JMT: Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley

On Wednesday, July 15, 2009, we left the backpackers camp in Tuolumne Meadow, walked out to Hwy 120 and followed it about one mile until we reached the Cathedral Lakes Trail which was also the John Muir Trail. Over the course of the next 5.1 miles, we climbed about 1,150 feet past the Cathedral Lakes to Cathedral Pass, at 9,700 feet, where we took a nice rest. Below, me, Mark, Phil, Larry, Garrett and Nathan, with Cathedral Peak in the background. Cathedral Peak, itself, was easily seen from Tuolumne Meadow.

A picture of Cathedral Peak, itself.


A picture of the Cockscomb, a neighboring mountain.

After a nice rest, we continued on to the end of a valley and had the Matthes Crest off to our left.

In the distance were some distinctive snowy peaks that we could not definitively identify.

We dropped about 300 feet in elevation and entered Long Valley, a beautiful grass covered valley that went on for about 1 1/2 miles.

More Long Valley.

Long Valley, very close to Sunrise High Sierra Camp.

While in Long Valley, we were passed by some pack mules headed to supply Sunrise High Sierra Camp which is about 10 miles from Tuolumne Meadows. It takes the mules 3 to 3 1/2 hours to make the trip and they do it every other day.

We arrived at Sunrise High Sierra Camp not quite knowing what to expect. We found that they have little cabins that they rent for $150.00 to $200.00 per night and they are booked well in advance. Below is one of the cabins. A number of these pictures were taken by Larry.

The guests have shower facilities, pit toilets, water and meals (breakfast and dinner, on-site, and lunches to take with them on the trail). We were pleasantly surprised to learn they have a backpackers camp connected to it that is available at no charge. One benefit of the camp is that we had piped in water that we did not need to filter.

We also had a very nice pit toilet, supplied with toilet paper, another luxury along the trail.

We also had a very nice site to camp, with a developed fire ring and a great view of Long Valley.

In the evening, from our camp perch, we viewed quite a few deer enter Long Valley to graze on the grass.

Below, Larry protects himself from the ever-present mosquitos.

Below, Steve and Mark prepare a warm evening drink of some kind.

During the afternoon, Mark, Steve and I hiked about 1 1/2 miles to Sunrise Lake to take a bath. We found three alligator lizards along the way, two of which we caught temporarily. The one below had a very distinctive yellow coloring on its side and underneath, something I've not seen on the alligator lizards in the Redlands area.

The alligator lizard below was a little smaller and did not have the yellow coloring.

Sunrise Lake was a long walk, but ultimately worth it. The grime of the trail was getting pretty thick on us and I was getting to the point I couldn't stand to smell myself inside my bivvy bag. It was a warm afternoon and the cold lake water felt great, after the initial shock and loss of breath.

The downside was that as we got out of the water, we were immediately attacked by hundreds of mosquitoes. However, the loss of blood was worth the loss of smell and grime.

I arranged to eat with the guests that evening and sat with a family of five from Dallas, Texas. We were served hot chocolate, broccoli soup, homemade bread, salmon, basmati rice and cooked zucchini and bell peppers, and finally, chocolate cake with white frosting, cooked in a pie tin. I decided I much prefer that food to the freeze-dried stuff. Thursday morning, we headed out.

We hit some serious downhill and determined we were very happy to be going the direction we were. As we left Sunrise Camp at 9,400 feet, it was nice and cool. As we got lower, it started to heat up. It appeared we would be at the trail to Half Dome before noon. As I contemplated sitting around in the heat the rest of the day, versus going into Yosemite Valley and catching the Yarts bus back to Mammoth for my car, I decided to hike out to the Yosemite Valley that day. As we hit a little bench with a beautiful view of the very distinctive Yosemite landscape around us, I departed. Below, a distinctive mountain visible from the bench.

Other distinctive Yosemite features from the bench.

Half Dome, visible off to our right through the trees.

Larry took this photo of me as I was leaving. Note my hat with the cut-off back to allow for my pack. As I looked at my shadow on the trail, I looked like the flying nun.

