Page 1 of 1

JMT - Tuolumne to Agnew

Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2022 8:32 am
by Uncle Rico
Every year a friend of mine has the foresight in the early part of the year to get permits for Yosemite. I'm never thinking about such things in the winter so I always end up having to mooch off of him permit-wise. Last year, his permit was for entry at Murphy Creek so we camped at Polly Dome Lakes and day-hiked to Glen Aulin and May Lake. This year, he snagged permits for entry at Lyell Canyon and Donahue Pass so we charted a hike along a segment of the JMT that had us starting a Tuolumne, hiking through Lyell Canyon, up over Donahue, down the Rush Creek drainage, over Island Pass to Thousand Island/Ruby/Garnett Lakes, into the Shadow Creek drainage, and then out at Agnew Meadow. That is roughly 32 miles and we planned a leisurely pace that would have us out 4 days/3 nights. JeffH suggested that we go all the way to Reds if we had enough gas in the tank when we got to Shadow Lake so we filed that away as a possibility.

Our permit was for Sunday, so we drove to Mammoth last Saturday to spend an afternoon acclimating a bit. After parking the car, we caught YARTS to Tuolumne which was a surprisingly pleasant experience. Then with permit in hand, we set off down Lyell Canyon along the JMT. The "plan" was to go 8-9 miles and then camp the first night somewhere along the canyon floor near water. With rain in the forecast, the skies were gray and threatening as we headed south. The walking here is flat and easy which was a nice was to acclimate more before the grind up and over Donahue. Lyell Fork still has decent flow, and there was a nice amount of water over the entire course of the hike, but the Sierra is noticeably drier than is typical. Rafferty Creek was bone dry.

As we chugged along, the skies continued to darken and occasionally drip on us. It was still early when we reached the end of the flat canyon bottom, so we continued to the footbridge at about 9,200' where there are several decent tent sites. A ranger we met along the trail told me that there had been active bears at that spot over the last several nights, but we didn't experience that.

8_Lyell Fork.jpg
Lyell Fork
17_Lyell Canyon.jpg

Lyell Canyon
24_Lyell Canyon.jpg
Southbound JMT through Lyell Canyon. Donahue Pass ahead.

After packing up the next morning, we continued south climbing to a small tarn at about 10,200' set in an amphitheatre backed Mt. Lyell. There are several nice tent sites here and it would be a nice place to spend a day or two. The trail crosses the outlet of the tarn here and then skirts its western bank before climbing to another ethereal tarn some 400' higher. We missed that turn and continued for a bit on a well-worn use trail that follows the eastern edge of the tarn. We ultimately realized our error when the use trail petered out so we back-tracked and found our way by following a nice young lady that was solo-hiking the JMT and showed us the way.

Above tree-line now, we continued the slow climb to stark and foggy Donahue which sits at 11, 066'. Here, I surprisingly had signal, so I shot off a text to my wife to let her know where we were. And then the downpour begin and didn't relent until we were a good distance into the Rush Creek basin. I had both a poncho and a rain jacket and still got drenched. Ultimately, we took refuge under an gigantic chunk of granite until the squall passed. We then got back on the trail and continued to junction with the Marie Lakes trail where we had initially planned to camp the second night. But the skies to the southwest still looked pretty dang ominous and the skies to the southeast looked to be clearing a bit, so we abandoned the Marie Lakes and continued down along Rush Creek which was still flowing quite nicely.

32_Upper Lyell Cyn Tarn.jpg

Tarn in Upper Lyell Canyon
38_Donahue Pass.jpg

View Southeast from Donahue Pass
39_Rush Creek Basin.jpg
The Rush Creek Basin

When we reached the junction with the trail to Gem Lake, the skies opened up again and the rain came pouring down. We cowered under some evergreens for shelter along with a couple of ladies that were going the opposite direction as the trail came a stream. At that stage, I decided I should probably plan more backpacking trip as I could probably single-handedly solve the drought situation by just backpacking all the time through the Sierra. After 20 minutes or so, the ladies got impatient, got up and trudged off in the still failing rain. Being the delicate souls that we are, we sat it out a bit longer until the rain lessened in intensity to become mere sprinkles. Then it was up over the whale's back that is Island Pass and down to Thousand Island Lake where we spent the second night. We were told that Thousand Island was a crowded zoo, but that was not our experience. Maybe it was because it was a Monday, but it was quite pleasant and quiet.

As it turned out, opting for Thousand Island over Marie seemed to be a good call. While the clouds over Thousand Island departed, things still looked dark and foreboding where the Marie Lakes sat. Later that night, the wind stopped and it became perfectly still. The next morning, the skies were bright and clear and the sun finally appeared. It was so glorious I think I even heard angels singing. We took our time packing things up just to enjoy the warmth and light. Then we started out again passing the beautiful precious stone lakes (Emerald, Ruby, and Garnett) as we went.

