ROUTE OPTIONS NOTE
Hiking South from Lake Tahoe to Mount Whitney we've planned and written "The Golden Triangle" into our itinerary.
It adds maybe another five or six days to the duration and maybe an additional sixtly miles of distance and five thousand feet of climbing.
A "standard" Tahoe to Whitney backpacking trip would end our hike South along the combined Tahoe to Yosemite and Pacific Crest Trail at Tuolumne Meadows where we would pick up the combined routes of the John Muir and Pacific Crest Trails.
Here we turn down the John Muir Trail to follow it down to its start point in Yosemite Valley. After checking out the weirdness and beauty in the Valley we will re-enter the John Muir Trail through Happy Isles up to Little Yosemite Valley, where we will break off the JMT.
We are seeking a different way back to the Sierra Crest than re-tracing our steps back up the John Muir Trail to Tuolumne Meadows. We'll continue up the Merced River past Little Yosemite to hike over Vogelsang to reconnect with the Southbound JMT-PCT in Lyell Canyon a few miles South of Tuolumne Meadows. |