Page Type:
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Route |
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Lat/Lon:
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37.81360°N / 119.2011°W |
Route Type:
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hike |
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Time Required:
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A long day |
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Difficulty:
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walk-up |
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Approach
First, make your way to Tuolumne Meadows. The Dana Meadows trailhead is 4 miles east of Tuolumne Meadows along highway 120, 2 miles west of Tioga Pass, on the south side of road.
The Dana Meadows approach requires a bit of routefinding. Follow the trail toward Mono Pass for approximately 3.5 miles. In previous years, a well-maintained trail split off, taking you southeast to Parker Pass. The trail is still in good shape, but the sign at the split has been removed, and the trail has deteriorated around the split. Near the 10,200 foot level, pass a cabin skeleton on the right of the trail and continue for less than a half mile. The trail is marked by two small cairns on the right side of the trail. If you can't find the trail, don't worry--just climb the ridge on the south side of the stream. If you go high enough, you should be able to spot the Parker Pass trail easily in the high meadow. From there, the trail to Koip Peak Pass is fairly straightforward. It partially descends Parker Canyon, past some beautiful braided lakes, and then ascends 1000' of switchbacks on the northwest slopes of Parker Peak (12,800').
The sign is back!
Author: mrolph
Date: Aug 04, 2003 7:31 PM
I hiked through here on July 27, 2003 and the sign marking the Parker Pass junction is back in place. The trail across the meadow just beyond the junction is still a bit indistinct but it's fairly easy to follow.
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Route Description
From Koip Pass, simply scramble over irritating talus, climbing 800 feet up the east slopes of Koip Peak. A semi-permanent snowfield makes for an easy glissade down.
From the trailhead, the distance to Koip Peak's summit is around 11 miles, for a round trip of 22 miles, with 3500 feet of climbing.
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Essential Gear
Normal hiking gear late in the season. The Koip Pass trail traverses the steep western slopes of Parker Peak. Early in the season, you may want to have crampons and ice axe for security. A fall down one of the couloirs could be fatal, since the run-out is quite bad.
GPS Waypoints
Below you'll find a list of useful waypoints for the Dana Meadows approach to Koip Peak, via the standard route (East Slopes), as well as for some interesting variations, like the Koip/Kuna glacier and the West Ridge of Kuna Peak. Simply cut-and-paste the waypoints and save as a text file, which can be imported into TOPO! or most GPS receivers. Refer to three maps to put these waypoints into context: Approach 1, Approach 2, and Overview map.
| Waypoint | DegMin NAD83 | ElevFeet | Description |
| DMEDTH, | 37,53.471,-119,15.749, | 9706, | DANA MEADOWS TRAILHEAD |
| STREAM, | 37,53.201,-119,15.442, | 9601, | STREAM XING: DANA FK TUOLUMNE R. |
| PKRJCT, | 37,52.064,-119,14.208, | 9968, | JUNCTION: SPILLWAY LK TRAIL |
| MONOPS, | 37,51.344,-119,12.882, | 10634, | MONO PASS |
| 2PKRPS, | 37,51.437,-119,13.325, | 10616, | 0.4 MI TO MONOPS: VEER SOUTH |
| PKRPAS, | 37,50.239,-119,12.365, | 11101, | PARKER PASS |
| 2GLACR, | 37,50.017,-119,11.895, | 10987, | VEER S FOLLOW CRK 4 KOIP GLACIER |
| KOIPPS, | 37,48.839,-119,11.570, | 12273, | KOIP PEAK PASS |
| SWBAX0, | 37,49.314,-119,11.341, | 11125, | BEGIN SWITCHBACKS TO KOIPPS |
| KUNASP, | 37,50.749,-119,13.089, | 10899, | VEER S FOR KUNA W RIDGE APPROACH |
| KUNAPK, | 37,48.772,-119,12.494, | 12894, | KUNA PEAK SUMMIT |
| KOIPPK, | 37,48.813,-119,12.098, | 12956, | KOIP PEAK SUMMIT |
| KKSADL, | 37,48.731,-119,12.283, | 12774, | KOIP/KUNA SADDLE |
Miscellaneous Info
If you have information about this route that doesn't pertain to any of the other sections, please add it here.