Yosemite National Park: Mount Conness
Walk a scary-narrow rock fin to an airy summit.
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Want the exposure and views that Yosemite’s big wall climbers get, without the risk, ropes, and heavy gear? Tackle Mt. Conness’s South Slope for vertiginous cliff-edge walking above the 12,590-foot peak’s sheer granite south face with panoramas high above the Cathedral Range. The crux of your climb: a 2.5-mile, class 2 scramble that crosses a breathtakingly narrow stretch of rock with sheer drops. You’ll see climbers attempting long technical routes approaching the same summit.
The Young Lakes Trail climbs 1,500 feet over 6.5 miles from the Glen Aulin trailhead to Young Lakes. You’ll take in IMAX views of Sierra giants, including Mt. Lyell, the highest peak in Yosemite at 13,120 feet, as well as peeks at lupine and monkeyflower blooming in May along Dingley Creek. Campsites at the lower lake are protected from wind (not bears: canisters required).
Summit day: Hike 1.5 miles northeast to an unnamed tarn at 10,560 feet. Find a use trail on your right; take it to the summit plateau. Pick your way across a 100-foot-long catwalk, at times only 10 feet wide, with 1,000-foot drops, to the summit block.
BOOK The High Sierra: Peaks, Passes, and Trails, by R.J. Secor ($33, mountaineersbooks.org)
MAP Trails Illustrated Yosemite NE ($10, natgeomaps.com)
PERMITS Required; $5 up to 24 weeks in advance. Free (first-come, first-served) the day before your hike at the Tuolumne Meadows Wilderness Center
CONTACT (209) 372-0740; nps.gov/yose
Trail Facts
- Distance: 13.4
Waypoints
CON001
Location: 37.880844, -119.359101
Hike south to the road.
CON002
Location: 37.87883, -119.3584
Turn right, heading west.
CON003
Location: 37.878583, -119.365361
Turn right.
CON004
Location: 37.878973, -119.367022
Continue straight onto the Pacific Crest Trail at 4-way junction.
CON005
Location: 37.884166, -119.37716
Bear left, heading north.
CON006
Location: 37.888774, -119.38098
Bear right at Y-junction.
CON007
Location: 37.899157, -119.382702
Cross Dingley Creek.
CON008
Location: 37.928056, -119.36706
Continue straight at 3-way.
CON009
Location: 37.936918, -119.348855
Young Lakes: Hike along the northern shore of the lake. Take in IMAX views of Sierra giants, including Mt. Lyell, the highest peak in Yosemite at 13,120 feet, as well as peeks at lupine and monkeyflower blooming in May along Dingley Creek. Campsites at the lower lake are protected from wind (not bears: canisters required).
CON010
Location: 37.947124, -119.320425
From this unnamed tarn at 10,560 feet. Find a use trail on your right; take it to the summit plateau. Pick your way across a 100-foot-long catwalk, at times only 10 feet wide, with 1,000-foot drops, to the summit block.
CON011
Location: 37.967074, -119.321394
Mt. Conness (12,590 ft.): Soak up the panoramas high above the Cathedral Range. Follow the same route back to the trailhead.
