by Phil » Mon Jul 04, 2016 1:17 pm
Yeah, we're back.
Murphy Creek is one entry trailhead option, but May Lake is the better one, if you can get a walk-up permit.
I guess the first questions are, how far do you want to walk per day, how long do you want to be out, and when do you want to go?
Raisin Lake was our first night, but there's not much going on, and there's several, but only really a couple good campsites worth bothering with (I have GPS coordinates on both). It's also only about 3-ish miles from the May Lake trailhead. Conditions were fine...no snow, tolerable mosquitoes. The camp at May Lake itself is also another option, but with more people.
The trail to Glen Aulin from there is also fine, just more mosquitoes, but no big deal. A few sites here and there, but nothing to write home about, or where you would want to use as a base for day-hikes or exploring. If you're in there and want to camp, you might as well go over and stay at Polly Dome Lakes.
Camping options at McGee Lake suck. The trail is right next to the shore, and the only sites that wouldn't be scrounged up and made to work just feet away from the trail are uphill in the rocks and sparse, and a couple places on the opposite shore along the north end of the lake that you can work with. If you gotta, you gotta, but it's not really what I would call a "destination".
The campground at Glen Aulin HSC is the easiest, but it's going to be crowded. Downriver, there are some sites below the first set of falls that are established and the rangers have left stand for some reason, but they're technically illegal. Really limited below that until below La Conte Falls. The falls complex (California, La Conte, Waterwheel) were awesome. The further down canyon we went, the hotter it got. Pate Valley was disgustingly so.
We went all over the place. Depending on when you're going, you might want to think about Ten Lakes instead. We found very little snow, and in only a couple shaded areas. If it's not gone by now, it will be soon. Much more beautiful area, with much more camping and things to do and see. I would consider it a much better intro to backpacking and enjoying some the incredible beauty that Yosemite has to offer than the trip above. Less people than the overcrowded core of the JMT, too. Honestly, the only reasons we bothered with that May Lake-Glen Aulin part of the trip again this last time was that it shut us out a few weeks before because of conditions (I hate that!!), and because we needed to warm up at reasonably low altitudes for bigger and better segments of the trip to come. It was also really just a better way to acclimate to altitude than hanging out at Tuolumne...we had to start the trip somewhere, and this just gave us a good place get a big area to access legally on one permit without even having to think about anything but walking almost wherever we wanted to.
If you need more on this route, or on alternatives, ask.