Geoff, Mike, and I drove up to Tioga Pass on Monday, July 7th, and met Geoff’s brother Greg who drove down from Tahoe. We had a permit to hike the John Muir Trail through Yosemite National Park, from Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley, for July 8th through July 11th.
We quickly found a great camp site at Tioga Lake, just about a mile from the Tioga Pass entrance to Yosemite National Park. Mike and I had kayaked here last summer, but didn’t even realize there was a nice camp site here.
Me, Mike, and Greg at our Tioga Lake campsite.
Greg fishing on Tioga Lake on Monday night. He didn’t catch anything.
Sunrise in Tioga Pass, Tuesday, July 8th, 2008.
A healthy breakfast at the Tioga Pass Resort before hitting the trail.
Max, the official greeter at the Tioga Pass Resort.
Mike found two new friends at the Tioga Lake campground as we were leaving. I guess the state of the economy is pretty bad when Disneyland is forced to lay off Chip and Dale, but at least they found another gig in the Eastern Sierra.
Breaking down our camp site at Tioga Lake and getting our packs organized for four days on the trail.
The Cathedral Lakes trailhead at Tuolumne Meadows, where we left our cars for four days.
Geoff, Mike, and Greg on the John Muir Trail.
Our first view of magnificent Cathedral Peak.
Greg and Geoff setting up camp at Upper Cathedral Lake.
My tent with Cathedral Peak in the background.
Upper Cathdral Lake.
Mr. Marmot near our camp site.
Filtering water in the stream by our camp site. From left: Geoff, Mike, and Greg.
Me on top of the little dome behind our camp site. It only took half an hour to get to the top. So I convinced Mike that maybe we should go a little further…
…and Cathedral Peak looked so close. Greg thought there was a ridge on the other side that was less than Class 5, and with my copy of “The Climber’s Guide to the High Sierra” sitting on the shelf at home, that was all we had to go on.
Me walking up to the saddle that separates Cathedral Peak from the Echo Peaks complex.
At this point, we heard voices. We could make out a couple of climbers up at the summit.
Mike making his way up the side of Cathedral Peak.
Eichorn Pinnacle, the stunning west (lower) summit of Cathedral Peak. Towards the bottom of this picture, you can barely see a climber clad in a red shirt and blue pants, working up the pinnacle.
Me at our high point on Cathedral Peak. About 120 feet from the summit, we didn’t have the guidebook to tell us the Class 4 way up (the “Regular Route”). Plus, we could see dark clouds heading our way, and we had been sprinkled by raindrops for the last half hour. Though we didn’t make it to the top (this time), I know for sure I’ll be back to try this one again–and *with* the gudebook! After the first ascent of Cathedral Peak, John Muir wrote “This, I may say, is the first time I have been at church in California.”
Unsettled weather over Lower Cathedral Lake. Our campsite is back at Upper Cathedral Lake, to the left of the photo. Before heading down, I left Mike for 10 minutes and ran across a boulder-strewn ridge to summit a little sub-peak that looked too enticing.
Me straddling the summit blocks of the sub-peak. My GPS said the elevation was about 10,800 feet.
From the sub-peak, looking back towards Mike, Cathedral Peak, and Eichorn Pinnacle.
After an uneventful descent–it stopped sprinkling and luckily the storm never materialized–we were back at Upper Cathedral Lake.
Geoff took this of a deer walking near our campsite.
The colors really came out as sunset approached.
This is a great overview of the afternoon of exploration Mike and I had. Our campsite would be in the trees at the far left of the photo. The small dome we ascended is dwarfed by Cathedral Peak rising menacingly behind it.
A small pond near our campsite.
Sunrise, Wednesday, July 9th, 2008.
Good morning! I woke up this deer, who had a nice little bed about 200 feet north of our campsite.
The brown blob at the bottom center of the photo, in the meadow near the edge of the lake, is a bear. I watched for 15 minutes and he (?) walked half way up the mountain behind him, looking for breakfast. At one point he startled a deer out of the bushes, and it ran quickly across the meadow and into the forest.
This was our “kitchen area” at Upper Cathedral Lakes. Nice view out of our kitchen window of Cathedral Peak.
The John Muir Trail through Lond Meadow. Long Meadow was, well, pretty long. At some points the trail itself was so eroded that the meadow was at about knee level.
Getting closer to the Sunrise High Sierra Camp. We would stop nearby for a short break, but would be pushing on to find a remote campsite closer to Half Dome.
Finding a good place to camp for the evening, Geoff immediately opened his bear canister and pulled out the fixin’s for a cocktail. Backpacking can be tough, but somebody’s got to do it.
