Story:
This year, the family decided to spend the Easter weekend in Yosemite. While looking for a good hike (trail not closed or covered in feet of snow, either a dozen+ miles or 1500+ feet or so, not something I've already done a bunch of times), I realized we'd be heading out the last weekend that Badger Pass was open -- giving me a great chance to finally go snowshoeing. I asked around for route advice (my first instinct was "Glacier Point Road to Glacier Point"; then I realized it was 21 miles round-trip), and calipidder pointed me to a trip she took at the beginning of the year out to Dewey Point. Sounds perfect!
I'm still fussing with my camera gear selection, so for the first portion of the trip -- breaking trail, snowshoe-wise, down Glacier Point Road to Summit Meadow -- I didn't have the camera out of the backpack (I was also worried about balance issues; those worries dissipated quickly). That was unfortunate; I missed some nice "perfectly groomed fresh powder"-type pictures. I quickly found out that "fresh powder" might be a downhiller's dream, but it makes snowshoeing a bit interesting.
There are two paths out to Dewey Point, one which follows a ridge (and is considered a black-diamond "most difficult" XC-ski route; those ratings seem to be meaningless for snowshoeing, which is pretty much entirely just hiking) and another later trail which heads through a meadow (and starts out as an I-forget-the-symbol "easiest" route). They join up about a mile from the point. I took the Meadow path out. The weather was cold but dry, with fairly high clouds; occasionally I'd get a bit of snow, but I expect that was from wind through the branches rather than the clouds above. About a quarter-mile from Dewey Point those high clouds descended into a somewhat-thick blanket of fog; at the point, I caught occasional glimpses of the ridge to the southwest, but didn't see the valley at all.
When I arrived at Dewey Point around noon, I had the place to myself. A skier had made tracks before I got there, but my snowshoes looked to be the second to arrive that day. Wthin a half-hour, however, it was an entirely different story -- another dozen or so people had arrived, in at least four distinct groups. Without fail, everyone commented on the beautiful 10' visbility. Alas.
On the way back I took the ridge trail, and was able to follow the tracks of several of the snowshoers I had run into at the Point; it made my trip back significantly faster than the one going out, and (more importantly?) a lot less tiring. I arrived back at Badger Pass right around 2:30, just in time to join the crowds gathering to watch a series of skiers and snowboarders attempt to cross a manmade lake that had been put in at the bottom of the steepest run at the resort, one of the last events at Badger Pass's annual "Springfest" celebration.
This year, the family decided to spend the Easter weekend in Yosemite. While looking for a good hike (trail not closed or covered in feet of snow, either a dozen+ miles or 1500+ feet or so, not something I've already done a bunch of times), I realized we'd be heading out the last weekend that Badger Pass was open -- giving me a great chance to finally go snowshoeing. I asked around for route advice (my first instinct was "Glacier Point Road to Glacier Point"; then I realized it was 21 miles round-trip), and calipidder pointed me to a trip she took at the beginning of the year out to Dewey Point. Sounds perfect!
I'm still fussing with my camera gear selection, so for the first portion of the trip -- breaking trail, snowshoe-wise, down Glacier Point Road to Summit Meadow -- I didn't have the camera out of the backpack (I was also worried about balance issues; those worries dissipated quickly). That was unfortunate; I missed some nice "perfectly groomed fresh powder"-type pictures. I quickly found out that "fresh powder" might be a downhiller's dream, but it makes snowshoeing a bit interesting.
There are two paths out to Dewey Point, one which follows a ridge (and is considered a black-diamond "most difficult" XC-ski route; those ratings seem to be meaningless for snowshoeing, which is pretty much entirely just hiking) and another later trail which heads through a meadow (and starts out as an I-forget-the-symbol "easiest" route). They join up about a mile from the point. I took the Meadow path out. The weather was cold but dry, with fairly high clouds; occasionally I'd get a bit of snow, but I expect that was from wind through the branches rather than the clouds above. About a quarter-mile from Dewey Point those high clouds descended into a somewhat-thick blanket of fog; at the point, I caught occasional glimpses of the ridge to the southwest, but didn't see the valley at all.
When I arrived at Dewey Point around noon, I had the place to myself. A skier had made tracks before I got there, but my snowshoes looked to be the second to arrive that day. Wthin a half-hour, however, it was an entirely different story -- another dozen or so people had arrived, in at least four distinct groups. Without fail, everyone commented on the beautiful 10' visbility. Alas.
On the way back I took the ridge trail, and was able to follow the tracks of several of the snowshoers I had run into at the Point; it made my trip back significantly faster than the one going out, and (more importantly?) a lot less tiring. I arrived back at Badger Pass right around 2:30, just in time to join the crowds gathering to watch a series of skiers and snowboarders attempt to cross a manmade lake that had been put in at the bottom of the steepest run at the resort, one of the last events at Badger Pass's annual "Springfest" celebration.
Tips:
Badger Pass rents snowshoes for $22.50/day, and the rental comes with poles (if you ask) but without a map, which will run you an additional $2-ish. Stick to the outside of the groomed cross-country lines on Glacier Point Road -- the center is for skate-skiers. Once you're off of Glacier Point Road, the trick is to try to stay out of the ski lanes -- but keep in mind that, in snowshoes, you can wander fairly easily if you need to climb around trees or whatnot. Whatever you do, don't try to step backwards in snowshoes -- it's unlikely to end well.
Badger Pass rents snowshoes for $22.50/day, and the rental comes with poles (if you ask) but without a map, which will run you an additional $2-ish. Stick to the outside of the groomed cross-country lines on Glacier Point Road -- the center is for skate-skiers. Once you're off of Glacier Point Road, the trick is to try to stay out of the ski lanes -- but keep in mind that, in snowshoes, you can wander fairly easily if you need to climb around trees or whatnot. Whatever you do, don't try to step backwards in snowshoes -- it's unlikely to end well.
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