North Peak (12,242') and Tioga Lake

After my ‘rest’ day on San Joaquin Mountain, I drove up to Tioga Lake campground to meet up with Sooz and Pavla for the weekend. They had secured some campsites at the always-full Tioga Lake campground, and I was excited to see some friends, sleep at elevation, and prepare for another peak that has been on my to-do list for a while: North Peak.

North is next to Mt Conness, one of my favorite peaks in Yosemite’s high country. I climbed Conness back in 2010 and from its summit spied some future targets, including North. One reason I wanted to climb North was because the approach passes the beautiful glacier-melt fed Conness Lakes, and I wanted to get up close to these stunning lakes I saw from the summit.

Last year, Sooz and I dayhiked to the lakes, but didn’t have enough time to go for the summit of North. The hike to Conness Lakes was one of the most beautiful I’ve done, so I’ve been aching to come back and climb North since then. I finally got the chance.

Trip Report

The drive to the trailhead from our campsite wasn’t long, so we all piled into my Outback and got there by 8 am. The hike was not an all-day endeavor, but we still wanted to give ourselves plenty of time. The parking lot was mostly empty as were the trails. That’s how I like it!

Forgoing the opportunity to take the water taxi across Saddlebag Lake (it’s so low this year, what’s the point), we hiked the ~1.5 miles along its western shore until we reached the junction to Greenstone Lake.

Hiking the trail along Saddlebag Lake

Forking to the west, we continued along the trail on the south shore of Greenstone. North Peak towers above, but we can’t yet see the route we’ll be taking to the summit.

North Peak above Greenstone Lake

The crossing point at Greenstone’s inlet is where the ‘official’ trail kind of disappears, but well-worn use trails continue to parallel the creek draining from the Conness Lakes above.

Outlet of Conness Lakes and North Peak

The many use trails switchback through the granite to the right of a beautiful cascading waterfall, and where you end up depends on the cairns you choose to follow. I’ve followed two different routes and in both cases they spit me out at the base of Conness Lakes. Route finding is not terribly complicated through here.

Mt Conness and the first of the Conness Lakes

Above the waterfall you’ll find yourself at the northeast end of the lowest of the Conness Lakes. The deep opaque turquoise color of the lake seems unreal – but wait until you get to the upper lakes!

We followed the use trail along the northwest side of the lower lake, having to climb up and around some obstacles along the way. There is a use trail that comes and goes, but consider this ‘off trail’ travel from here on out.

Looking back on the lower Conness Lake as we climb to the next

Hopping through some boulder fields and following the drainage path eventually got us to the next lake, what we thought was the highest of the Conness Lakes. An even deeper greenish turquoise lake than its brother below, the lake is fed by water and silt melting off the Conness Glacier above.

The upper Conness lake

From the higher lake, it’s time to climb to North. The route is not complicated, but it is loose and sandy. The picture below shows the view from the lake with the route we followed through the sand. I would call this a slog, for sure! There are several options depending on what use trail you follow. Some are better than others. If you find something that works or looks better for the descent, I highly recommend you leave some kind of visual marker. It’s easy to get distracted by footprints.

Our route up the SE slope to North

About half way up the slope you discover the highest of the lakes, a small milky blue tarn just below the Conness Glacier.

Another glacier-fed lake below the Conness Glacier

Finally, we reached the low point of the ridge, a broad saddle that opens up to gentle southwest slope of North Peak.

Approaching the open saddle, the summit of north straight ahead

From the saddle, it’s a simple walk-up to the summit.

Final approach to the summit of North Peak

Enjoy the views, especially that north ridge to Conness. Whee! You can see the saddle that we came up at the flat spot on the ridge, and the upper Conness Lake at the bottom left.

Mt Conness, its glacier, and the lakes from the summit of North

Retrace your steps for the return hike. The descent down the sandy southeast slopes is much faster than the ascent!

When we got back to camp that night, David and Thor showed up to spend the weekend with me! I took the next day as a rest day and we walked around Tioga Lake, fishing and swimming and having a perfect relaxing mountain day. I was so happy to see my boys and spend a night camping with them.