May Lake 5/27/07 and Mt. Hoffmann 8/5/23

[Tony Crocker]

Sunday of Memorial weekend Andrew and I drove over Tioga Pass into Yosemite. This year we drove a few miles past Tuolumne Meadows and parked near Tenaya Lake at 8,100 ft. We hiked about 3 1/2 miles to May Lake at 9,300. In midsummer one of the 5 High Sierra tent camps is set up here. Just west of May Lake is 10,800 foot Mt. Hoffmann, which is in the geographic center of Yosemite and must have one of the most spectacular 360 degree views anywhere. There are no peaks north or west of Hoffman close to its elevation, but I did not get far enough to see those views. In midsummer this would be a simpler hike, and would also be 2 miles shorter via a spur road that was not open Sunday.

The ice on May Lake was just breaking up, and there were periodic patches of snow that obscured the steep trail up Mt. Hoffmann. The ranger at Tuolumne Meadows thought most of the snow would be in the trees near May Lake, but the trail was a tease as far as I went. Several times I would scramble for 10 minutes or so and then pick up the trail again. But it was 3PM when I reached 9,800 feet, and I decided that was enough with Class V rafting scheduled the next day.

May Lake was still over half covered with ice even though most snow had melted out.

Andrew:

Me:

Meadow above May Lake:

View towards Cloud's Rest:

Half Dome, Nevada Falls barely visible lower right:

Snow patches made finding the trail through the scree difficult.

That is not Mt. Hoffmann directly above. It's far out of sight to looker's left.

 

[ChrisC]

Sunday of Memorial weekend we drove over Tioga Pass into Yosemite. This year we drove a few miles past Tuolumne Meadows and parked near Tenaya Lake at 8,100 ft. We hiked about 3 1/2 miles to May Lake at 9,300. In midsummer one of the 5 High Sierra tent camps is set up here. Just west of May Lake is 10,800 foot Mt. Hoffman, which is in the geographic center of Yosemite and must have one of the most spectacular 360 degree views anywhere. There are no peaks north or west of Hoffman close to its elevation, but I did not get far enough to see those views. In midsummer this would be a simpler hike, and would also be 2 miles shorter via a spur road that was not open Sunday.

The ice on May Lake was just breaking up, and there were periodic patches of snow that obscured the steep trail up Mt. Hoffman. The ranger at Tuolumne Meadows thought most of the snow would be in the trees near May Lake, but the trail was a tease as far as I went. Several times I would scramble for 10 minutes or so and then pick up the trail again. But it was 3PM when I reached 9,800 feet, and I decided that was enough with Class V rafting scheduled the next day.

That's a really nice hike. Gets you away from Yosemite Valley. A lot longer without the road open all the way.

 

[Tony Crocker]

16 years later I thought I would take another shot at Mt. Hoffmann. Despite the huge snow year, it is August, so I figured the spur road to the May Lake trailhead would be open. Also the upper trail above tree line is on a south facing slope.

It’s fortunate I was correct on those assumptions because I did not get to the trailhead until 12:15. I thought I would eat at Breakfast Club in Mammoth while charging, but it had a 35 minute wait. I got into Good Life Café just in time, because there were 20 people waiting when I left. Bluesapalooza attracts lots of people to Mammoth. I also had a 25 minute wait getting into Yosemite at Tioga Pass.

The initial hike to May Lake is 500 vertical in about 45 minutes. This was the first Sierra hike my son Adam did when he was 5.

The white structure in the trees at far right is part of the May Lake High Sierra Camp. There are 5 camps linked 8-10 miles apart where hikers can reserve meals and lodging like Liz and I did in Chile in 2011 and New Zealand in 2012. However the High Sierra camps do not open in big snow years as the accessible hiking season would be too short. There’s also a sign forbidding swimming because May Lake is a drinking water source.

Looking up from May Lake:

Mt. Hoffmann is behind those peaks.

The trail just above May Lake had some snow patches.

Now the trail becomes challenging, winding through rocks and trees to upper right here.

Cloud’s Rest is at distance center left.

Looking back to May Lake from above those rocks:

After 10 minutes in forest there’s a longer rock pile to ascend. I just started up as I never saw any trail markings at the edge of the forest. View east toward Sierra Crest:

The large dark area upper left is the Tuolumne River valley. Largest brown mountain at distant center is 13,000 foot Mt. Dana. Cathedral Peak is the closer distinctive peak center right.

