Backpacking
the
NORTH
YOSEMITE BACKCOUNTRY

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North
Kennedy Meadows

South
Tuolumne Meadows

All
Weather

Local
Weather

Points
North, South, and East
of the
Tilden Canyon Trail Junction
in
LOWER
Jack Main Canyon

Jack Main Canyon Hiking Maps

Upper
Jack Main Canyon
HIKING MAP

The
Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne River
HIKING MAP

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All backpackers can post text comments about the section covered by this guide page below through the comments links on this, and all the trail guide pages.

Registered Members can post post more information besides text, including images, maps and videos in their own posts on the Trails Forum that supplements this trail guide page's coverage of the trail from Wilmer Lake to Stubblefield Canyon.

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Trail junction in Lower Jack Main Canyon to Tilden Canyon.

Lower Falls Creek Ford to Tilden Canyon.

The Other End of the Trail Above
The Jack Main Canyon Trail Junction in Tilden Canyon

We last saw Falls Creek on the previous guide page, at the end of the long meadow-kinda flat section upriver, where it bend around the rock formation with the gap we hiked through. Now it's back after circling all the way around the rock feature. At this point Jack Main Canyon bends more to the Southwest while another arm of the canyon runs on a line pointed thirty degrees further South. Do check out the map of this very complex terrain.

The two cuts of the canyon split on Andrews Peak.

Up Jack Main Canyon.

Distance up Jack Main Canyon from trail junction to Tilden Canyon.

Hiking South from the Tilden Canyon trail junction runs us down another nearly flat gently descending run of wide open meadow canyon bottom, until we come to the next bend in the course of Falls Creek, which forces us to climb and cut off the knob of granite creating the bend, from which we get good views up-canyon and reasonable views down.

Andrews Peak is rising on our Left. Checking out the detailed topo map shows us that Andrews Peak acts as a corner, being the pivot point dividing the line of glacier that cut Jack Main Canyon below its North Flank from the line cut through the Branigan Lakes.

A close look at the terrain shows a series of slashes creating canyons and ridges, then canyons are cut into the tops of the ridges.

Saturated meadow trail through Lower Jack Main Canyon.

Here we see yet another sign that the whole length of Jack Main Canyon is cut through solid granite, meaning the floor of the canyon is one big, long sheet of granite.

Thousands of years of sediment deposition have covered this granite base, which still serves to capture all the water that drains into it.

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Improved, raised meadow trail through Lower Jack Main Canyon.

Typical treatment for saturated or fragile soils.

Climbing to cut off bend in Falls Creek below the run of meadow.

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Climbing around bend in Falls Creek running down Jack Main Canyon with Southwest shoulder of Andrews Peak in distance.

Let's Unravel This
Looking up at Macomb and Bailey Ridges from Lower Jack Main Canyon.

Feature rising on the center-Right is the dome along Bailey Ridge behind Avonelle Lake.

Macomb Ridge is visible in the furthest distant middle of the image, while Peak 8273 above Mahan Lake is the prominent feature rising in the center-Left of the image. We came down between Peak 8273 and the Knob rising on Bailey Ridge above Avonell Lake.

Turning around to continue down-canyon we review the features along it's East Wall.

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Descending back down to the floor of Jack Main Canyon after cutting off the bend in Falls Creek climbing over this feature below Andrews Peak.

We see the placid waters of Falls Creek off to our Left as we turn away descending to our West.

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Trail down Jack main Canyon below Andrews Peak..

Fine Yosemite Trail Crew Work running down Jack Main Canyon below Andrews Peak.

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Down to Falls Creek in the bottom of Lower Jack Main Canyon.

Descending we note Falls Creek flowing by to our Left, to our East.

Hiking around a bend in Falls Creek looking down Falls Creek.

Ahead we have Falls Creek and a big blue pond with a narrow strip of land holding our trail between.

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About a fifteen inch trout swimming upstream.

Falls Creek is to our Left, the East, and an expansive little blue pond to our West, on our Southbound Right.

