Campsite in Tuolumne? Or bivvy spot? 8/8 & 8/9

Hello MP,

My friend and I are looking to climb Cathedral and Tenaya this weekend, 8/8 and 8/9, and are wondering where the heck we should sleep!

Do you, or anyone you know, know of a camp site we could split? Or, do you know of a sweet spot to bivvy/dirtbag on the ground?

This is both our first times in the Meadows. Any advice would be appreciated.

Cheers!

Dylan

Check the multiple campgrounds in the park. Spots often open up. Otherwise, drive outside the park toward Tioga Pass for a legal bivvy.

Good advice from Ryan. There are several campgrounds between Lee Vining and the Tioga Pass entrance station, which are outside of the Park. They are USFS campgrounds and you will likely be able to get a spot.

Thanks folks. ATM it seems like spots near Mono Lake are likely the destination.

Note that the camping at Mono is a fair drive to the Meadows. If you could arrive Friday morning to snag a site as folks leave I'd recommend Porcupine Flats. $12 a night, quiet, and a shorter drive to the THs.

VRP wrote:Note that the camping at Mono is a fair drive to the Meadows. If you could arrive Friday morning to snag a site as folks leave I'd recommend Porcupine Flats. $12 a night, quiet, and a shorter drive to the THs.

Yeah, word around the water cooler is a 30-40 minute drive between campground and the meadows. Unfortunately the both of us are confined to our desks m-f, sadly there's not an opportunity to snag a spot on Friday morning.

At this point, it might not hurt to swing by the evening to see if a spot is avaialable at Porcupine Flats. But, I'm not really putting any eggs in that basket.

Why not just hike in and camp at cathedral lake? I camped there on the JMT this year and there are some beautiful spots above the lake you can bivy at.

MikeBaker wrote:Why not just hike in and camp at cathedral lake? I camped there on the JMT this year and there are some beautiful spots above the lake you can bivy at.

You need a wilderness permit for that and it may not be so easy to get at the last minute.

There's a big pullout across from Ellery Lake campground (about 1.4mi east of Tioga Pass Resort) we slept at a couple nights last week and weren't hassled. You could sleep in the truck or bivvy there. Tioga Pass Resort has pretty good food and, most importantly, pie.

Ended up at Porcupine Flats, had to do some fenaggling with folks who had spots already. ALL camp sites were full this past weekend as it's high tourist season.

The meadows were gorgeous, weather was perfect.

How was Cathedral and Eichorn? I took a couple of friends up it three Fridays ago and I couldn't believe how mobbed it was. What a show. At one point, belaying below the chimney, I counted 17 people below me that I could see...which didn't include those who were hidden from view. Ha!

It was my third time up the face in five years, and I either got lucky before or there's more traffic now than just a couple of years ago.

Camping was a mess too. All the CGs between Tuolumne and Lee Vining were full early Friday afternoon except for one spot at Big Bend, which we took. The camping clientele at the campgrounds closer to Lee Vining is definitely a different crowd than you find in the Meadows CG...

Chris D wrote:How was Cathedral and Eichorn? I took a couple of friends up it three Fridays ago and I couldn't believe how mobbed it was. What a show. At one point, belaying below the chimney, I counted 17 people below me that I could see...which didn't include those who were hidden from view. Ha! It was my third time up the face in five years, and I either got lucky before or there's more traffic now than just a couple of years ago. Camping was a mess too. All the CGs between Tuolumne and Lee Vining were full early Friday afternoon except for one spot at Big Bend, which we took. The camping clientele at the campgrounds closer to Lee Vining is definitely a different crowd than you find in the Meadows CG...

We bailed on Eichorn because of time and need to get back to the Bay Area for a good nights sleep and what not for work the next day... that is contributed to the massive bottleneck just before the summit. We opted to hit the 5.7 knobby route to the left of the chimney, though it did look like fun! The knobs were fun as well. There was also a holdup at the 5.6 bulge, but that seemed moreso to do with a party of three's rope management than anything else. Lastly, we had to wait for four parties to summit, at least 3 of us set up belay anchors about 35 ft. below summit. That's what took the most time. I will definitely climb Cathedral (and do Eichorn Pinnacle) on a Friday or none weekend day in the future.

I don't know if this is protocol or what, but we ended up squatting in between campsites at one of the CGs in the Meadows. It really helped that we were semi-dirtbagging it in the sense that I slept in the bed of my pickup truck, and my friend setup a tent behind it, out of sight. We were also up and out by 6am and 5am on Sat and Sun, respectively.

Are the Lee Vining campers more likely to have an alpine wakeup, and get their gear ready for a day of climbing? Cause the campers IN the meadows were definitely recreational, sit around all day and hang out types..

Dylan G wrote: Are the Lee Vining campers more likely to have an alpine wakeup, and get their gear ready for a day of climbing? Cause the campers IN the meadows were definitely recreational, sit around all day and hang out types..

Could have been just the weekend we were there, but there was much more trailer-park family drama (loud arguments over child-rearing, etc.) and loud RV generators at Big Bend then I've ever found at the Meadows CG.

At one point, an old, harmless bear came ambling through the campground looking for easy pickings. The usual screaming and banging of pots and pans ensued, but eventually escalated to air horns, and someone actually discharging a firearm (sounded like a .38 pistol, maybe). In the end, an entire family of morbidly obese men and boys were patrolling the campground, the leader of the group wielding an aluminum bat.

Now that confrontation, I'd have paid to witness. Never came to pass...

Chris D wrote: Could have been just the weekend we were there, but there was much more trailer-park family drama (loud arguments over child-rearing, etc.) and loud RV generators at Big Bend then I've ever found at the Meadows CG. At one point, an old, harmless bear came ambling through the campground looking for easy pickings. The usual screaming and banging of pots and pans ensued, but eventually escalated to air horns, and someone actually discharging a firearm (sounded like a .38 pistol, maybe). In the end, an entire family of morbidly obese men and boys were patrolling the campground, the leader of the group wielding an aluminum bat. Now that confrontation, I'd have paid to witness. Never came to pass...

Holy shit. This story solidified where I'll be setting up camp next time I visit the meadows. Thank you for sharing.