45_Thousand Island Lake.jpg

Thousand Island Lake
57_Banner Peak and Thousand Island Lake.jpg

The Morning After and the Calm Before the Storm
61_Ruby Lake.jpg

Ruby Lake
63_Banner Peak.jpg

Banner Peak
64_Garnett Lake.jpg

Garnett Lake

For awhile, I was optimistic that the weather would hold. And because we were ahead of schedule on account of the rain, we decided to heed JeffH's recommendation, camp night 3 at Rosalie Lake, and then at Reds Meadow the next day. But as we continued up and over into the Shadow Creek drainage, the weather began to deteriorate again. At the junction with the Ediza Lake trail, the sprinkles began again. By the time we hit the footbridge at the inflow to Shadow Lake, it was full on torrential downpour once again. We took refuge under some tree near the bridge once again and waited it out with several other JMTers. That is when we abandoned the notion of going to Rosalie and out a Reds. The skies didn't look like they were going to clear much so we decided we would stick to the original plan and exit at Agnew. So we tacked east, left the JMT, and continued along the Ediza Lake trail (or the Shadow Lake trail, or whatever it is called - 26E14).

Shadow Lake is beautiful but it was hard to appreciate in the rain. Shadow Creek was flowing impressively down the gorge as we descended to the footbridge crossing the San Joaquin. Wildflowers dotted the path. Then it was a pleasant stroll past placid Olaine Lake and one last climb to Agnew.

At Agnew, we waited for a bus out with two other older couples from Oregon who were day-hiking the area. Several buses came and went but none could take us since they were all full. I tried to hitch a ride by holding out money along with my thumb, but got no takers. I get it. No one wants to pick up a potential stinky axe murderer with a dirty pack. Finally, a bus driver from another bus radioed ahead and all 6 of us got a ride out just in time to catch the last free shuttle from the resort center to the village. The shuttle stop is conveniently located right next to Mammoth Brewing so of course we went straight there for liquid refreshment. Then we carried our packs down Main Street back to the car where we rejoined civilized society.

70_Shadow Creek.jpg

Shadow Creek
79_Ascending to Agnew Meadow.jpg

Mammoth Mountain ahead
81_Agnew Meadow.jpg
Agnew Meadow

Re: JMT - Tuolumne to Agnew

Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2022 9:21 am
by Elwood
Outstanding trip report Uncle Rico!

Re: JMT - Tuolumne to Agnew

Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2022 11:04 am
by Sean
Thanks for the great TR. I actually enjoy warm season rain hikes, except for the few times I got caught in the middle of lightning strikes. Awesome photos, as usual!

Re: JMT - Tuolumne to Agnew

Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2022 11:50 am
by Ellen
Howdy Rico,

Wonderful trip report and photos ? ? I've been fortunate to hike the JMT several times and recognize the landmarks.

I enjoyed, "We missed that turn and continued for a bit on a well-worn use trail that follows the eastern edge of the tarn. We ultimately realized our error when the use trail petered out so we back-tracked and found our way by following a nice young lady that was solo-hiking the JMT..." On my 2011 JMT (big snow year), I also missed that turn and hiked way up into Lyell Canyon where I wound up spending the night and adding a day to my trip ??

I belly laughed, "I decided I should probably plan more backpacking trips as I could probably single-handedly solve the drought situation by just backpacking all the time through the Sierra." That was my JMT experience in 2013 -- hiked in thunderstorms for one-third of the trip.

Thanks again for a great narrative and fabulous photos.

Miles of smiles,
Ellen

Re: JMT - Tuolumne to Agnew

Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2022 7:52 pm
by JeffH
The rain wasn't fun but the clouds make for some great photos. Looks like a fabulous trip and you managed some higher miles. I also got a bit off-trail coming down the Lyell face, I blamed the distracting scenery. Rosalie and Garnet Lakes were my personal favorites.

Re: JMT - Tuolumne to Agnew

Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2022 6:48 am
by Uncle Rico
On my 2011 JMT (big snow year), I also missed that turn and hiked way up into Lyell Canyon where I wound up spending the night and adding a day to my trip ImageImage
You missed it in the snow. I missed in in plain sight. LOL

Upper Lyell Canyon looks really neat. I wouldn't mind spending a night there.
Rosalie and Garnet Lakes were my personal favorites.
I liked Ruby as well. I held off getting water until we got to Ruby. Seemed cleaner and less swampy than Thousand Island. Still need to get back to see Rosalie. And the Marie Lakes.

Waugh is still drained and empty. Wild.

Re: JMT - Tuolumne to Agnew

Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2022 8:41 am
by tekewin
What a gorgeous area. Sorry about the rain. Seems late in the season. I thought that was more of a July thing.

Did you have any mosquito problems?

Banner and Ritter look super fun and challenging.

Thanks for all the photos!

Re: JMT - Tuolumne to Agnew

Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2022 7:56 am
by Uncle Rico
A few skeeters, but nothing terrible.

I immediately thought of you when looking at Banner. LOL

Re: JMT - Tuolumne to Agnew

Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2022 6:36 pm
by Girl Hiker
Beautiful pics! Loved reading your TR.

Re: JMT - Tuolumne to Agnew

Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2022 8:07 am
by Uncle Rico
Only obliquely related, but saw this yesterday:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/teen-dead- ... ra-county/

Thousand Island Lake really didn't feel that cold from the shore when we were there a week earlier, but we also didn't swim in it. I can say, however, that last year at the end of the season and after a full summer of sun, the water at Glen Aulin was still frigid. As cold as anything I've ever swam in.

Anyway, its just another reminder to be careful out there y'all.