We are hiking along a narrow strip of organic terrain separating Falls Creek from this big blue pond.

At the end of the strip we cut across/along a granite island floating in the bottom of Jack Main Canyon where Falls Creek continues down-canyon between the soft banks of sediments it transported down here. Our trail turns onto the hard rock.

Cutting across this low feature to the North is setting our trail up to swing around the North Shore of Lake 7643, where we are going to camp tonight.

Hiking North we look almost directly South at Wall of Jack Main Canyon below Andrews Peak. The North-South line of Upper Jack Main Canyon has gradually bent itself more and more into a Western course. The line of Jack Main Canyon is almost East and West down here in the bottom of the Canyon.

Thus we are looking almost directly South when we look Left at what was the "Eastern" wall of Upper Jack Main Canyon.

Hiking North over a granite feature from Falls Creek towards Lake 7643 we turn to look South at the wall of Jack Main Canyon running off the Southwest Flank of Andrews Peak.

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Making our way North, Falls Creek behind us and descending to the next blue pond off to our Right and Lake 7643 to our Left.

But first we pass a small black pond to our Southbound Right.

We are hiking a grand S-turn bending with our route following the most stable terrain through and around a series of meadows, bits of forest, and a series of interesting "lake-ponds" all situated in the serpentine course of the delightfully irregular sculpted granite features encountered in this glacially carved river bottom. I mean carved by a river of ice. Everything subsequently has had to fit into and through the shape of the canyon left by the long departed ice.

The "Ponds"

Not really ponds and not really lakes. Polakes? The basis of this identity crisis is that the vast majority of the bottom of this canyon, beneath the deposited sediments and the lakes, meadows and forests sitting on the sediments, is a solid rock floor. Virtually nothing soaks in.

Very little water "soaks into" Jack Main Canyon because there is nothing but solid rock below all the sediments. EVERYTHING flows down Jack Main Canyon. These lakes are fed and maintained by this "rock bathtub" character of the canyon that lets no water soak in, but forces all water to flow down Jack Main Canyon.

Thus we find this series of blue water "pond-lakes" with no inlet nor outlet. Water is flowing down-canyon through the soils, passing through meadows and lakes on its subterranean course down Jack Main Canyon.

Typical
Types of Ponds

Ponds Forum            Ponds Comments

To our Left we can see the expansive surface of the next pond-lake, designated as "Water Level," WL 7643 on our map glistening beyond its merged reflections with the glacially polished rock surface.

Though it's a pond, 7643 is very lake-like. I attribute that to much higher than normal flows of water through the soils of Jack Main Canyon, charging up all the ponds in Lower Jack Main Canyon. It seems to me these soils are piled on top of long lengths of uninterrupted solid granite that makes up the unseen buried floor of Jack Main Canyon.

We can't see it, except for the increased capture and retention of water down the whole length of Jack Main Canyon.

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SOUTHWEST
Downriver View
Full length of the Lake under the Northwestern-most flank of Andrews Peak and the Southeastern flank of Mahan Peak that is marked WL 7643 on the Lower Jack Main Canyon Topo Hiking Map.

Our trail continuing South passes between the dome on the Left and the rising North wall of Jack Main Canyon on the Right.

Our View in the series of images below rotates counter-clockwise from the Southwest looking down canyon in the image above to our view looking almost directly East, up-canyon as we hike South beyond Lake 7643, below.

Downriver View
Andrews Peak rises to our Southeast, out of sight to our Left, with its profile running Northeast making up the wall of Jack Main Canyon to our Southeast.

Lake 7634 sits on the floor of Jack Main Canyon a bit North of the Northern foot of Andrews Peak's North-facing flank. That flank makes up the South wall of Jack Main Canyon rising above us.

Our view above is from the North Shore of Lake 7643 looking Southwest at the low dome feature sitting just off the base of the Western-most foot of Andrews Peak. Andrews Peak is off to the Left making up the South wall of Jack Main Canyon, and wrapping around the South shore of Lake 7643.

