Story:
It's spring, and spring means waterfalls and flowers and green in Yosemite. What better way to spend a spring weekend than gawking at all of these things, especially on a backpacking trip?
It's spring, and spring means waterfalls and flowers and green in Yosemite. What better way to spend a spring weekend than gawking at all of these things, especially on a backpacking trip?
Hetch Hetchy is the fraternal twin of Yosemite Valley, drowned in the early 20th century to provide drinking water for the San Francisco Bay Area. As a result, it's much less visited than Yosemite Valley, and you can even go backpacking here! The downside is that the trail network is not terribly huge, and Rancheria Falls is the easiest trail and the one that passes by all the waterfalls, so this trail gets almost all the visitors to the area: this is not a hike for solitude. This was reinforced even more at the Rancheria Falls camping area, where I counted 20 (!) tents -- apparently this is The Place To Be in early May. (A ranger informed me that it's empty midweek, if you have that option.)
But oh boy are there waterfalls! There are three named waterfalls (Tueeulala, Wapama, and Rancheria Falls), plus a cascade at Tiltill Creek, but at this time of year, there were cascades of water everywhere, all pouring onto the trail and into the reservoir below. Fortunately, the water was never very deep on the trail, so my feet never got wet (yay for waterproof boots).
The source of all this water is snowmelt, and there was still plenty of snow on the mountains surrounding the reservoir -- enough so that a fellow hiker remarked that he half-expected "a Viking ship to come sailing down the fjord." I then spent the rest of the hike on the lookout. No Vikings, fortunately.
This was a wonderful way to spend a spring weekend, even if it wasn't the least popular trail. The flowers and the scenery were gorgeous, the temperatures were mild, and it was a great experience.
Tips:
- This hike should be gorgeous anytime but late April-early May should beat the summer heat and catch the waterfalls in full roar.
- The hike to Rancheria Falls is very popular at this time of year; expect to find lots of day-hikers to Wapama Falls for the first 2.5 miles and quite a few people at the Rancheria Falls campsite. If you can, go midweek to avoid the crowds, or be willing to hike up the hill to get away from others.
- At Rancheria Falls itself, don't just stop at the campsite: there are great views of the falls about 15 minutes up the trail at a footbridge over the creek.
- Poison oak is plentiful, growing close to or directly on the trail.
- Like all Yosemite backpacking, bear canisters are required.
- The gate to Hetch Hetchy is only open 7am-8pm at this time of year.
- There is a backpacker's campground by the trailhead. $5/person/night.
- Post-hike, the Evergreen Lodge has a restaurant and postcards.
Tags:
Yosemite, Backpacking, waterfalls
Yosemite, Backpacking, waterfalls
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