About two miles later, I neared the trail to Half Dome at about 7,000 feet. It was getting much warmer.

The line of people climbing Half Dome, using the metal posts and stairs, is visible in the picture below. Larry and Garrett climbed Half Dome the next day.

As I got lower it got hotter and hotter. My water got warm and I really started heating up. The most distinctive feature on the way down was the spectacular Nevada Falls. Below, the falls as they cascade over the mountain from the bridge right above it.

I continued on the longer John Muir Trail, instead of taking the shorter Mist Trail, just because I wanted to say I had done it (although the Mist Trail sounded much nicer). A view of Nevada Falls from further down the JMT.

An area along the JMT where there was some mist and moisture providing some welcome heat relief.

Toward the bottom of the trail, at about 4,035 feet in elevation, a drop of over 5,300 feet during the day, the temperature was 102 degrees and the crowds were reminiscent of Disneyland. After the solitude and cool of the backcountry, negotiating the crowds in the heat was not a fun experience. Yosemite Valley on a summer day is not the place to be. I did note that the large ground squirrels got very bold as I got closer to the valley. It would have been very easy to reach out and grab several along the way.

My favorite was at the very end of the trail at Happy Isles, laying on a rock near the bridge on the highway. The squirrel had splayed itself out on the rock, obviously feeling the heat as I was.

Fortunately, I was able to order a 32 ounce cup of Mountain Dew on ice that tasted as good as anything I've ever drunk. I nursed it as I let the sweat partially evaporate from my hot body before catching the shuttle for my Yarts bus back to Mammoth.

The final mileage for the day, from Sunrise, was 13.7 miles. It was 23.9 miles to Yosemite Valley from Tuolumne Meadows. We covered some beautiful country during our week on the trail and it was a trip well worth the time and effort to do it.

PCT/JMT: Thousand Island Lake to Tuolumne Meadows

On Monday, July 13, 2009, the sun is just starting to rise and cast some light on Banner Peak as it towers over Thousand Island Lake.

A buck mule deer wandered through camp, almost oblivious to us.

We hiked back to the outlet of Thousand Island Lake, then caught the trail, now the combined Pacific Crest Trail and John Muir Trail, which began to switchback and gain elevation up the north side of Thousand Island Lake.

A view of the outlet of Thousand Island Lake, the headwaters of the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River.

A view of some islands below, near our campsite.

A mother and baby marmot, near one of our resting spots.

Somewhere on the ridge above Thousand Island Lake, we went over Island Pass, 10,200 feet in elevation, about 1.8 miles from Thousand Island Lake. It was just past a couple of small, unnamed lakes. From Island Pass, we began to descend about 600 feet, over 1.4 miles to Rush Creek, where we stopped to rest and fill our water bottles. The mosquitoes were bad. Below, Nathan makes one of several stream crossings on a log.

A group photo in the Rush Creek vicinity.

From there, we began our slow ascent toward Donohue Pass, the high point of our trip and the entrance into Yosemite National Park. We had another river crossing, this one a little trickier as it was on a log high over a fast stream.

As we ascended, we had some beautiful views of large streams carrying water down from the surrounding mountains. Some of the spots, such as the one below, would have been great to stop and enjoy the view, but we were determined to get to the top of Donohue Pass and pushed on.

Below, a waterfall along one of the streams.

Another beautiful stream

that we eventually had to cross. Larry and Phil approach the log they would use to cross the stream.

As we got higher, the surroundings changed. The vegetation got more sparse and we started to get some nice views of the surrounding peaks. Below, a view of Banner & Ritter stand out over several intermediate ridges.

Another ridge to the north that we were happy we did not have to traverse.

We began to wind around to the west and the guessing game began, as to where the Donahue Pass was.

We ultimately stopped for a long rest in a tundra area of grass, rocks and occasional bushes. Donahue Pass is about where the tree obscures it to the right of the center of the picture below.

We were glad that the trail did not take us further to the left near the impressive triangular peak.

Below, Nathan takes full advantage of the rest, protected by his mosquito net.

