Yosemite!
Our next stop was Yosemite National Park, that bastion of granite! We last visited there in 1988, and had a few days to get reacquainted and explore some new areas.
Upon entering the park proper, we quickly remembered one of Yosemite's attributes ... the crowds! Even in October! ... though admittedly we were there on a quasi-holiday weekend (Columbus Day). The Valley and the prime road-side stops (Tulomne Meadows, Tenaya Lake, Tulomne Grove, Glacier Point) were basically a zoo, but most other areas were surprisingly reasonable. It helped that we did things early (but not too early) or late in the day. Our hikes covered a good cross-section of the Valley monoliths, waterfalls, and the high country.
Our first hike was the Twenty-Lakes Basin Loop, which is actually just outside the park on the eastern approach to Tioga Pass. During the summer season, the hike starts at the far end of Saddlebag Lake, reached via a water taxi. But, with such services closed down for the fall, we had to walk the extra 3.5 miles (round trip) ... making it a bit over 8 miles total. The scenery-to-effort ratio for this hike is huge, with only about 500' of elevation gain. We were in awe! The route takes you through several drainages and by numerous lakes, all below multiple 12,000+ ft peaks. With clear blue skies, and almost no people, we were in heaven. In fact, Karen was heard exclaiming "It doesn't get any better than this!"
Another high-country hike we tackled was Cathedral Pass. This trail is very popular, particularly to Cathedral Lakes, which are a bit before the pass. Our earlyish start avoided the big crowds. Plus we wandered off trail a bit from the pass to an awesome granite overlook of the lake basin for lunch. It's a magical place, with granite slabs, open pine forest, beautiful lakes, all beneath the sharp form of Cathedral Peak. Just stunning!
Our single foray into the full-on Yosemite crowds was the hike to Vernal and Nevada Falls via the Mist and John Muir Trails. The guide book said it might seem like a trip to the shopping mall ... but do it anyway. That was about right ... both in terms of the crowds and the awesomeness. The first chunk is a paved path steep enough to keep your calves stretched out, and then it graduates to a billion or so stairs. Eventually, it's just a steep trail. But that doesn't keep the throngs away, though it does thin out some as you go farther. The falls weren't spectacular at this time of year, due to the low water flow. But it's pretty easy to see that they would be in the spring ... Vernal and Nevada Falls have about 300' and 600' drops, respectively! And there's certainly no shortage of big granite throughout the hike!
We took a late afternoon drive up to Glacier Point, and we hiked up nearby Sentinel Dome for sunset. Glacier Point has incredibly commanding views of the Valley. Sentinel Dome has not-quite-as-commanding views of the Valley, but has unobstructed views to the west. With sunsets, you never know how it's going to play out ... sometimes you get great colors, while others it's anticlimactic. In this particular case, we made it up to the top of Sentinal Dome just in time to enjoy our deluxe salad ... and then the show began! Just incredible. Tom was in photo-ecstasy!
Yosemite Valley is also a good place to wander around. We didn't have tons of time to do this, but there's always awesome views. We spent a little time one morning with the binculars watching some climbers on El Capitan ... a couple doing the King Swing. Our photos only show the climbers as specks, but check out this video for a taste. Crazy!
On our way out of the Park, we snuck in one last hike ... this time to North Dome. The bulk of the hike itself wasn't too exciting, but the last part, as you approach and finally climb up North Dome was fantastic. BIG views of Half Dome, Cloud's Rest ... plus good views into the Valley and deep into the high country! What a great finish!
Random Scenes
Upon entering the park proper, we quickly remembered one of Yosemite's attributes ... the crowds! Even in October! ... though admittedly we were there on a quasi-holiday weekend (Columbus Day). The Valley and the prime road-side stops (Tulomne Meadows, Tenaya Lake, Tulomne Grove, Glacier Point) were basically a zoo, but most other areas were surprisingly reasonable. It helped that we did things early (but not too early) or late in the day. Our hikes covered a good cross-section of the Valley monoliths, waterfalls, and the high country.
Our first hike was the Twenty-Lakes Basin Loop, which is actually just outside the park on the eastern approach to Tioga Pass. During the summer season, the hike starts at the far end of Saddlebag Lake, reached via a water taxi. But, with such services closed down for the fall, we had to walk the extra 3.5 miles (round trip) ... making it a bit over 8 miles total. The scenery-to-effort ratio for this hike is huge, with only about 500' of elevation gain. We were in awe! The route takes you through several drainages and by numerous lakes, all below multiple 12,000+ ft peaks. With clear blue skies, and almost no people, we were in heaven. In fact, Karen was heard exclaiming "It doesn't get any better than this!"
