Morgan Brown Research Adventures California Canadian Rockies Colorado Sequoia/Kings Canyon Yosemite 1998 Trips 1999 trips Bloody Canyon Four Mile Trail Hetch Hetchy Ragged Peak Tresidder Peak Vogelsang 2000 trips 2001 Trips 2002 Trips Biking Running Miscellany Images Books that Morgan Recommends... Tuolumne Meadows (Wilderness Press 15-Minute Map Series) - I generally don't like 15-minute maps, but if you use one for hiking, these are a good bet. They are plastic and cover the interesting areas seamlessly. With USGS maps, you might have to buy two or more. Rock Climbs of Tuolumne Meadows (FalconGuide) - Don't own this book yet, but I plan to buy it soon. There are a lot of good climbs in Tuolumne! The High Sierra: Peaks, Passes, and Trails - by R.J. Secor. Unquestionably the bible of California backcountry adventure. Reliable and exhaustive, which is no small feat, given the scale of the "Range of Light".

Summary	Image Gallery	Trip Map
Date: July, 1999. Route: Ragged Peak area via Young Lakes trail. Total distance: ~12 miles.	Click Here

There's always one week in early summer...

The approach is quaint and popular among dayhikers. The trail first passes Dog Lake after a tough 700 foot ascent, then marches over two gentle ridges. The large, open valley of Delaney Creek is quite impressive. We immediately found that the mosquitoes were abundant and agressive.

Deciding that the mosquitoes were too much, we made camp below the west ridge of Ragged Peak (10,900+) and elected to do some scrambling around Ragged Peak instead of making a trip to Young Lakes.

All four of us scrambled up the south face of Ragged Peak, eventually reaching a point around 10,300' elevation. From there, Kim and I hiked to a narrow saddle east of Ragged Peak for some views to the ampitheatre which contains Young Lakes. The views were stunning, and capped off by the monolithic west face of Mount Conness.

The temperture was surprisingly warm that night, and the mosquitoes didn't abate until well after dark. Warm tempertures in the early summer at high elevations make for alarmingly abundant mosquitoes.

Kim scrambled up Ragged Peak next morning while I slept, and we were on our way by 9 am; again fighting the mosquitoes. I suppose the mosquitoes would receive far less attention if anyone other than Kim had bothered to bring repellent! A rationing program was put into effect.

We took a different route upon exiting - a trail which is about a mile to the west of our original trail. This helped smooth out some of the irritating ascents and descents, and helped us to make the 5 mile hike in a little over an hour.

Department of Geophysics Stanford University

Modified: 11/18/05, 13:53:03 PST , by morgan
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