Our camp site for Wednesday night, a hundred yards off the John Muir Trail, near a small stream, about halfway between the Sunrise High Sierra Camp and the junction with the trail to Half Dome.
It took a while, but with patience Mike snapped this photo of a little trout in the small stream next to our camp site.
Greg has a Ph.D. in Campfire Technology, and it shows.
Thursday, July 10th, 2008. We got our earliest start of the trip on this morning, yet within half an hour it was already so hot that we could tell it was going to be a scorcher.
Our first view of Half Dome, about 5 miles away. We would be on top in about 3 hours!
One of many nice little meadows we passed along the trail.
At the junction of the John Muir Trail with the trail to Half Dome, we ditched most of our gear behind a log and took just the essentials to the top.
Mike ascending the stairs on the false dome before the cables.
Mike topping out on the false dome.
From the saddle, looking at the ants scurrying up and down the cables. It still wasn’t very crowded, but it would be soon.
Mike near the top of the cables. Almost there!
We made it! Greg on the diving board.
Greg and me on the diving board.
Mr. Marmot thought my shoelaces were food.
Me getting ready to go down the cables; Greg is a few boards below me.
Mike at the bottom of the cables. Now we can relax! It’s just 4 more miles and 2,000 feet of elevation loss to our next camp…
From the bottom of the cables, Greg noticed a fire burning in the western portion of Yosemite National Park. A ranger later told us it had been started by lightning a few days earlier.
On the trail down, we stopped at a small muddy spring to filter some much-needed water. We spotted this deer near the trail.
Geoff back on the John Muir Trail with heavy pack. We were headed towards Little Yosemite Valley to spend the night and soak ourselves (and our clothes) in the Merced River.
Rattlesnake a few hundred yards from the camp site.
Our camp in Little Yosemite Valley, with my tent doubling as a clothesline. Two things happened in the middle of the night here. First, I woke up in the middle of the night and smelled smoke–the winds had shifted. Oh well, we expected heavy smoke the first three days and had nothing. Second, I heard a bear bumble up to our camp site and take a big snort in my backpack to see if there was food. It then moved and and snorted someone else’s backpack, then stumbled through the camp ground. But we had all of our food double-protected, stowed safely in bear canisters within bear boxes.
Doe and fawn wandering by our campsite in the afternoon.
Another deer in the late afternoon near camp.
Dawn, Friday, July 11th, 2008. Artistic shot along the Merced River.
Smoky sunrise on the Merced River.
Geoff and Greg amped up for the hike out.
Merced River along the John Muir Trail.
Pack train along the John Muir Trail.
Wrangler leading another pack train a few minutes later.
Geoff and Greg descending the Mist Trail.
Nevada Falls from the Mist Trail.
Mike posing in front of Nevada Falls.
Me posing in front of Nevada Falls.
Taking a breather on the Mist Trail, between Nevada Falls and Vernal Falls. It was hot, humid, and smokey, and the trail was brutally steep to be going downhill with heavy packs.
Top of Vernal Falls.
Ants, uh, people scurrying up the Mist Trail below Vernal Falls.
A rainbow in the mist of Vernal Falls.
Vernal Falls.
Mike exiting the John Muir Trail. The official end of the hike.
After our spartan lifestyle for the last 4 days on the trail, we headed off to the famous Ahwahnee hotel for a little decadence.
Geoff in front of the sign at the Ahwahnee that says “All persons shall conduct themselves in a manner that is consistent with the intended use of the premises.” Oh, the irony.
Cocktails on the patio at the Ahwahnee. Greg, Mike, and Geoff.
Greg with the packs, waiting for yet another bus in Yosemite Valley.
There’s a shuttle that would take us from Yosemite Valley back to our cars at Tuolomne Meadows for $8 each, but we only made it as far as Olmstead Point. Our driver swerved into a rock face trying to avoid killing a motorcyclist, leaving an 18 foot gash in the side of the bus. We got out at Olmstead point, and within a few minutes a smaller shuttle bus drove up–it was the shuttle that makes the run from Olmstead Point to Tuolumne Meadows! We quickly grabbed all of our gear and jumped on the other bus.
After successfully getting out of Yosemite National Park, we ended up in Lee Vining Canyon on the eastern side of the Sierra. We found a campsite at the Cattleguard campground, and were greeted with this spectacular sunset.
Setting up camp at Cattleguard.
Saturday, July 12th, 2008. Smoky sunrise from our campground.
Off Highway 395 near Tinemaha Reservoir we saw the largest herd of elk I’d ever seen.
The smoke was so bad on the drive back, my eyes were burning for hours, Geoff couldn’t stop coughing, …and somewhere in this mess is Mt. Whitney!
