What Happened???
My hiking buddy Dominion and I completed Section 1 of the original Tahoe-Yosemite trail in October of 2022 and then….well, nothing. Winter hit early in 2022 and it didn’t let go. As we rounded the corner into 2023 nothing was letting up and it was looking like not only would this be a record-breaking snowfall season – it might be THE record breaker of all time!
The snow just kept falling and soon Spring was nearly over with backpacking season in the Sierra still a no-go unless you had some serious gear and a 4×4. my planned hikes kept getting pushed back and I was starting to worry that the window would close before it even opened!
After spending most of my hiking on the coast or in southern California, we finally got tog et into Yosemite and see the unreal water conditions in late May and early June. After a couple successful trips, I started looking to the TYT once again.
New Plans
After looking at a couple different options for the next section of the TYT, I rethought the whole thing haha. I realized that in trying to break up the route into segments I thought I could handle on my timeline, I was focused solely on trail time. But of course my schedule didn’t really matter, because I couldn’t just stop in the middle of nowhere and say, “OK, times up!” As I reviewed the entire route, I started to see it as a series of hikes between highways – aka, places where I could leave a car or get picked up.
Duh.
Anyway, once I plotted the sections that way, the trips became much easier to realistically plan.
It also showed me that I could cut a day off the second section by doing a 16-mile day hike from Echo Lake to Carson Pass (i.e., Hwy 50 to Hwy 88). Saving one day of backpacking might not sound like much – but that’s a day’s worth of water, food, and fuel I would also not have to carry. More importantly, it would be safer. The next big section was the most sketchy of the entire hike because it included a 5-mile off-trail section with both creek and river crossings (in a record snow year!). So, beginning that hike with less weight and more energy would be welcome.
After consulting with my TYT hiker buddies, we decided to tackle “Section 2” as a day hike in late July.
First Routing Difficulty
It was on this trip that I experienced my first real route-planning difficulties. I knew we had to go back to Echo Chalet (i.e., back down the road Dominion and I hiked up to the PCT parking area) because the TYT trail actually starts there. (This is actually the beginning of the end of Winnet’s TYT Section 1, which he describes as ending at Hwy 50.) The problem was getting form the Chalet to Hwy 50 and then on to the PCT.
The issue is that between the 1st and 3rd editions of The Tahoe-Yosemite Trail, the PCT was built starting at the aforementioned parking lot and heading southwest toward Hwy 50 where it emerges “just east of the establishment called Little Norway.” Then you were supposed to cross Hwy 50 and pick up another trail (I could not tell from the description if it was the PCT or the Pony Express trail – Winnet’s description sounded more like the PET to me). Then eventually you’d be on the PCT and the rest was easy.
In the first two editions, however, the hiker followed a more south-easterly route and came out at the Echo Summit maintenance station, crossed Hwy 50, then headed due south through an old ski resort until it curved east around an unnamed pond. The difference may not sound like much, but it represents a 3.5 segment and I didn’t want to go the “wrong” way. Hiking buddy “Discord” who I originally started planning with suggested I check my Dad’s map to see if he indicated which route he took. Well….he didn’t haha.
So, to sum up: the two books Dad gave me (1st and 3rd editions) had two very different approaches to get to Hwy 50 (green and red below) and then two possible trails after Hwy 50 (red and purple below). Comparing the drawn maps in Winnet’s book with current maps, I found yet another trail in between the two Winnet routes (yellow below)! Dad’s map was inconclusive because he did not mark the route he took from Echo past Hwy 50. The good news was that at the very bottom of the map he did show that he took the “due south” route around the unnamed pond. That meant that (at least on the trip he marked this map), he was using original TYT of Winnet’s 1st edition.
I finally decided to take the forest roads route to the Echo Summit maintenance station and the “due south” trail around the unnamed pond to connect with the PCT/TRT.
Phew!
Back On Trail
Dominion, Discord, and I took two cars up to the Tahoe area. We parked one at the Meiss trailhead just around the corner from Carson Pass an drove about 40 minutes up to the PCT parking lot near Echo Chalet. Although it was somewhat annoying having to hike down the road we hiked up at the end of the previous trip, I wanted to do it right. (Also I had left my hat in car #1 and needed to buy one at the Chalet!)
After a brief stop at Echo Chalet, we hiked back up to the parking lot on the TYT, walked past the PCT trailhead at its southern end, and headed down National Forest Road 1105 that we had just driven in on. We turned left at NFR 1106 and then right on NFR 1104 which took us high enough to see Lake Tahoe and then down to the Hwy 50 crossing near the maintenance buildings.
After a short walk down Hwy 50 we came to NFR 1103 which led to some cabins. Near the water tower we took a sharp right on to a bewildering array of use trails that seem to make up the “Benwood Residential Spur.” After a brief off-trail, we navigated to the unnamed pond, swung around and across the southern outlet, and connected to the PCT/TRT. (This was Discord’s first time on the PCT!)
Back on the PCT
The TRT/PCT (Section J) follows the original TYT from this junction all the way down to Meiss Meadows and is fairly easy to follow. Although it was nearly August, our route-finding skills were engaged a time or two as there were plentiful snow patches much of the way along the trail. 2023 turned out to be a major record-setting snowfall year and there was water everywhere. I lost count of our creek crossings but we managed to stay dry until some of the meadow crossings which were not at all dangerous but were definitely soakers.
Epic Views, Lunch, and Trail Mocha
The trail generally ascended through granite cliffs and across clear-running streams. We cam to our first snow field just past one long ascent along the edge of a granite cliff. We passed several creeks, orange and black butterfly swarms, and stopped briefly for water (mosquito season had begun so we didn’t linger).
We got around a major snow bank and about 3 miles later we went off trail to the edge of a beautiful canyon view and stopped for a lunch break and to have some caffeinated beverages. We knew it was going to be a long hiking day, so taking a solid break to relax and enjoy the view was a great idea.
Ever Increasing Beauty
Returning to the trail we set off once again past a few trail junctions – all signed and easily followed. Near Sayles Canyon I happened to photograph a cool fallen pine full of roots and rocks. As it turned out, Winnet had taken nearly the same picture and included it in his book!
We soon reached what was probably our collective favorite part of the trail: a huge bowl above Dardanelles Lake. There were still snow cornices on the highest parts of the slopes and you had to crane your neck to see the tops. Water flowed freely all over this part of the trail and we even got a chance to toss some snowballs and do some glissading off the far end.
The short distance between the bowl and Showers Lake was so packed with beautiful features it became difficult to not stop every few feet for pictures, and Showers Lake itself was a perfect example of a high Sierra mountain lake.
The Meadows
By now we had spent a fair amount of time “sauntering” and decided to try and speed up a bit. We climbed out of the Showers lake area and moved into the wooded and flowered area that turned out to be an amazing walk through Meiss Meadows. This turned out to be a substantial aprt of the hike, replete with creek crossings and amazing views.
After reaching the far end of the meadows we again climbed a rocky canyon area which topped out at another unnamed pond – this one full of ducks. I once again unknowingly snapped nearly the same picture that Winnet did – this one he used as the back cover of the 3rd edition of his book.
We topped the ridge and descended through a windy trail heavy with flora and fauna, then back up again before we heard traffic and knew we were close to HWY 50. Entering a boulder strewn section with redwoods towering uphill above us, we eventually arrived at the Meiss trailhead parking lot.
After 15 miles and 3,100′ of elevation gain (16 miles and 3,500 according to Discord’s Garmin), TYT Day 5 / Section 2 was complete!
Backcountry Pilgrim 