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View Full Version : Mts. Hoffmann and Star King in Yosemite



tgtaylor
21-Mar-2009, 12:21
Anyone familiar with Mts Hoffmann and Star King in Yosemite National Park?

By familiar, I mean have viewed them from various angles and can comment on locations and approaches. I am interested in photographing them as soon as conditions permitt but don't want to merely take the usual image (e.g., Hoffmann from May Lake).

Thanks,

Thomas

Keith S. Walklet
21-Mar-2009, 13:43
I've been to both. Spent much time on Mt. Hoffmann. Didn't climb Starr King itself, instead, went up the adjacent summits.

Hoffmann is easy to summit. 1,800 elevation gain in a mile and half up the sandy southwest slope on a trail that starts at May Lake and skirts its southern edge.

Ten or so years ago, I climbed it one day for sunset, spent the night up there, photographed sunrise, hiked down to Tuolumne to photograph wildflowers and went back up Hoffmann for sunset, then down again in the fading light. It is one of my favorite spots in the park, and is the geographic center of Yosemite.

Starr King is a fairly long, dry hike. My wife and I did that about fifteen years ago with Glenn Crosby from the Ansel Adams Gallery. We had so much photo gear that our meals were granola bars. Glenn, on the other hand, felt is was a short enough hike that it justified travelling in style. When we broke out our granola bars for dinner, he pulled a fresh pasta salad, a bottle of wine and an espresso maker out of his pack.

We approached it from the Mono Meadows trailhead on the Glacier Point road to save some of the elevation gain. From there, you drop down into the Illilouette drainage and get your last bit of water to take uphill with you through dry sandy slopes on the southwest side of Starr King. To summit Starr King itself, you're advised to use ropes, which we didn't have, so we went up the smaller peaks. The route to the top of Starr King is apparently on the southwest side.

Our descent was an off-trail zigzag beeline until we got to the top of Nevada Fall.

Drew Wiley
27-Mar-2009, 15:00
One of the guys in my office does a ritual hike up Hoffman every June, but off-trail.
We were just discussing current snow levels. This is what we both call a "normal" year,
at least in the mid to southern Sierra. I flew over Yosemite earlier this month. Everything depends on how hot May is, but things will probably be accessible on south
facing slopes by mid June at the latest. The road itself typically doesn't open till
Memorial day anyway. Might try Google Earth for up to date snow topography.

Vaughn
27-Mar-2009, 16:05
Starr King is a fairly long, dry hike. My wife and I did that about fifteen years ago with Glenn Crosby from the Ansel Adams Gallery. We had so much photo gear that our meals were granola bars. Glenn, on the other hand, felt is was a short enough hike that it justified travelling in style. When we broke out our granola bars for dinner, he pulled a fresh pasta salad, a bottle of wine and an espresso maker out of his pack.

Glenn does like to hike in style -- when we backpacked the Wawona Tunnel to Glacier Point trail, he was carrying to two liters of Stout (in Nalgene bottles). We ate well, also. Camping along the rim of the Valley, and on top of Sentinel Dome with Yosemite Falls at full bore is a treat!

One can do this before the Glacier Point Road opens -- we did it over Memorial Day Weekend. One could see the bumper-to-bumper traffic down in the Valley...and see no one else around us. I'll have to get to Hoffman one of these days!

Vaughn

tgtaylor
27-Mar-2009, 16:40
I realize that this is quite subjective, but from where do you suppose you would get the "best" perspective of Starr King? Unfortunetly my topo stops 200' south of the southern spire next to the summit but directly east is Starr King Meadow (~8100') which looks like it would provide a "straight on" shot of the two spires and little Starr King lake is just a little ways north at the same elevation.

Keith S. Walklet
27-Mar-2009, 18:01
To be honest, I really wasn't very impressed with Starr King itself. And from the summit of the middle peak, it appeared that Star King Lake was no more than small pond surrounded by a dense ring of trees. We were there early in the season and the cross-country trek looked as if it wouldn't be much fun, and we were certain upon arrival that the only thing to greet us would be mosquitoes. I did get a few interesting images of other features from the middle peak, but it was the return trip to the valley that was most rewarding with some nice images of Nevada Fall. I've attached what it looks like approaching from the southwest. I would probably find it a lot more interesting if I visited now. Just a different way of looking at things...

And Vaughn, I know Glenn had some very nice images from that trim along the rim. Seems to me the Bridalveil Creek crossing was an adventure.

Drew Wiley
28-Mar-2009, 10:37
Late May and early June are always a favorite time for me, although I generally go
into parts of the Sierra to the south of Yosemite. It is what I call the "pre-mosquito"
season. The bugs will be in the lower creeks and meadows around 7000ft and thin
out higher up. So the secret is to camp right around the snowline, typically around
9000 ft at that time of year. This is too late in the season for either snowshoes or
skis, but expext to do a lot of postholing unless you travel only in the morning hours before the snow gets soft. In other words, wear real mtn boots and not the glorified
tennis shoes routinely sold as hiking boots nowadays. The option is either frostbite
or not getting very far. The granite slopes on Hoffman are already clear of snow,
but expect quite a bit of snow on the approaches prior to July (real mosquito season!). And be very, very wary of any possibility of lightning once you get onto
the granite itself. If things start clouding up in the afternoon, you want to be off the
exposed ridges or domes well in advance. It seems that about every other year,
the change of season around Memorial day brings in some really nasty weather
for a few days, with June itself generally being calmer, but by no means always
free of rain. But the air is clean that time of year, and the days wonderfully long!

tgtaylor
29-Mar-2009, 10:23
I've climbed Mt. Hoffman from the usual May Lake route a few years ago and am not really interested in climbing it but would like to photograph if from a perspective not normally seen. I don't have a detailed topo in front of me but I'm thinking about hiking around the north and west sides of Hoffmann and searching for a perspective that strikes a chord.

Thomas

Keith S. Walklet
29-Mar-2009, 11:50
I like the view from Tuolumne Peak (see attached).

My wife and I have also spent time in the basin to the west over the saddle from May Lake, which has some small lakes. The shape of the peak is not as compelling from that direction, IMO. Its dramatic western face loses some of its power with a wide angle lens and the light is somewhat flat, but there are reflections to be had.

Hoffmann, in my estimation is most interesting from viewed along its western face, either from the south or north, where there is strong side light to work with, in addition to color.

You might also consider the view from Raisin Lake. Again, somewhat sidelit, reflections, etc.

I've also recorded it from the Ten Lakes trail, which skirts the southwestern side, albeit from a distance.

tgtaylor
30-Mar-2009, 09:24
Great photo Keith. That is exactly the kind of image that I am interested in creating: Something that looks good and has not been shot to death.

Sometime back I saw a B&W photo of Hoffmann taken many years back from Tuolumne Peak area that looked promising and am planning on traveling thru that area as well as the west side (Wegner Lake area, for example). I'm short of 1:24000 topo's for that area so I'm going to make a trip to the USGS store in the next few days. They used to be $4 but they went up to $7.

Thomas

ROL
30-Mar-2009, 17:41
When I climbed Starr King (1970?) all routes to the summit were 4th class or better. Back then that meant using ropes (Starr King - far right). Never been up Hoffman, for some reason.

Keith S. Walklet
30-Mar-2009, 19:29
Beautiful image!