Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Trail conditions on Yosemite Valley Floor?

Has anyone done any hiking in the past couple days on the Yosemite Valley Floor, or the Wawona area? I am planning on doing Half Dome and the Four Mile Trail next Saturday and want to know if there is snow or ice conditions. I have called the Ranger in the park and the front desk of Curry Vilage and they both give vague, uninformative answers.

I'm planning to go there shortly. I hear the snow level was 5,500 feet, so I'd say Half Dome and the Four Mile trails will be snowed in. The cables are probably down anyway, so unless you are a real tough guy (to do both in a day), I'd say forget it.

Don't know if this will work or not, but try e-mailing your question to the Yosemite webmaster at yose_web_manager@nps.gov. The webmaster is the one who periodically provides tail condition updates for Yosemite. Worth a try.

I always check the Yosemite live webcam to see what conditions are like when it clears up. As of last week Half Dome was snow-capped and I expect more snow fell over this weekend. Good luck with your hike.

http://www.yosemite.org/vryos/index.htm

I'm sure the high country at Yosemite got snow this past week. The cables were taken down in late October, so they won't be available for you to summit Half Dome. Crampons anyone?
Four mile trail, which I think is really 5 and sometimes feels like 10, is a good jaunt to add to a Half Dome hike......assuming you will descend the Panorama Trail past Nevada Falls and then up to Half Dome. With the short days & very cool evenings you will have to be hoofing it.
Anyway, this is a great time of the year to be hiking at Yosemite, so whatever you do, have a great trip!

The Four and a Half Mile Trail is passable, at least it was on Saturday morning, when I did it. I did have to use "Zax Trax" in the icy sections and the parts of the trail which get no direct sunlight, as you approach the Glacier Point lookout. (Zax Trax are similar to crampons, but are more casual and not as effective). The view from Glacier Point with the snow on Half Dome and Clouds Rest was beautiful! I saw only one other couple on the trail on Saturday. Temps were in the mid 50's on the Valley Floor in the afternoon, but probably in the low 40's at Glacier Point.

I planned on checking out Half Dome on Sunday morning... forget it. I was able to make it to Little Yosemite Valley above the Mist Trail and then turned around because of wind and the definite prospect of snow. When we were leaving the park, the snow started to fall, though not heavy. Tioga (120) is closed at Crane Flat.

If you're an experienced winter hiker then by all means try the 4 Mile Trail. Best of luck!

I just got back from Little Yosemite Valley. Saturday night was brutal with the non-stop rain. Sunday cleared up for most of the day, and had a little rain/snow for a while, before clearing up around 2am. Monday was a gorgeous day. There were only patches of snow on the ground up at the backpackers camp. You could see the snowline was not too much further up though.

I was hiking about the Valley floor yesterday. It is pretty warm, comparatively, so much of the last storm's snow must have melted. Very little snow on the floor, but the higher rim does have some snow. The ranger told me you could do the Four Mile Trail, and it looked O.K. I'd even say Half Dome Trail was good from what I could see.

They have built a official detour to start on the Muir Trail. Follow the road signs to "trailhead" about Camp Curry, and you are led to a dirt parking lot. The "detour" trail goes up the right side of the Merced River, probably the former Horse trail. You go past the huge water tank, and then, presumably, the trail connects with the original Muir Trail further up. I just went to the Vernal Falls Bridge, which is being rebuilt.

There are some fall colors to enjoy, and it will be chilly in the shade. Aside from the cables being down, Half Dome might be a great hike. Clouds Rest has a good covering of snow on it's northern side. North Dome looked good for a hike. The Snow Creek trail is good up pretty high, at least, and you get unusual perspectives of Half Dome from there. Maybe more snow will melt higher up by this weekend.

Have a nice hike!