Ten Lakes/Grant Lakes

Summary | Parking/Trailhead | Trail Description | Supplies | Itinerary

Summary

This 12.6 mile roundtrip hike is a nice mix of moderate to difficult trails. Even though the path is not that demanding in itself, the altitude starting at 7,600 feet makes for a challenging hike on the way up. So don't be embarrassed about needing lot of short stops to catch your breath.

Compared to the Yosemite Valley trails, this one is more obscure which means a lot less people. And since it's farther away from the crowds, the type of people you see on this trail are usually backpackers in for a few days. None of this diminishes the beauty of the scenery. On the contrary, the scenery seems more spectacular simply because less have seen it.

Parking/Trailhead

Exit Yosemite Valley on highway 120. Take a left at the gas station following highway 120 19.5 miles to the Yosemite Creek / Ten Lakes Trailhead which is clearly marked. There is paved parking on the right side and dirt parking on the left. The trailhead is about 20 yards from the road. Although I've seen two different topographic maps with very different mileage estimates, the trailhead sign notes the distance for Grant Lakes at 5.8 miles and Ten Lakes at 6.3 miles.

Trail Description

The first 1/4 mile of the trail is level and even feels like it's going slightly downhill. This part of the trail is heavily forested and runs along part of the Yosemite Creek just as the roadside sign seems to promise. The first time I attempted this trail I wondered how much uphill would challenge me on the way back. But don't worry. For the most part, it's uphill on the way out and downhill on the way back.

The first ooh ahh is a rolling plane of granite sprinkled with lodgepole, ponderosa, and other species of pines. This plane of granite sits within a valley surrounded by green and sometimes snowcapped mountains. On the far side of the granite valley the Yosemite Creek cascades down from between Tuolumne Peak (10,800) and Mt. Hoffman (10,850) to join with the other runoff closer by from Grant Lakes and the Half Moon Meadow area. Near the beginning part of the season water takes many paths and eagerly merges with the foot trail in several places. This combination of granite, pines, and water makes for a perfect combination creating a breathtaking landscape.

After the granite valley is left behind the trees close in and the moderate climbing starts again. Approximately 2 miles into the hike at a stream crossing, a second trail is reached that heads off to the west towards the White Wolf campground and lodge (apx 5.7 miles). Our trails towards Ten Lakes and Grant Lakes continues straight ahead.

About 4.5 miles into the hike we stumble into the pristine Half Moon Meadow (8,800) with high granite walls in 3 of 4 directions. I say stumble because the first time I visited this area, most of the trail was covered in snow and I didn't quite know where I was going. Were it not for the four backpackers ahead of me that left deep trails in the snow I would have been even more confused and that's pretty hard to accomplish. Anyway, the trail leads through the left (Northwest) side of the meadow to the hardest climbing yet on the opposite side of the meadow. Again, if you stay on the trail and there's no snow, you shouldn't the basic direction of where the trail lays.

The short but steep hike out of Half Moon Meadow to the Ten Lakes Pass makes an elevation gain of approximately 800 feet. In the early season this part of the Ten Lakes trail is inundated with water from the snow pack at the summit of the pass. Therefore, if you see water on your way up, you get to make a snow man at the top!

More to come later . . .

Supplies

Use the standard Day Hike Checklist for this hike.

Itinerary

The times below are estimates and can vary greatly (i.e., return a lot later) depending on how much time is taken to stop and smell the pine needles.

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