Yosemite Backpacking Trips

Backpacking - Mountain Skills - Itinerary

  • About the Trip: The high country lakes and peaks of the Ansel Adam's Wilderness/Yosemite high country are truly spectacular--this trip takes you deep in the heart of this alpine environment. This trip is for those with backpacking experience who want to learn more advanced skills for backcountry travel. This trip will teach ice axe self arrest, mountaineering rock climbing, snow travel, off trail navigation, and will include a peak ascent utilizing many, if not all, of the skills learned.
  • Accommodations: First night is spent in chalet lodging on Bass Lake. Facilities include lakeside pool and hot tub, as well as tennis courts, market, restaurants. Chalets contain two queen beds and a fold out queen and are shared among trip participants (3-4 per chalet) unless otherwise arranged.
  • Group Size: 3-12 participants with 1-3 guides
  • Grade: Beginner/intermediate backpacking & mountaineering.
  • Equipment: SYMG can supply all needed personal and group camping equipment (backpacks, sleeping bags, ground pads, tents) if requested on the registration form. There is no additional cost for this service. You may print from our web page a detailed gear list , directions, and this itinerary.
  • Cost of the Trip: $715 per person. Note: There is a $150 small group surcharge for groups of 2 people. Optional single supplement for lodging $125.00 per person.
  • Your Cost Includes: Meals provided, camping gear, shared accommodations, permits, and guide.
  • Not Included: Personal gear, meals noted above, alcoholic beverages, tips for guides (10-20% of trip fee), transportation. Optional trip cancellation insurance.
  • Meals: Meals begin with lunch the second day and are provided through breakfast and trail snacks the last day. Our "Back country Gourmet" meals have been acclaimed in Sunset Magazine.
  • Preparation: Increase your physical activity and exercise routine. Hike at least one long hike with a fair amount of elevation gain prior to the trip, and purchase, and begin reading the backcountry travel 'bible' Mountaineering: Freedom of the Hills (published by the Mountaineers).
  • Day 1: Check in at the Pines Resort on Bass Lake anytime after 4 PM. Choose from several local restaurants for dinner. Meet your guide in the Pines Chalet Lobby at 6pm and go over a summary of the trip.
  • Day 2: After breakfast (there is a restaurant & bakery in the village), we drive to the trailhead (roughly an hour drive-it is your responsibility to drive to and from the trailhead) and hike in to our camp (5.5 miles). That evening, upon arrival in camp, we'll set up camp, prepare dinner, and enjoy conversation & a campfire before heading off to sleep.
  • Day 3: Rock climbing for mountaineering situations, ice axe self arrest, use of the ice axe, roped travel on snow, and off trail navigation skills will be taught and practiced in a remote gully in the high sierra, with spectacular views of the Sierra Crest.
  • Day 4: Using the skills we've learned on Day 3, we will climb a peak via a route of our choosing which will incorporate many, if not all the skills we've learned. Climbing a Sierra peak on rock, snow, and away from established trails & the masses is to enter another realm of backcountry travel. Climbing an 11,000+/- foot peak is also a challenge, and a memorable & exhilarating experience...to say the least.
  • Day 5: An early breakfast and departure puts us back at the resort on Bass Lake with time to use the hot tub or swim in Bass Lake before heading home.

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