Our trail continuing down-canyon passes through the saddle to the Right of the dome.

Below we are looking almost directly South.

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Granite features stretching out to the Northwest from the base of Andrews Peak wrapping around the Southwestern shore of Lake 7643 in Jack Main Canyon.

This perspective is are looking almost directly South, a little West of South, while our route down the remainder of Jack Main Canyon tracks Southwest, to the Right of the dome on the far Right of the image, which is the same as the image above.

We are almost down to the very bottom of Jack main Canyon, which is narrowing down to an arrowhead shape between steep granite walls. The tip of the arrow is where Falls Creek bends 90 degrees South to run down to Lake Vernon, which is sitting in it's own valley seemingly cut into the top of the ridge to our South. We climb a moderately steep gorge to get ourselves out the bottom of Jack Main Canyon up onto the top of Moraine Ridge.

Rock ramp down to the lake. The Northwestern foot of Andrews Peak descending to the lake.

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Upriver View
View of Andrews Peak to the Southeast across Lake 7643.

Our lake is just below the Westernmost extent of Andrews Peak.

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Snake in the Lake!

Andrews Peak trimmed with the last light of the dying sunset.

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First light into Lower Jack Main Canyon looking Southeast across Lake 7643.

Andrews Lake is just on the other side pf the Ridge Arm above, which is descending off the Northwest-most shoulder of Andrews Peak.

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First Light looking East up Jack Main Canyon across Lake 7643.

We have hiked down to the South Shore of the lake and have turned to take a look up-canyon, above.

Our route down canyon came around the Right (South) edge of the ridge arm we see in the distance, then crossed the granite between the ridge and far side of the lake from Right to Left to wrap around the Left (North) Shore of Lake 7643 to our current position.

View
Just a tiny bit North of East looking up Jack Main Canyon.

We're looking across the foot of the great Southern Shoulder descending off Mahan Peak. We see Peak 8768 rising above Avonelle Lake on the Left, and the next peak South along the Bailey Ridge ridgeline towards the location of Tiltill Mountain to the Right of Peak 8768.

The trail down the next canyon to our East, the trail from Tilden Lake to Tiltill Valley climbs under the opposite flank just below the top of Peak 8768, then runs up a groove in the terrain just under the crest of the peak to its Right. That point is where hikers on the trail from Tilden to Tiltill stop climbing and begin their great descent into Tiltill Valley and past Rancheria Falls to Hetch Hetchy.

But, that's over there, and we're here in Jack Main Canyon.

Check out the Lower Jack Main Canyon map to locate the peak on the Left, above, in its dominant position above the NW shore of Avonelle Lake. The peak in the distant Left is this stretch of Bailey Ridge that we observed closely as we hiked under it, and beyond.

Note the light playing on the flank of Andrews Peak on the far Right of the image. The gap between Andrews Flank and Bailey Ridge beyond is where the canyon holding the string of Branigan Lakes is located. That string of lakes and its canyon drop into the canyon holding Lake Vernon further down the West flank.

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Continuing South we're going to hike down-canyon over the low rise between the low dome on the Left side of the image above, and the canyon wall rising to the North, which is rising out of the Right edge of the image.

Falls Creek is bending around from Left to Right around to the backside of that dome, while our trail down Jack Main Canyon will climb over the low saddle between the dome and the canyon wall.

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Descending the far side of the saddle we find this cool tributary stream running in a granite slot. The tributary is coming off and draining the West flank of the saddle our trail crossed hiking downstream from Lake 7643.

The End of Jack Main Canyon
Getting to the top of the saddle below Lake 7643 we catch our first view down to and through the bottom of Jack Main Canyon up to the top of Moraine Ridge.

The converging ridge arms point to the bottom of Jack Main Canyon.

