Trans-Sierra Ski Trek through Yosemite
- Liz Masi
- Nov 4
- 7 min read
Updated: Nov 5
I'm drawn to landscapes devoid of human life, likely due to my fascination with liminal spaces—transitional areas between distinct places or states. An example of a liminal space would be an abandoned mall, where the past hustle lingers amid shuttered shops and a faint radio song.
This is the Yosemite wilderness in the winter except; it is not depressing like an abandoned mall. It is a liminal space that feels serene and magical. That is exactly what drew me in to ski across the landscape in the early spring of 2025.
First off, let me plug the Yosemite Winter Club who we (Myself and Husband, Luke) attended this through. They took care of ALL of the logistics and taught us so much that we feel comfortable doing this self-supported in 2026 (more on that in a different blog).
The trip started at our house, in Yosemite Valley, on a Wednesday evening in April 2025. In the mid-evening, a gaggle of skiers began showing up to stay at our house before departing on our Trans-Sierra trip. These skiers belonged to the Winter Club, we had no idea who they were- but that night, we shared a great pasta dinner and discussed the trip ahead.
The next morning, we got a ride to the Groveland airport with only skis and a backpack filled with equipment to stay safe in the snowy Yosemite backcountry for 5 days, 4 nights.
We crawled into an absolute Cadillac of a plane and took one of the coolest rides of my life over the snow-swept Sierra Nevadas.
I had a realization that this was is the closest I will ever get to a private jet, LOL. I was glued to the window pointing out peaks that we have hiked to or driven by when Tioga Pass is open.
The flight was about 20 minutes from Groveland to Lee Vining. A real time saver from the 8ish hour drive when the passes are closed. When we landed, we were picked up by a Mono Lake Committee volunteer, incredibly nice guy! He dropped us off at the Tioga Pass (Hwy 120) gate and we began a 5 mile trek up the pass on foot until we hit the snow line.
Honestly, this was not bad. The only downside was the direct sun, but the walk was easy as it is graded for vehicle travel and regardless, the views were so stunning that it did not matter. I really enjoyed walking the road as it gave me time to really look at the landscape around me that I am normally driving 45 MPH through.
Above are some excerpts of the journey by foot. We hit snow line around the "Green Bridge". For safety, ALWAYS communicate with the CalTrans equipment operators. Ensure they see you by doing hand signals with them and DO NOT pass them without doing that step. This could injure you or them if you bypass communication.
Once we got on snow, it felt weird to ski after all of that walking. Plus, I didn't get much time in the skis this winter other than short little skis through Crane Flat. It took me about a mile in skis to get a groove, but boy was this stretch beautiful. It was really setting in that I was skiing on my favorite road and comparing all of the sights to how they look in the summer was a blast.
I believe this stretch was about 8 miles or so in addition to the miles on foot. It also had an uphill grade. Our objective was the Entrance Station Cabin known as the Ferdie cabin, named after an iconic NPS employee with a connection to Tioga pass. The snow quality was good, but soft and slightly slushy as it was late afternoon.
The Ferdie cabin was such a welcome sight. It was shoveled out and as the sun set, it became a warm haven for us. Immediately we began camp chores and for ski touring, this looks a little different than your summer camping trip. We started a fire, brought out the food caches, began melting snow for drinking and cooking, prepared dinner, and of course- had some wine. We recounted the day, told funny stories, and began to really bond with our winter club mates.
Please note: permission is required to stay at this cabin.
I'll never forget that alpenglow from the Ferdie cabin. That night was so exciting- I WAS SKI TOURING IN YOSEMITE! What a privilege to sleep in this warm cabin and have a great meal with good conversation.
Our journey the next morning to Tuolumne Meadows was fun. It was mostly downhill. Our group split into two. One group took the road and had a fast ski to the cabin, capitlizing on ice. The other group (us) did some sidequesting through the meadows before eventually popping back out onto 120.
The snow quality on this day was icy in the morning followed by gorgeous corn and a little slush in the sunny sections.
Eventually we made it to the ski cabin. When we arrived, a group of 3 were departing - which was perfect because we were a group of 6. A fire was already going, and after picking our beds and having a snack. A few in the group went to ski tour Lembert Dome.
