from the well-marked entrance and paved road to the Pine Martin and Silver Valley car campgrounds, as well as our Silver Valley Trailhead.
Above: The Tahoe to Yosemite Trail exits Bee Gulch and continues South along the paved road this sign points to, for about a half-mile until you encounter the Silver Valley trailhead, pictured below. Here the Tahoe to Yosemite trail re-enters trail Southbound towards Saint Marys Pass through the Carson Iceberg Wilderness.
Between Highway 4 and the Silver Valley Trailhead sits a bathroom with clean water taps. Across the road from the bathrooms there is a very expensive backpacker's camp. Behind the backpacker's camp is my nice little hidden site. Enjoy! You will see the Silver Valley Trailhead where the road turns Southwest (Right) to enter the Silver Valley car campground. Check the next Southbound Tahoe to Yosemite Trail Guide Page Lake Alpine to Rock Lake for more information. Check out the Trail Guide Page Northbound on the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail for information about hiking the TYT Northbound from Lake Alpine: Mount Reba to Lake Alpine. Before continuing Southbound through the Silver Trailhead we will pick up our resupply bucket and some fresh food at the Lake Alpine Lodge, and maybe take a FULL day off. |
Short, Medium, and Long Distance Backpacking Trips through the Carson Iceberg Wilderness
This Next Southbound Section of the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail From Lake Alpine we have a 34.64 mile hike on the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail South to Saint Marys Pass on Highway 108. From there we will easily hitch 8 miles West down Highway 108 to access our next resupply package at the Kennedy Meadows Pack Station. I'm looking forward to my KM stop already... Kennedy Meadows has an excellent restaurant that serves three squares a day, a store, a bar, laundry facilities, and excellent showers. Best of all I like the people who work there, and the family who owns the operation. But your trip South into the Carson Iceberg Wilderness doesn't have to go all the way down to Saint Marys Pass from Lake Alpine. There's all types of excellent short, medium, and long distance hikes you can carve out of the Carson Iceberg Wilderness hiking South from Lake Alpine through the Silver Valley Trailhead. Long Distance Backpackers At Lake Alpine: Rest, Refreshment, and Resupply The Lake Alpine Lodge will hold your resupply package for free if you send it to them via UPS. The Lake Alpine Lodge has a fancy restaurant that serves three squares a day, but it is rather pricey for poor backpacking bums like me. The store is set up more for car campers and fishermen than backpackers, with little fuel or dried food supplies that suit backpackers. The bar is top notch, and the bar menu is more reasonable than the restaurant. The laundry and shower facilities are good. The real star of the Lake Alpine Lodge is the staff who makes it go. Great people. Hang out and have a beer and conversation with them on the deck in front of the bar. Support locals who cater to Long Distance Backpackers My theory about the Lake Alpine Lodge restaurant is that I will try to eat a meal there for each day I spend at Lake Alpine. Though expensive, I will do what I can to support places like the Lake Alpine Lodge who offer Tahoe to Yosemite Trail hikers free resupply package service and a good deal of hospitality. Thanks! For more information see the Lake Alpine Lodge-Bear Valley-Arnold resupply page. Explore the Carson Iceberg Wilderness Long, Short, and Medium distance backpacking trips within the Carson Iceberg After walking the Tahoe to Yosemite and Pacific Crest Trail routes across the Carson Iceberg a few times, I began to put together alternative routes across the wilderness. There are many fine trailheads circling the Carson Iceberg, and these are backed up by a web of trails that deeply link-up the PCT and TYT as they cross between Highway 4 and Highway 108. Heading East off of the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail Route South of Lake Alpine allows you to substantially lengthen this section of the TYT by hiking up to the PCT. East of Spicer Meadow Reservoir you can hike up through Highland Creek to join the Pacific Crest Trail at Wolf Creek Pass. This route alteration splits your hiking distance across the Carson Iceberg Wilderness between the Tahoe to Yosemite and Pacific Crest Trails, giving you what I consider to be the best of both trails. Following this plan you exit the Carson Iceberg Wilderness through Sonora Pass, rather than Saint Marys Pass. Or you can shorten this section by hiking up to the PCT from Lake Alpine to end your trip at Highland Lakes, or a bit further Northeast at Ebbetts Pass. You have lots of good hiking options out of Lake Alpine. Heading West off of the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail South of Lake Alpine there are a bunch of beautiful short loops you can craft around Elephant Rock via Rock and Summit Lakes out of and back to the Silver Valley Trailhead. There are lots of nice trails and trips in the Carson