Our route out of the bottom of Jack Main Canyon up to the top of Moraine Ridge passes just to the right of the forested point of Peak 8213 at the very top of Moraine Ridge. Our trail runs up to that point just along the Right edge of the line of granite formations we see showing through the forest from the bottom of Jack Main Canyon up to the summit of Moraine Ridge.

That's where we are going.

View almost directly South.

The cascade along Falls Creek just past Lake 7643 getting its first light.

Andrews Lake is on the other side of Falls Creek wedged into the low ridgeline beyond the treetops.

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Staining on granite wall as our trail stays on the North side of Jack Main Canyon as we make our way down to the longer, but final segment where Falls Creek fattens up to run itself through a wide segment before narrowing down and plunging out the lower end of Jack Main Canyon.

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Our trail brings us down to the final segment of a "fat" run of Falls Creek, where we turn around to take a last look up the canyon at Andrews Peak.

Campsite in the bottom of Jack Main Canyon.

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Temperate climate zone in the bottom of Jack Main Canyon.

The terrain must be terribly saturated during late Spring into early Summer, demanding this segment of armored trail.

Our last three-quarters of a mile across the bottom of Jack Main Canyon undulates along the Northwest canyon wall, as it has down the length of the canyon.

Wet trail rising with a nice dry granite fin.

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very finely crafted steep and deep S-turn brings us to the end of Falls Creek's run down Jack Main Canyon, and ours too.

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Ahead we see Falls Creek turning out the bottom of Jack Main Canyon.

Falls Creek takes a Ninety-degree turn South flowing out the bottom of Jack Main Canyon.

Falls Creek flows into the wide valley seemingly cut into a ridgetop holding Vernon Lake.

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Now our trail climbs out of the bottom of Jack Main Canyon up to the top of Moraine Ridge.

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Climbing Moraine Ridge from the bottom of Jack Main Canyon we enter the narrow slot or shallow groove carved into the North flank of Moraine Ridge.

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Climbing Moraine Ridge out of Lower Jack Main Canyon.

The North Flank of Moraine Ridge.

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Looking into the bottom of Jack Main Canyon while climbing onto Moraine Ridge.

John and Renee out of North Carolina, June 30 2016.

Also See
PCT Hiker Sample 2013

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John and Renee climbing Moraine Ridge in Yosemite.

We find an interesting juxtaposition of increasing heat and decreasing water dotted with islands of lusher life where water is available.

Lodgepole Pines have given way to California White Pine and Fir.

Mariposa Lilly

Mariposa Lilly Forum

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Butterflies form a compass on Moraine Ridge.

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Moraine Ridge butterfly.

Moraine Ridge Butterflies.

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Cavalry T trail blaze atop Moraine Ridge.

History Forum: Yosemite

Getting up to the top of Moraine Ridge our view up Jack Main Canyon and the North Yosemite Backcountry beyond opens up.

Let's figure out what we are seeing.

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Price Peak has the route of the TYT-PCT running through the portion of Kerrick Canyon wrapping around its Southern Flank. The stretch of Kerrick Canyon running Rancheria Creek down from its Sierra Crest source to the East of Price Peak offers fantastic access into the North Yosemite Backcountry and onto the TYT-PCT route through Twin Lakes.

I figure our line of sight through Peak 8467 above is about 38 degrees East of North.

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Our view above is looking just a bit South of East off the North end of Moraine Ridge, what I figure is running a line along the bearing of 97 degrees towards the summit of Tiltill Peak, which is blocked by the tree.

Last steps to the top of Moraine Ridge.

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Many ants on Moraine Ridge.

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Pussypaw near the top of Moraine Ridge in Yosemite.

We've crossed the high point along the crest of Moraine Ridge, now descending for the rest of our hike down to Hetch Hetchy.

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Bumble Bee and Me, atop Moraine Ridge while backpacking out of Jack Main Canyon.

This dude persistently pursued me, insisting I let him harvest some salt. I was at first resistant to his persistence, then relented in the face of the overwhelming need this persistence revealed. The Bumbler was putting his health at risk "bugging" me, which indicated his health was at greater risk not bugging me. Salt must be at a real premium.