I stayed back with my new friend, Isaac, and had some wine. The cabin was cozy, and reading the log book from skiers past was a great time.
We all had plans to ski Tuolumne Meadows in the full moon that night, so I wanted some R&R before that expedition. I even got to sun out on the roof, which felt really good. My bones were warming back up and I had time to reflect on it all.
After dinner, we put back on our skis and headed out into the meadow was some moon-lit skiing. This was hands down my favorite part of this trip. The photos in the gallery below are completely moon-lit.
The trip included two nights at the ski cabin which is a must in my opinion. The next day, the more experienced group took a trip up to Budd Lake/Cathedral Lakes. Luke and I decided to hang back and ski through the meadows more. I had always wanted to ski on Pothole Dome. I offered Luke to go with the more experienced group, but he opted to stay with me (what a nice husband!).
We had a blast skiing absolute corn all day.
We had a great day together discussing how grateful we were for this trip, how are bodies were feeling, and how we wished we could share it with some more of our friends (more to come on that for 2026!).
After a nice night of story telling in the cabin, we all hit the hay. Our next day would look like departing Tuolumne Meadows, heading past Tenaya Lake, and up to the Snow Flat Cabin for the evening.
We climbed out of Tuolumne Meadows for a few miles, before my second favorite section of the trip - Spring Hill. Spring Hill was teaming with spring activity, snow was melting causing little waterfalls everywhere and the road was steep enough that you could ski down with some speed into Tenaya Lake. The ski quality was fantastic, all day long. It was AWESOME! This area could be prone to avalanches, but due to the lateness in the season/lack of fresh snowfall- this was not a factor at this particular spot.
We stopped for lunch at a thawing Tenaya Lake before beginning our climb up a pack trail to the May Lake area where we find refuge in the Snow Flat cabin.
Climbing up above Tenaya Lake on the pack trail was neat. The views were good, but the ecosystem of trees also changed. It was a steep trail, but pretty direct. Some of the group, including Luke carried on to go check out Mt. Hoffman. I went part of the way, and then decided to ski down to the Snow Flat cabin and prepare dinner for the group.
This cabin was very rustic. The previous two cabins had electrcity, this one was neat to stay in but VERRRRY Little House on the Prairie. This was also the last night of the trip, so I think I was feeling the need for plumbing and a hot shower. I still took the time to enjoy the stars and the experience of it all on this night. We played a few rounds of Farkle and Pass the Pigs and then hit the hay. The next day was going to be exclusively downhill on ski and foot.
The day started with fast and icy ski down the May Lake road onto 120. The theme of this section was PIZZZZA!
From 120, we essentially hopped onto the Mt. Watkins trail. This section of skiing was a series of headwalls. Not going to lie- this was not fun for me on backcountry skinny skis. I plan to bring my touring skis in 2026 so I can hit those headwalls properly.
As we neared the rim of Yosemite Valley, we took a sidequest to find the Snow Creek Cabin. This was difficult to find as noted by literally anyone who has tried to find it before. Once we found it, we took a peak inside and it was absolutely gorgeous. Finding it was bittersweet as it signaled the end of our trip.
Seeing the Snow Creek cabin made me so excited to come back. In fact, we cached food here for 2026! Also this artwork is BEGGING to be tattooed on me, LOL.
I think what made seeing the Snow Creek Cabin so cool was that it represents historic ski touring culture in Yosemite. Patrons would escorted up the 115ish switchbacks of the Snow Creek Trail on horseback and delivered to the Snow Creek Cabin where they would be treated to hot meals and ski touring on Mt. Watkins. To see the Snow Creek Cabin blanketed in snow really gave me the feeling of liminal space. I CANNOT WAIT TO COME BACK HERE!
This was the last of the snow for us. Shortly after this photo, we put on our hiking shoes and headed down the switchbacks of the Snow Creek trail where my knees were singing death metal to me. We walked home from here and absolutely crashed out in bliss from the coolest trip ever.
If you have any questions about this trip, please comment below or email me and I am happy to answer.
Here is a visual summary of our tracks. This is a general overview of our route and does not account for sidequests. I would say our mileage totaled in the ballpark of 50 miles over 5 days, 4 nights.
What a great read, loved the photos!