Backpacking Parker Pass, Yosemite

Parker Pass is an amazing little backpacking trip to keep in your back pocket for an open weekend – awesome AND doable without much planning.  I have a couple of these just-in-case trips that are short distance, on trail, and generally not overwhelming. Short and sweet, but deliver some much needed wilderness time.

I would consider Parker Pass the sister to the much more popular Mono Pass trip. Also an amazing weekend trip from the same trailhead

My favorite Parker Pass moment was after Curtis and I returned from our exploration of the the small lakes basin where we camped. We had began to “make” dinner (AKA: make boiled water for rehydration) when the sky partially darkened and a distant thunder rumbled. Hail and rain started to tumble onto the lid of our little aluminum pan. It was going to be a quick storm, we could tell from the the clouds racing across the sky.

That was when a rainbow lifted out from the mountains.

Long backpack or short weekend trip, that is what this is all about.

Next time I got to go check out if there is gold up Kiop Peak Pass. Seems probable, depending on your definition of gold.

Backpacking Parker Pass, Yosemite/Ansel Adams Wilderness, Inyo National Forest

Trailhead: Mono Pass Trailhead, located 1.5 miles from the Tioga pass Yosemite entrance station. Map.

Distance: 5.2 miles to the pass.  Camping is limited to the National Forest side of the boundary. Approximately 10.5 miles round trip.

Parker Pass Trail Map. Click for larger. PDF download here

A Yosemite Wilderness Permit is required to backpack Parker Pass if leaving from the Yosemite Mono Pass trailhead. We did this trip in September 2017 and at that time receiving permits was not an issue. Also note that, despite the Yosemite Wilderness Permit, camping restrictions required us to camp on the National Forest side of the boundary.

The hike from the Mono Pass Trailhead is a nice trip –  pine forest turning into higher elevation meadows and exposed rock within a relatively short distance. The crossing at the Dana fork of the Tuolumne River was not a problem in September, but it had been flooded and less friendly earlier in July of the same year.

Interesting note from our hike: this is bighorn sheep habitat! We pass a few people carrying large binoculars searching for these elusive animals. Our wildlife spottings were limited to a deer herd, marmots, and a lone pika on by the lakes – but I will be on the look out, and try to read up on it, before our next trip in this direction.

Parker Pass is gorgeous exposed pass, that gently continues down to a number of small lakes that dot the National Forest side of the pass. Finding a tenting spot that wasn’t too exposed to wind was not easy, but there is a lot of options to work with here.

Final note: I only spotted one lone pika on Parker Pass. This is a stark contrast to the parade of pikas found at nearby Mono Pass. I wonder if this cute little guy had some friends hidden – or if more will follow him around the pass soon.

More Photos Below: