By Dave Boyer.

Tioga Pass to Dunderberg Meadows, September 2006.

In memory of Jerry Richard Repke.

June 14^th 1954 – December 3^rd 2010.

A Trip into the Sierra’s

(Please click on smaller images to enlarge them)

In September of 2006 I took some time off from work to make several trips into the Sierra Nevada’s with the idea of running a few off road routes in and around Yosemite National Park. The fall season offers mild temps and limited mosquito activity which makes this time of year one of the best times to visit California’s mountainous regions.

I drove up on weekends, and over a three week period re-visited some spots in my “year old??? SMB with a couple of good friends. Jerry, who is a life long friend has been an avid backcountry man over several years and has actually lived in the wilderness for extended lengths of time. Unfortunately due to some major health issues he is no longer able rough it like he has in the past, so when I suggested a road trip, he jumped on it. For the first trip I picked a couple of areas where I didn’t need a spotter to make it doable for Jerry.

(Jerry at Tenaya Lake)

I also asked a long time friend a co-worker to make the second trip. Don, who is an avid off roader was up for more of a challenge. Don and I have backpacked many areas of Yosemite over the years and he’s knowledgeable of areas south of the Park that I was not familiar with. Part 2 will cover the trip with Don but Jerry also accompanied me on a trip into that area as well. In part 3 of this article which covers the Old Coulterville Road, Jerry and I have driven that route more than any of my other friends combined.

Around September 8^th, Jerry and I headed toward a developed campground off the “Tioga Pass Road??? (HWY 120) that runs through the high country of Yosemite National Park. A few miles east of the Crane Flat area on Tioga Pass is a paved road that runs south to the “Tamarack Flat??? campground.

Map from nps.org

At the end of this bumpy 3 mile drive is a little campground that’s busy during most of the year but somewhat vacant for the most part after Labor Day. Tamarack Flat has no running water, but with vaulted handicapped toilets, it was easy on Jerry. Typical fire rings are available at each site and there’s plenty of wood nearby. Most of the back country has fire restrictions during this time of year and Jerry will not go without a fire. I agree that sitting around a fire while drinking a few beers is nice when it’s in the 30s and 40s outside and gives someone the true feel of camping. This campground usually opens around the June/July season depending on the severity of our winter season and closes annually on October 15^th every year.

The road into Tamarack was one of the original paths into the Yosemite Valley and was built during the 1800’s. Yosemite is basically in my backyard and I have found this book scores as one of the best reads I’ve ever encountered even though it was published around 1955. It covers a great deal of history involving the area I have grown up in.

Yosemite library big oak flat road

While you can’t drive the old trail into Yosemite Valley from Tamarack Flat, you can hike it.

Here is an excerpt form the book about Tamarack Flat and surrounding area:

Yosemite library Upper flats of the Big Oak Flat Rd

 

Luckily the paved winding road into the campground keeps most of the big trailer RV’ers out. The sites are relatively close, but at this time of year you can be alone if you choose due to the size of this campground. While using Tamarack as our base camp, we were visited by no more that 10 campers, a bear and a small mountain lion. We were told that a bear was in the camp and never saw it, but the mountain lion ran past us while birds swooped down upon it. I have never seen this in all the years of visiting Yosemite. Rangers told us there was a den close by. Most of the daytime temps on this trip were between the 50s and 70s, and even into the 80s a few days toward the end of our stay resembling some of the mild August temps. I did miss the heavy rain and snow (6000ft) on the weekend of the 30^th that could be good or bad depending on your point of view. We usually get a storm during September, but Jerry is in a tent, so that was a good weekend to for him to miss. One nice advantage of Tamarack is that there is fuel (including diesel) available at the Crane Flat store for a reasonable price. Other campgrounds along the Tioga Pass road are shown on the map above but the next diesel fuel up spot is located at the highway 120/395. intersection

 

(Even though the bear never messed with us, bear activity is heavy at any campground in Yosemite so always expect the unexpected and look over your shoulder now and then. Bears in Yosemite know the serial numbers of your ice chests so it’s important to keep them out of site. I always take common sense precautions)

On the road.

The first trip was along the eastern side of the Sierra’s off highway 395. This area is close to the Virginia Lakes region, which is located north of Mono Lake and south of Bridgeport Ca. We would have to cross over Tioga pass to get there. A benefit in driving the Tioga route is that it’s one of America’s most scenic paved roads.

Back in the 60’s Tioga Pass was basically a lane and a half road. It was a dirt path that freaked out my parents with its steep drop offs. Today it’s a well paved two lane highway.

 

 

Points of interests include Olmstead point, Tenaya Lake, and Tuolumne meadows. If you’ve never been to the upper area of Yosemite, chances are you will want to spend some time up there. Here are some pictures of the Tioga Pass area. Both Half Dome to the left and Tenaya Lake shown below are visible from Olmsted Point.

 

 

This picture of Tuolumne Meadows is unique due to weather conditions that occurred in 2006. It was taken in August. Normally the meadows are not green at this time of year and turn a golden brown by September.

 

 

 

Cathedral, Unicorn, and Echo peaks are very prominent in the higher country around Tuolumne Meadows. Several short trails are accessible from the meadow area. I’ve been up to Echo lake which is a fairly easy walk. Tuolumne Meadows is a hub of activity in the upper Tioga Pass region. There is fuel available here but the station lacks diesel. A store and small cafe is open through much of summer as well. The campground here is busy and noisy compared to Tamarack during the Fall season.

Notice how the grasses are brown in this picture. This is more typical of late Fall in normal years.

Above Tuolumne Meadows is also quite beautiful. This area seems very fragile with delicate grasses and small streams winding through the highland type tundra. The higher country usually stays green for the most part but dry years can take a toll in late Fall before the park staff closes the road for the season.

