Trip Report
Running and Fastpacking the Yosemite High Sierra Camp Loop
Tuesday August 28, 2012 4:21pm
|
|
At the beginning of August my wife and I, along with one of my college friends, went on a big adventure run around Tuolumne. In the style of many ultra running type events we spent a good deal walking up the hills and enjoying the views. Our route followed the ~47 mile loop that connects the High Sierra Camps.
By staying at the High Sierra Camps we were able to go fast pack style with less than 10 pounds of gear each. Meals were cooked for us by the amazing High Sierra Camp staff and we slept in tent cabins. Not having to carry much food and getting hot showers was an amazing luxury in the backcountry!
We traveled clockwise starting from Tuolumne and staying at Merced Lake and then May Lake. This meant a brutal second day of running with less mileage and elevation on the first and last days. On Friday we climbed Cathedral Peak to help acclimatize.
Here is the video from our adventure! So much beautiful scenery and a large variety of terrain.
[ Click to View YouTube Video]
Weekend Stats (Friday - Monday):
Highpoint: 10,940 feet
Total Elevation Gain/Loss: 9931 feet
Pictures Taken: 500+
Miles Traveled: 51.9
Miles Run for the High Sierra Loop: 46.7
Hours Running: 13
High Sierra Camps Visited: 5
Tired Runners: 3
Nights Slept: 2 (Merced Lake and May Lake)
Summits: 1 (Cathedral Peak)
Garmin plots of the three days of running:
Toulumne to Merced Lake
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/207603147
Merced Lake to May Lake
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/207603166
May Lake back to Toulumne
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/207603184
More details and thoughts from Lizzy:
http://www.dreaminvertical.com/2012/08/3-days-of-transcendence/
I think this is a good summary photo of the trip:
[ Click to View Linked Image]
Enjoy!
cultureshock
|
|
About the Author Luke is a trad climber and occasional runner from Sunnyvale, CA. |
Comments
nutjob
Sport climber
Almost to Hollywood, Baby!
|
|
|
Aug 28, 2012 - 04:25pm PT
|
That looks like a fun trip! Awesome baby pic too.
|
|
Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
|
|
|
Aug 28, 2012 - 04:25pm PT
|
Oh yeah!!! Nice adventure, thanks for sharing that!
|
|
10b4me
Social climber
Lida Junction
|
|
|
Aug 28, 2012 - 04:49pm PT
|
you always do really cool videos, and this doesn't disappoint.
I never tire of Tuolumne.
tfpu
|
|
cowpoke
climber
|
|
|
Aug 28, 2012 - 04:55pm PT
|
Well done! And I second the video props...like going on the run with you...while sitting on my couch!
|
|
Vitaliy M.
Mountain climber
San Francisco
|
|
|
Aug 28, 2012 - 06:02pm PT
|
This looks awesome, thank you for posting. I wanted to do Rae lakes loop for quite a while. This one seems like a good idea too. Do you guys run or power hike up hill?
|
|
Ezra Ellis
Trad climber
North wet, and Da souf
|
|
|
Aug 28, 2012 - 10:57pm PT
|
Looks like a good time, thanks for sharing!!!
|
|
zBrown
Ice climber
|
|
|
Aug 28, 2012 - 11:55pm PT
|
Cool. Did Julie forget her socks? I'm proud of all 3 of you.
Oddly enough one of my roomates in college was from Sunnyvale.
At the risk of repeating myself, I'm proud of all 3 of you. Are you gonna do that Utah run?
|
|
pvalchev
Social climber
Truckee, CA
|
|
|
Aug 29, 2012 - 02:28pm PT
|
Looks like great fun, thanks for sharing!
Peter
|
|
cultureshock
Trad climber
Mountain View
|
|
Author's Reply
|
Aug 29, 2012 - 02:49pm PT
|
Thanks! We power hiked almost all of the hills. Running would have been great but we were always trying to conserve energy. Lizzy gets all the credit for editing the video. Julie had socks, just small ones. Lizzy and I were wearing compression calf sleeves to help reduce fatigue.
Which Utah run? I've heard cool things about a big traverse in Zion. Cool video here: video.patagonia.com/video/The-Zion-Traverse
The next big thing for Lizzy and Julie is the Evolution Loop. A nice big, 36 mile,one day run around the evolution basin. http://www.dreaminvertical.com/2012/08/run-with-us-evolution-loop/
Here is a map of the full loop. They are going to do it by cutting across Lamarck Col to shorten it by 20 miles.
|
|
Don Paul
Social climber
Washington DC
|
|
|
Aug 29, 2012 - 02:42pm PT
|
What a great idea, will keep it in mind for when I think I can run that far.
|
|
pc
climber
|
|
|
Aug 29, 2012 - 02:51pm PT
|
Great TR and Video. And what a great idea. Light is good.
Cheers, pc
|
|
Dick Erb
climber
June Lake, CA
|
|
Glen Denny was one of the stronger hikers I knew back in the sixties. He hiked the Yosemite High Camps loop in one day about fifty years ago.
|
|
nita
Social climber
chica de chico, I don't claim to be a daisy.
|
|
Thanks for the videos and trip report.....Very Cool... I have knee envy..
Back at my time in Tuolumne Meadows, it wasn't called Ultra running.
Just trying to get from *point A to point B, relax-enjoy the views ..and run back to work again between split shifts.
My favorite was~ Tuolumne to Vogelsang and back..
We had a contest several years in a row- to run the high camp route in a day... Several employees succeeded.
|
|
zBrown
Ice climber
|
|
I was running just the other day and noticed a very pretty woman following me. Just happened again. Hi Nita. What song were you listening to and I'm guessing you didn't have the socks.
|
|
Kalimon
Social climber
Ridgway, CO
|
|
Julie is hot . . . she had to cool off!
"Fire on the Mountain". Take a whole pail of water, just to cool him down.
|
|
camm-it-up
Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
|
|
|
Sep 11, 2012 - 11:08am PT
|
You're an "occasional" runner? Jesus, I'd like to see what you could do if you became an active one!
|
|
John M
climber
|
|
|
Apr 24, 2013 - 04:39pm PT
|
I missed this trip report first time around. Thats good stuff.
|
|
|
|
|
Recent Trip Reports
- The Kohala Ditch Trail: 36ish hrs on foot... to and from the headwaters. [5 of 5]
May 31, 2019; 11:57pm
- A Winter Traverse of the California section of the PCT Part 8
May 31, 2019; 11:18pm
- Supertopo,A trip report for posterity
May 31, 2019; 11:00pm
- Balch Fest 2013. Two Days in and Around and On The Flake. The Official Trip Report
May 31, 2019; 10:57pm
- TR: My visit to the Canoe
May 31, 2019; 10:24pm
- Death, Alpine Climbing, The Shield on El Cap
May 31, 2019; 4:07pm
- Andy Nisbet (1953-2019)
May 31, 2019; 2:11pm
- Drama on Baboquivari Peak
May 31, 2019; 1:19pm
- Joffre + The Aemmer Couloir: ski descents come unexpected catharsis [part 2]
May 31, 2019; 7:45am
- Lost To The Sea, by Disaster Master
May 30, 2019; 5:36am
- My Up And Down Life, Disaster Master
May 29, 2019; 11:44pm
- Halibut Hats and Climbers-What Gives?
May 29, 2019; 7:24pm
- G Rubberfat Overhang-First Ascent 1961
May 29, 2019; 12:28pm
- Coonyard Pinnacle 50 Years Later
May 29, 2019; 12:24pm
- Great Pumpkin with Mr Kamps and McClinsky- 1971
May 29, 2019; 12:02pm
- View more trip reports >
|