Farther up you can see May Lake at left and Tenaya Lake at right.

There are still plenty of rocks above.

By this time I would see cairns piled here and there so I was on the right track. That rock pile was from about 9,800 to 10,300 feet. As with skiing, it’s now slower going with age at 10,000. Above the rocks the trail mellows out for awhile.

I had met a few people on their way down who said there was one final rock pile at the end, and I was pretty sure by this time that I wasn’t doing that.

You can barely see a pole on Mt. Hoffman left of center. Zoomed view of a couple of hikers on the rocks:

But I was encouraged because It looked like I could get the view off the north side from the notch straight ahead.

That’s a narrow view, but it was an easy walk over to the rocks at looker’s right.

Sheer cliff on north side of Mt. Hoffmann:

9,800 foot lake at the base of that cliff still has snow and ice.

These are the headwaters of Yosemite Creek, so Yosemite Falls will still have some life the rest of the summer. View downstream:

View north to Tuolumne Peak, about the same height as Mt. Hoffmann:

The Tuolumne River is on the other side.

Closer view of the scramble up Mt. Hoffmann that I declined.

I was up on this ledge from about 3:10 – 3:25PM. View south:

Zoomed view of Half Dome with Nevada Falls and Merced River at right:

I saw four marmots on the way down and got decent pictures of two of them.

On the way up from May Lake to about 9,600 feet I had occasional mosquito bites drawing blood on my arms. That was at 1:30, so I was not surprised to notice lots of them buzzing about when I got to tree line about 4:30. I had my shell ski jacket in my day pack and so put it on for the rest of the hike down.

I got to the car a little after 6PM and had a long drive out of the park. The road goes through the Tunnel View area at the west end of Yosemite Valley, so I had to take a few pics with the ideal light at 7:15.

Bridalveil Falls:

The parking lot and trail there were closed for construction/repairs.

El Capitan:

Is the fall next to the tree at left the one that is illuminated as a firefall in Late February? Orientation seems right.

Tunnel View

It was slow going down to Oakhurst and Fresno. I had dinner at the Selma Supercharger south of Fresno at 9:40PM. I got up at 6AM to ski those few runs at Mammoth and got home at 1AM. I probably get home a little earlier if I drive back out the Tioga road and down 395.

 

[jasoncapecod]

WOW!!!! very impressive...Great report!!!

 

[jamesdeluxe]

Beautiful pix

 

[tseeb]

@Tony Crocker asked "Is the fall next to the tree at left the one that is illuminated as a firefall in Late February? Orientation seems right." I think your photo is 1,612' Ribbon Falls, W of El Capitan and nearly directly across Yosemite Valley from Bridalveil Fall, not 1,000' Horsetail Fall, the February firefall which is E of El Capitan. See map at https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/upload/YOSEmap2.pdf and more info on waterfalls at https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/waterfalls.htm

You also said "I probably get home a little earlier if I drive back out the Tioga road and down 395." Google maps says it's almost 45 mins from May Lake trailhead to Crane Flat where you turned left to Yosemite Valley and I turned right in late July to exit Yosemite. 120 is usually a little slow with tourist traffic and you don't want to get a ticket which can require a return to Yosemite for court. It's not that scenic W of Olmstead Point besides a couple of limited distant views and where you cross Yosemite Creek where there is a picnic area and a short hike leads to a great (later in Summer) swimming hole. Besides Tenaya Lake, my only stop in mountains after entering Yosemite in late July was Rim of the World Vista Point where you look down on confluence of North and South Forks of the Tuolumne.

 

[EMSC]

I'm sure it's pretty overrun with people in the main valley floor area in recent decades. Still remains one of my favorite parks of all time, with amazing hiking opportunities. I seem to recall that certain hikes now require a permit to keep the numbers reasonable.

I have had 2 trips there; both long ago at this point (late 1970's and early 90's).

 

[Tony Crocker]

Yes for the flaming effect the waterfall needs to be backlit, as on one of them here in Geiranger, Norway a year ago:

This was about 5:30 and 3 hours before sunset. To get the red and yellow colors it needs to be closer to sunset.

As for the slog out of Yosemite, it was Hwy 41 down to Fresno which took about 2 hours. Tseeb never experiences that as he's exiting via 120 or 140.