Bumbler was an expert, using his rasp-like tongue to quickly scrape off and roll up a a wad of salt crystals off the surface of my skin. Bumbler, or his buddies, had a serious need for salt, stat!

It gets better even better!

While checking out the Bumbler I spied another little guy running by.

With eight legs!

Trying to run by...

Little red spider trying to run away as fast as he can.

I can feel him thinking, "Aw shit, I hope he didn't see me," as he scurried on, convinced I had indeed seen him, and making haste.

I had, and I was coming in to say, "Howdy, Spider."

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Hey little dude,

Note the eye he's keeping on us...

Little red spider running up the rock, thinking Alex does suck.

Note the eyes on the back of his head on us.

Have any idea what to call this little guy besides, "Little Red, Spider Variety?" Post it up in the
"Little Red Spider on Moraine Ridge" entry in the

Spider Forum

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Trail sign up Moraine Ridge into Lower Jack Main Canyon.

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Trail sign down Moraine Ridge into the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne River and Hetch Hetchy Reservoir.

We figure it's 1.5 miles to the Spring and Campsites at the Beehive trail junction to Laurel Lake.

Trail to Northeast off Moraine Ridge down to Vernon Lake, with the trail continuing Southeast around the South Flank of Gibson Peak to get into Tiltill Valley.

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A bit of lush terrain hiking Southwest down Moraine Ridge approaching the Beehive trail junction.

The lushness is indicative of the effect of this little "pocket," this low depression in the topography that feeds this temperate zone, the upcoming meadow at the beehive trail junction out to Laurel Lake, and the improved spring located there.

The spring at the Beehive is sufficient to reliably supply hikers and the campsites there.

Butterflies puddle on Moraine Ridge.

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v

Endless Butterflies along a segment of temperate trail approaching the spring at the Beehive.

Endless Butterflies
Forum and Comments

Check out the
Butterfly Forum

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Hiking Southwest and down into the East edge of the meadow at the Beehive where we hike straight past the trail out to Laurel Lake.

Campsites at the trail junction for Laurel Lake at the Beehive on Moraine Ridge.

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Up Moraine Ridge.

We figure it's 1.5 miles up Moraine Ridge to where the trail junction to Lake Vernon. That junction marks the beginning of the descent to Lake Vernon off Moraine Ridge. The distance to Tiltill Valley is via Lake Vernon.

Wilmer Lake is where the trail up Jack Main Canyon meets the Pacific Crest Trail's route across the North Yosemite Backcountry.

The trail from the Beehive to Laurel Lake

Trail to the spring.

Trail to the fresh water spring at the Beehive trail junction and campsites.

Freshwater spring near the Beehive trail junction and campsites.

Hiking to Hetch Hetchy from the Beehive.
A gentle climb brings us Southwest continuing our hike towards Hetch Hetchy from the Beehive trail junction to Laurel Lake.

Beginning to descend we find ourselves in fine fern under forest of Pine and Fir.

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Trail to Beehive up Moraine Ridge from this trail to Lake Eleanor Road.

The sign above pointing us back up Moraine Ridge indicates we have descended less than a mile from the Beehive.

Lake Eleanor Road 2.4 miles
Hetch Hetchy 6.4 miles

The sign above measures our distance down Moraine Ridge to Hetch Hetchy and to the next trail junction along our way, which is the junction with Lake Eleanor Road.

Once we get down to our next trail junction, the junction with the "Lake Eleanor Road" we will notice that we are entering what was once a paved road surface for the remainder of our trail down switchbacks to the surface level of Hetch Hetchy.

We can see it was paved both by the size and grading, but mostly through the remnant random chunks of asphalt scattered about, and what's still remaining along some of the edges of this old road.