Iceberg Wilderness other than the TYT and PCT routes that I focus on. But the TYT and PCT trail sections you incorporate into your shorter trips will be the high point of that backpacking trip, both literally and aesthetically. Plan a Big Exploration of the Carson Iceberg I've laid out a trip report about a long Carson-Iceberg loop you might find interesting, and informative about the loops you can hike around the Carson Iceberg. This loop was planned as a 79 mile loop around the Carson-Iceberg Wilderness weaving together elements of the Tahoe to Yosemite and Pacific Crest Trails using the handy trails that connect these two routes. This trip finally ended up as a shorter 4 night 51 mile loop, but it was a great trip nonetheless. Long and medium distance loop trips around the Carson Iceberg Wilderness are fairly unique because of the fact that the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail roughly parallels the route of the Pacific Crest Trail down the whole length of the Carson-Iceberg Wilderness. On Highway 4 the trail heads for the Tahoe to Yosemite and Pacific Crest Trails at Lake Alpine and Ebbetts Pass are separated by 14 miles. It gets better as we hike South. Hiking South these two classic trails are connected by four trails between Highway 4 and Highway 108. Each of these connector trails gets shorter as you hike further South, as the Pacific Crest and Tahoe to Yosemite Trails draw closer and closer together as their respective routes converge approaching Highway 108. Though these trails are separated by 14 miles up North on Highway 4, their respective trailheads are only one mile apart on Highway 108. What does it all mean? This means that you can craft a wide range of short to long distance backpacking loops around the Carson-Iceberg incorporating sections of the Pacific Crest Trail in one direction, then crossing over to the Tahoe to Yosemite for the return leg. Or visa-versa... and this place is frkn beautiful. Check out these potential routes on this map of the Carson Iceberg Wilderness I'm working on. Soon all the red dots on the trail routes will lead to the trail guide page for that exact location. The Highland Creek, Arnot Creek, Disaster Creek, and the Boulder Creek trails connect the Pacific Crest Trail to the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail across the Carson Iceberg Wilderness. Starting at Lake Alpine on the TYT (or from Ebbetts Pass on the PCT) you can use any of these trails to link the PCT and TYT to craft big or small loops back around to your starting trailhead. Or you can craft a grand circle route around the Carson Iceberg Wilderness by hiking the TYT down to Saint Marys Pass, then returning to Lake Alpine via the and PCT and your selected connector trail. You have lots of great hiking options in the Carson Iceberg Wilderness. The Carson-Iceberg Wilderness offers a remarkable range of experiences for all levels of backpackers, from exciting short trips for the checked-out novice to isolated cross-country routes perfect for the grizzled old expert backpacker. As we head South on this trail guide I will point out the Murray and Golden Canyon trails down to the East Carson River, which points you towards a potential Eastern entry into the Carson Iceberg Wilderness through the Corral Valley Trailhead at Rodriguez Flat off of Highway 395. The Carson-Iceberg is completely awesome. It contains classic sections of both the Pacific Crest and Tahoe to Yosemite Trails which can be hiked as parts of their greater routes, hiked as sections, or you can weave together sections of both trails into substantial backpacking trips that remain within the Carson-Iceberg Wilderness. |
The Past Conditions the Future: Resupply Notes at Lake Alpine
Big Picture: Thinking Down The Trail Analysis of the last trail section will inform your planning and resupply decisions for the next trail section. How do you feel after finishing the 25 miles hiking down to Lake Alpine from Carson Pass? How did your food and daily mileage plans work out? How does this affect your calculations of mileage and food for the next section of trail? What adjustments to your plans and supplies are necessary?
Tasty Treats on the Trail: Mountain House... Resupply spots are your opportunity to make adjustments to your hiking plan and food supply for the upcoming trail section, and add or subtract whatever is required. Ask yourself how the daily mileage plan worked out. How about the menu? Are you using more fuel than you expected? Less? ...
Steve found the fuel I needed... Thanks Steve! ... or are the blisters acting up? Need new socks? Break a buckle on your backpack? Now is the time to make repairs to your gear and adjustments to your supplies and hiking plan to suit the reality you are experiencing on the ground. Every hike is different. Reflect on the tendencies of this trip and tune your resupplies and overall trip plan to suite your status and needs. Below: I needed more medical tape...
Heel and Toe: Heel losing skin, toe losing nail. Win some-lose some. It was still a fine 100 mile trip, despite the pain... ...and a little pain relief may be in order.