Garrett gets something to eat.

After a long slog, which seemed never to end, we eventually made it to Donahue Pass, 11,056 feet and 6.6 miles from Thousand Island Lake. There were several areas where the trail was obscured by snow. A beautiful view of the Sierras was below us.

My Verizon network was apparently on strike and I couldn't get phone service. However, Mark's Singular worked and I was able to talk to Judy from the pass. Below, we get a group shot from a hiker passing through on his way to do the entire John Muir Trail.

A view of Banner and Ritter from Donahue Pass. As you can tell, I really like those mountains.

From Donahue Pass, we descended into Yosemite National Park, down a large boulderfield, the trail partially obstructed by snow. About a mile below the pass, we found a small lake, perhaps a tarn, below Lyell Peak, the tallest mountain in Yosemite National Park. We stopped for water along a small stream nearby. Several of my pictures below were taken by Larry.

Lyell Peak and the largest glacier along the Pacific Crest Trail in the Sierras, loomed above us.

Another view of the small lake and Lyell Peak and glacier. The hiker who took our picture at the pass had climbed Lyell Peak three or four times (a class three or four climb).

The outlet of the lake dropped precipitously down a steep hill to form the headwaters of Lyell Canyon. We originally thought the trail went to the right, and had to backtrack through some soft, tricky snow, after finding a bigger drop than we wanted to negotiate.

After crossing to the other side of the small lake, the trail wound around, made another river crossing, and then started to switchback down the south side of Lyell Canyon, which lay below us.

Below, the headwaters of Lyell Canyon, with the canyon wall and Lyell Peak in the background.

Here, we had to cross the headwaters, at about 10,220 feet, without the benefit of rocks, a log or a bridge. Larry doing a wet crossing.

A closer view of Larry.

After some more steep descending, including a bridged crossing of the Lyell headwaters, we reached the Lyell Canyon floor, at about 9,000 feet. Just below Kuna Creek, which spilled into the canyon in a steep descent over the north rim, we made camp.

I was feeling a little green with altitude sickness, but was able to eat some Mountain House mashed potatoes and pudding, my only freeze-dried food of the trip. We covered a difficult 10.6 miles during the day. It seemed like much more. Lyell Canyon was stunningly beautiful.

The next morning, Tuesday, July 14, 2009, we headed out early for Tuolumne Meadows, concerned about getting a space in the backpackers camp before it filled up. There is a four mile prohibition on camping around Tuolumne Meadows and we didn't want to have to get there and then go another four miles beyond it to camp. Below, the Lyell Canyon River was, for the most part, lazy, slow moving and crystal clear.

Near the Vogelsang trail turnoff, about 2.8 miles from where we camped, we found a mother robin, feeding a worm to her brood in a nest right over the trail.

Below, one of the few spots where the river had some rapids.

We encountered a family of young marmots that was extremely cute.

We also found Lyell Canyon to be full of deer. If I were a mountain lion, this is where I would choose to live. One buck, on the other side of the river, seemed oblivious to us as we got closer for pictures.

It was very fun to get so close.

Just a few minutes later, we encountered another, larger buck, just off the trail.

This trip was making up for all of the wildlife I'd not seen on previous Sierra trips. I'm realizing it was probably because those trips tended to be at higher elevations where the animals are not as numerous.

A mile or two from Tuolumne Meadows, we passed over a bridged stream crossing. The setting was perfect. The meadows, the slow, clear river, the temperature. I would have loved to go swimming then and there. However, we had to push on.

We still spent some time resting and enjoying the cool shade.

Toulumne Meadows, as seen right near Hwy 120.

It was beautiful, but no match for the prettier Lyell Canyon high country we'd just been through.

What I did appreciate was the store, and particularly the Grill next-door to it. I spent the rest of the day, from noon on, reading a book and eating hamburgers. We did about 8.6 miles for the day and enjoyed the beautiful weather of Tuolumne Meadows at 8,650 feet.

Overall, from Thousand Island Lake to Tuolumne Meadows, it was about 19.2 miles.