This trail breaks off our main route running down Moraine Ridge to work its way Southwest down-mountain it's intersection with the Lake Eleanor Road. The Lake Eleanor road

The trail to Lake Eleanor Road from the Beehive via Lake Eleanor connects with this trail on its way out to the Lake Eleanor Road.

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Gunsight burned tree below the Beehive.
Flattish old burned zone filled by dry, scrubby meadow below the trail to Lake Eleanor Road.

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Beginning our descent into the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne River.

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Descending between the top two Eleanor Lake Road trail junctions.

Unidentified Dandelion.

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Williamson's Clarkia on Moraine Ridge above Hetch Hetchy.

Trail Coming down Moraine Ridge above Hetch Hetchy.
WE are taking a look across the top of the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne as we hike down to the lowest trail junction above Hetch Hetchy, which is the junction with the Lake Eleanor Road.

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We get a nice view into the uppermost reaches of Hetch Hetchy reaching way up the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne River.

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Lake Eleanor Road trail junction above Hetch Hetchy.

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Lake Eleanor Road trail junction trail up Moraine Ridge.

Trail down to Hetchy from the Lake Eleanor Road trail junction on Moraine Ridge.

Here we sit atop road-width switchbacks down to Hetch Hetchy.

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Pavement remnants at Lake Eleanor Road above above Hetch Hetchy.

Kolana Rock from Moraine Ridge as we descent to Hetch Hetchy below the Lake Eleanor Road trail junction.

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Looking up Hetch Hetchy at Le Conte Point rising above the canyon where Rancheria Creek runs through its Falls and down into Hetch Hetchy.

Rancheria Mountain is the name of that vast ridge rising in the background.

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Hetch Hetchy up against O'Shaughnessy Dam.

Trail work.

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Le Conte Point towering over Rancheria Falls beyond Kolana Point, Rancheria Mountain Climbing in the furthest background.

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Road sized trail switchbacking down to Hetch Hetchy below the trail junction with Lake Eleanor Road.

Hetch Hetchy Trailhead
NORTH-NORTHWEST
UP
Moraine Ridge to Jack Main Canyon

OUTBOUND HIKERS
NORTH AND NORTHEAST

O'Shaughnessy Dam
Altitude
3813 feet

Beehive
3.5 miles

Bottom of Jack Main Canyon

Tilden Canyon Junction
below
Wilmer Lake
14.9 miles

Trail junction beginning the monster climb onto and over Moraine Ridge into the bottom of Jack Main Canyon.

Beehive 6.5 miles

Laurel Lake 7.6 miles

Vernon Lake 9.9 miles

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California Conservation Corps trail rehabilitation sign.
You should get into trail crew.

Here's how:
California Conservation Corps Forum

California Conservation Corps
Backcountry Trails Program

Sign
Funding Needed: $606,836
Expected Completion Date: October 2013

Enjoy improved trails as young adults develop skills in trail building and learn about protecting natural resources and providing for safe visitor access.

* The California Conservation Corps (CCC) was established in 1976 and is the oldest and largest state conservation corps program in the country

* This summer, young adults (late teens to early 20s) are working alongside
National Park Service crews to restore trails throughout Yosemite

*Crews rehabilitate trails, clear drainages, repair bridges, fill trail ruts and
much more.

* Improved trails allow for a safer hiking experience while you enjoy Yosemite's
breathtaking scenery.

Hetch Hetchy Trailhead
NORTHEAST

O'Shaughnessy Dam
Altitude
3813 fee

OUTBOUND HIKERS
EAST AND NORTHEAST

6.5 miles to Rancheria Falls

9.2 miles to Tilltill Valley

17.1 miles to Jack Main Canyon Trail Junction
ascending Tilden Canyon

19.1 miles to PCT-TYT in Tilden Canyon

HIKING
East-Northeast
out of
Hetch Hetchy Trailhead

Our trip hiking South-Southwest off the PCT-TYT through Tilden Canyon to Tiltill Valley and Rancheria Falls on our way here to Hetch Hetchy is about over. Those hikers entering the Yosemite Wilderness through this Hetch Hetchy Trailhead have two options.