Debbie behind the Lake Alpine Lodge's Bar. Onward! The next trail section South on the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail stretches from Lake Alpine to Saint Marys Pass. This section is longer than our last, measuring out at 34.64 miles across the Western side of the Carson-Iceberg Wilderness. But there are no unmaintained trails through this next section South, though the trail does get a bit thin in places. The next trail section South of the Carson Iceberg Wilderness, from Kennedy Meadows to Tuolumne Meadows, is the final section of the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail. The KM to TM section will also be our longest section of trail yet, measuring out at around 75 miles.
"I am my own horse, and my own mule, you lazy &^%$" cowboys " (Rash words spoken to the Cowboys at the KM Cowboy Bar-resulting in great laughter and back-slapping. They thought I was hilarious...) Above: South on the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail out of Kennedy Meadows. Since starting the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail at Meeks Bay we have been hiking longer trail sections between resupply points, and getting more trail time and miles under our belts. Good thing. The 75 mile section of trail between Kennedy Meadows and Tuolumne Meadows is known as the hardest stretch of trail on the whole Pacific Crest Trail. We have the next two resupply spots at Lake Alpine and Kennedy Meadows to adjust our hiking plan and supplies for the increasing length and difficulty of each of the subsequent trail sections between our current position at Lake Alpine and our final TYT goal of Tuolumne Meadows. |
Break time
My Take on Lake Alpine I take Lake Alpine as a break spot. I depart Camp Irene very early in the morning and make Lake Alpine by early afternoon. I make a campsite at my traditional pirate camping spot on the East side of Lake Alpine, and walk down to the lake Alpine Lodge for a beer and some fresh food, and to assure my resupply bucket is there.
I just may take a full day off the trail the next day to rest my body, do laundry, take a nice shower, and leisurely pack my resupply. I might hitch down to the store and deli in Bear Valley. Lake Alpine Backpacker Re supply Resources |
Lake Alpine & Resupply Strategy on the Tahoe to Yosemite TrailSo Far Our last resupply opportunity coming South was at the Echo Lake Chalet on the South side of Echo Lake, 39.31 miles to the North of the Bee Gulch Trailhead. If you bypassed the Echo Chalet resupply option, as I generally do, you have hiked 68 miles from the start of your trip at Meeks Bay down to Lake Alpine on your original supplies. This makes it highly likely that you will resupply at Lake Alpine, unless you packed enough food to last the whole distance from Meeks Bay to Kennedy Meadows, a distance that measures out at 102.64 miles. It is do-able. I backpacked the whole TYT with no resupply in 2009. The eleven day food supply I carried made for a damn heavy pack. But it is most likely you will use the resupply service offered by the fine folks at the Lake Alpine Lodge if you are hiking the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail. If you want to keep your pack at minimum weight you will resupply at all three possible locations between Lake Tahoe and Yosemite. Lake Alpine Resupply Resources Lake Alpine Lodge, Bear Valley, and Arnold Tahoe to Whitney Resupply Resources My record for resupply, or more precisely the lack of resupply, was packing 11 days of food out of Meeks Bay for an unresupplied 183 mile run South to Tuolumne Meadows in late 2009. Next Our next resupply opportunity is 34.64 miles to our South. After exiting the Saint Marys Trailhead at Highway 108 we will hitch 9 miles West down Highway 108 to the Kennedy Meadows road. Kennedy Meadows is about a mile down the road. At Kennedy Meadows we will pick up our resupply bucket, eat a bunch of great food, kick it with the cowboys, then pick up the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail South out of Kennedy Meadows into the Emigrant Wilderness. Kennedy Meadows to Tuolumne Meadows is the last leg of our journey South on the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail. At Tuolumne Meadows we will follow the John Muir Trail South. |
North: Mount Reba to Lake Alpine South: Lake Alpine to Rock Lake
The Tahoe to Yosemite Trail |
Lake Alpine to Saint Marys Pass Highway 4, Calavaras Ranger District, Stanislaus National Forest. Mokelumne Wilderness to the North, Carson Iceberg Wilderness to the South. 7.5 min Hiking Topo Map: Lake Alpine Area 30 min Hiking Topo Map: Lake Alpine to Saint Marys Pass Next page South: Lake Alpine to Rock Lake |
Backpacking Trail Guide North on the TYT |
Backpacking Trail Guide South on the TYT |
Backpacker ForumsHave a great Sierra Nevada trip or story to relate? A fine piece of gear? Or gear that failed?Post it on: TahoetoWhitney.OrgIf you have experiences, comments, questions, or pictures and videos of the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail between Lake Alpine and Saint Marys Pass, Post up here:Forum Section: Lake Alpine to Saint Marys PassForum Segment: Lake Alpine |
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