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-ImagesMaps
The plan was to go up Mt Dana, over the
top, across to Mt. Gibbs and loop back below the Dana's summit. After the
previous day's weather, I was already considering options, given the amount of
snow on Dana. However, I was prepared to make the full trek if the snow burned
off fast enough.
I started hitting pockets of snow at about 11,000 feet, when I was cutting across to Prominence 11409 (the knob at the end of the northwest ridge of Dana, just over the entrance to Glacier Canyon). I followed the ridge up to the summit, mostly through 2-3 inches of snow. The view from the summit was unencouraging in terms of further travel, so I went down the west side of the peak, curving around to meet the regular cirque route around 11,800'.
Since I had plenty of time, I did some
"clean-up", a couple trail segments that I had neglected in the past. First, I
tried to find the Dana Fork Trail, that is indicated on some Park Service maps,
running up the south side of the Dana Fork from where the Gaylor Lakes Trail
crosses the Tioga Road to the Parker Pass Trail. No trace from the south end,
one of these time when I am on the Parker Pass Trail, I'll have to look for the
other end of that trail. Then I followed the Old Tioga Road from its junction
with the Gaylor Lakes Trail up to its junction with the Parker Pass Trail, just
south of the Tioga Road trailhead. I wish I'd know about this last year, when I
ended up walking up the side of the Tioga Road at the setup for my 37 mile loop
hike. It appears to get regular, if not heavy pack use. Interestingly, the
lower section has received significant trailcrew attention in recent years,
perhaps the upper section, which is a bit overgrown will get the same soon.
Finally, I did a quick jaunt up to Dog Lake and
Lembert Dome, above Tuolumne Meadows. All very heavily used trails, still very
pretty and unpeopled near dusk. Very nice little mirror lake on the north side
of Lembert Dome. This completes the significant trails within 5 miles of
Tuolumne Meadows for me. Sigh.
Overcast, cool (cold on Mt. Dana) and breezy.
Overall, about 17.5 miles (~2 miles cross-country), 4950 feet of ascent, 8:05 on the trail. Bunnyhike rating: 99
Area maps, route in blue and red
Old Tioga Road area maps, route in red and brown
Dog Lake & Lembert Dome area maps, route in orange, yellow and green
And the previous day:Peak 12002