Back the way we came:
The Trail upriver into the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne River brings us to the trail junction at Rancheria Falls. From Rancheria Falls we have a choice between hiking North up into Tiltill Valley on the climb into Tilden Canyon, or we can begin climbing the route over Rancheria Mountain bending Northeast. This trail brings us to a junction splitting the trail between the trail through Bear Valley to the PCT at Kerrick Canyon or climbing over the next massive ridge to our East into Rodgers Canyon via Pleasant Valley.

From Pleasant Valley we can climb Rodgers Canyon to the PCT near Smedberg Lake or descend to Pate Valley on the floor of the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne above the waters of Hetch Hetchy. The miles to Glen Aulin and on to Yosemite Valley are measured down that route from Hetch Hetchy to Pate Valley.

Up onto Moraine Ridge
The second trail junction sign pictured above up onto Moraine Ridge begins a very hard climb up to the Beehive at the top of Moraine Ridge while our route wraps around the North Shore of Hetch Hetchy on a comparatively mellow trail East to where we begin our climb North out of the Grand Canyon up to Rancheria Falls and on to Tiltill Valley.

I've got to note the steel trail sign in Tiltill Valley reads out the distance to Hetch Hetchy at 9.2 miles, while the sign above reads it out at 7.9 miles.

Outward Bound
from
Hetch Hetchy
for
Hikers
All backpackers hiking East along and around the North Shore of Hetch Hetchy are forced to beginning climbing out of the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne River up to the Rancheria Falls trail camps and trail junction after passing East of the bridge over Tiltill Creek.

Two Trails
Climbing
from
Rancheria Falls

Left-North, Northwest
From the Rancheria Falls junction we have two route choices with both trails climbing North & East up to the route of the PCT-TYT. We have the Northern-most route to our Left, which is exactly the route we followed down here to Hetch Hetchy through Tilden Canyon on the page above.

Right-East, Northeast
The trail climbing East, the trail branching off the Right to hikers climbing out of The Grand Canyon from Rancheria Falls climbs across Rancheria Mountain to cross the ridge making up the South wall of Kerrick Canyon to intersect with the PCT-TYT in Kerrick Canyon.
Before crossing the ridge into Kerrick Canyon that trail splits a trail East climbing steeply up to and through Pleasant Valley as it climbs high enough (8200 feet) to pass around the nose of the ridge overlooking an epic section of the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne Meadows. This trail makes all these moves to the East to access the trail running from the PCT-TYT under Volunteer Peak down Rodgers Canyon to Pate Valley.

We can ascend from here to three different points along the combined routes of the TYT-PCT across the North Yosemite Backcountry. These are through Tilden Canyon Creek, into Kerrick Canyon at its PCT-TYT fording point, or up through Rodgers Canyon.

Taking the route to Rodgers Canyon brings us through Pleasant Valley, where we can either continue up to the PCT-TYT or drop down to Pate Valley on the floor of the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne above the top of Hetch Hetchy Reservoir.

See the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne map for a good overview of all these North Yosemite backpacking trips.

Wilderness boundary sign and notice at Hetch Hetchy Trailhead.

Hetch Hetchy Trailhead hiking to O'Shaughnessy Dam.

Road to O'Shaughnessy Dam.

The Hetch Hetchy Tunnel.

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Face of O'Shaughnessy Dam.

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Wapama Falls from O'Shaughnessy Dam.

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Road Maps specifying locations of the endpoint of our backpacking trip to Hetch Hetchy in relation to Mather, Highway 120, Crane Flat and Tuolumne Meadows.

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Backpacking Trail Guide

NORTH
to the
PCT-TYT

To
Wilmer
Lake

Upper
Jack Main
Canyon

Backpacking Trail Guide

SOUTH
on the
PCT-TYT

Wilmer
Lake
to
Stubblefield
Canyon

Tuolumne Meadows