The 2006 snow pack was unreal and one year I’ll never forget. Everything was green like I had never seen it.

Usually the high country looks more like this around September as shown in these pictures below which were taken in 2003.

 

Outside of the park, Saddlebag Lake offers high altitude camping with a “above tree line??? look. I think the campground located by the lake is the highest in Ca. The high country is quite spectacular in the region. These pictures were taken in early June of 2008 but the campground was still snowed in.

 

 

Normally the short drive to the lake off Tioga in September looks like this.

The campgrounds around Saddlebag seems barren and has a limited amount of spaces but there is a little restaurant down by the lake that offers a good breakfast and the fishing in the area is good. Boon docking is verboten around here so the campgrounds are it!

There are several camps along the road down to Lee Vining, most of which are suited for small trailers, tents and that type of camping. I can’t say that they’re not there, but spots to stealth camp are practically non existent, and have evaded me to date. As mentioned, there is diesel fuel available plus a store and restaurant just before 120 intersects with 395.

The off road trip:

Our objective was to run a couple of trails off the paved road that leads to Virginia Lakes. I had camped in this area years ago but never ventured far off road. We finally made it to the trail heads we wanted to take around 1 PM due a late start, a fantastic lunch at the restaurant, and the long travel time from Tamarack Flat. Of the two routes we decided to take, the Dunderberg Meadows road (posted as FR-20, Green lakes road) was the primary trail we had planned to run. The Copper mountain loop route (FR-181) would have to wait for another day.

Dunderberg Meadows map

This side of the Sierras features zones of high desert low level sage brush, and much of the route appeared somewhat barren. It is slated as scenic, but I really prefer a more forested look. The start of Virginia Lakes Road is a bit bleak, but once off pavement on FR-020 you’ll find yourself cruising along a winding trail that passes through aspen, birch and scattered pine trees that seemed somewhat dense at times.

We found a few spots along a couple of creeks that looked like great spots to boon dock at and marked them on the map. The worst part of the drive was passing through areas where the dust was heavy. I should have had the air conditioner on even though we didn’t need it. I need to address this issue of dust invading the cab ASAP. It helps to keep a positive pressure inside the van but I hate to run the air conditioner when it’s cool outside.

The snow capped mountains to the west were a nice view and we wondered if there were places we could get to that could provide good boon docking during future trips.

 

 

We ran over rolling hills that meandered through low level brush that offered views of lower elevations to the north east.

We passed a spur to the left (S/W) that led to the Green lakes area that I wanted to explore but due to time restraints we skipped it. This might have been a mistake as it did look nice on the map, but there is always another day. Around one bend we could see Bridgeport Reservoir which is in a lower flat valley.

 

Although difficult to see, if you click on the image the reservoir can be seen in the background.

As I said, about 80% of this route was high desert sage.

 

 

 

 

 

During the last part of the journey there was another spur going west that takes you into upper and lower Summers meadows area. This short dead end road led to a small valley that overlooked a pasture like set of meadows.

 

 

 

There were sheep grazing in one of the valleys. The previous image shows how large the valley is. The picture above is a close up of that shot. We found a few spots to camp along this short route, but nothing interesting to me. It was hard to believe we were at such a high altitude. The other thing that amazes me is how dry it is on this side of the Sierra’s. 2006 was one of the wettest years in a long time but over here you’d never know it.

Returning to the main road, we veered back north and followed a power line out to highway 395. By the time we made it back to camp it was dark. Brews, a killer fire coupled with a barbequed dinner ended the night as a success.

Summary:

Tamarack Flat is a good campground to base out of at this time of year but can be crowded during the peak season. Tioga Pass is always beautiful no matter what time of year it is, but during a year of normal precipitation, July is when the flower bloom is at it’s peak and the meadow areas are green. If your goal is to explore Tioga Pass and the eastern side of the Sierra’s, Porcupine Creek campground might be a better choice as it’s more centrally located. Outside the park is always another choice and getting off road provides the boon docking privacy you won’t find in a campground.

The off road route we ran comes from the book “Sierra Nevada Byways??? by Tony Huegel and is available on line for free. The section of trail we drove can be done with a 2WD vehicle at this time of year during good weather. On this trip only a few spots needed high clearance and I never had to lock my hubs. There was one small road labeled FR-178 that is supposed to loop back to FR-20, but a couple of hunters said it was impassable….Hum? Would I do it again? If I had another vehicle I would like to at least give FR-178 a try. I definitely want to see the Green lake area. I do plan to hit the Copper Mountain (Jordan Basin) loop that over looks Mono Lake in the future. It’s supposed to be easy and short, so maybe I can sneak in FR-178. One thing to mention is that this area gets heavy pressure during hunting season making it difficult to find a good spot to grab in the backcountry. For persons heading into the area that need basic facilities, I know that there are some traditional camping spots at Virginia Lakes and a nice primitive campground just before the FR-20 road to the south. I have not stayed at Virginia Lake, but the other little camp across from the Dunderberg trailhead is a nice “get you by spot??? that I have stayed at which offers some good fishing for planted Trout, just be advised it’s usually quite busy. For those who wish to camp and escape the crowds, head up FR-020 and find a spot. It might be right up your alley.

See you on the trail.

Dave Boyer.

 

In December of 2010, I lost one of my best friends to brain cancer. Jerry was a fantastic person that had a natural love for the mountains. He is the only person I have ever met that was able to live in the backcountry for over a month without human intervention, a feat most people would be unable to accomplish. But Jerry actually thrived on being around people and made friends anywhere he traveled. We followed many roads and trails over the years, exploring any area we could find. I’d like to think he is still on the trail unfettered by his sudden illness. Drive on my friend.