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| Shamrock Lake and North Peak |
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| Snags |
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| Greenstone Lake and unnamed peak |
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| Mt. Conness |
Another high-country hike we tackled was Cathedral Pass. This trail is very popular, particularly to Cathedral Lakes, which are a bit before the pass. Our earlyish start avoided the big crowds. Plus we wandered off trail a bit from the pass to an awesome granite overlook of the lake basin for lunch. It's a magical place, with granite slabs, open pine forest, beautiful lakes, all beneath the sharp form of Cathedral Peak. Just stunning!
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| Echo Peaks above Upper Cathedral Lake |
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| Upper Cathedral Lake and Cathedral Peak |
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| Echo Peaks |
Our single foray into the full-on Yosemite crowds was the hike to Vernal and Nevada Falls via the Mist and John Muir Trails. The guide book said it might seem like a trip to the shopping mall ... but do it anyway. That was about right ... both in terms of the crowds and the awesomeness. The first chunk is a paved path steep enough to keep your calves stretched out, and then it graduates to a billion or so stairs. Eventually, it's just a steep trail. But that doesn't keep the throngs away, though it does thin out some as you go farther. The falls weren't spectacular at this time of year, due to the low water flow. But it's pretty easy to see that they would be in the spring ... Vernal and Nevada Falls have about 300' and 600' drops, respectively! And there's certainly no shortage of big granite throughout the hike!
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| Segment of Vernal Falls |
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| John Muir Trail |
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| Half Dome, Mt. Broderick, Liberty Cap, and Nevada Falls (upper left to right) |
We took a late afternoon drive up to Glacier Point, and we hiked up nearby Sentinel Dome for sunset. Glacier Point has incredibly commanding views of the Valley. Sentinel Dome has not-quite-as-commanding views of the Valley, but has unobstructed views to the west. With sunsets, you never know how it's going to play out ... sometimes you get great colors, while others it's anticlimactic. In this particular case, we made it up to the top of Sentinal Dome just in time to enjoy our deluxe salad ... and then the show began! Just incredible. Tom was in photo-ecstasy!
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| Half Dome from Glacier Point |
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| El Capitan at Sunset |
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| Summit of Sentinel Dome |
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| Sunset from Sentinel Dome |
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| Clark Range Sunset |
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| Sunset from Sentinel Dome |
Yosemite Valley is also a good place to wander around. We didn't have tons of time to do this, but there's always awesome views. We spent a little time one morning with the binculars watching some climbers on El Capitan ... a couple doing the King Swing. Our photos only show the climbers as specks, but check out this video for a taste. Crazy!
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| Half Dome |
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| El Capitan |
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| Climbers doing the King Swing (little spots below squarish light patch, just down and to the right of center) |
On our way out of the Park, we snuck in one last hike ... this time to North Dome. The bulk of the hike itself wasn't too exciting, but the last part, as you approach and finally climb up North Dome was fantastic. BIG views of Half Dome, Cloud's Rest ... plus good views into the Valley and deep into the high country! What a great finish!
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| Clouds Rest |
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| Basket Dome |
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| Approaching North Dome |
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| Half Dome |
Activities
- Day hikes: Saddlebag Lake/20 Lakes Basin Loop (counter-clockwise!), Cathedral Lakes and Pass, Vernal and Nevada Falls Loop via Mist and John Muir Trails, Sentinel Dome (for sunset), North Dome
5-Star Moments
- Views of North Peak from Shamrock Lake.
- Views of Cathedral Lakes and Peak from west of Cathedral Pass.
- Looking over the lip of Nevada Falls.
- Endless views from Sentinel Dome at Sunset
- Cloud's Rest and Half Dome from North Dome.
Random Scenes
- Relaxing at our campfire in early evening, when another camper approached, and asked whether we had put any pepper flakes in our fire. Then he explained that he and his camping partners had been overcome by burning eyes and become violently ill a bit earlier, and concluded (with the help of rangers?) that they likely inhaled pepper-tainted smoke ... like being pepper sprayed. Of course, we hadn't played around with any pepper. But as he was walking away ... we noticed a can of bear spray in his hand! Was he planning on extracting revenge if we had fessed up to doing it? Yikes! We were skeptical of the pepper-in-the-fire explanation ... maybe he just needed to realize he had pepper spray in his hand!
- Ascending the many stairs to Nevada Falls in the late morning, we happened upon two parties talking. A middle-aged, somewhat exhausted looking couple headed up were chatting with two guys coming down from climbing Half Dome (via the "easy" cable route ... 14 miles, 5000' elevation gain). We only caught a couple of snippets ... "we know we're getting a late start" from the woman headed up, and "in the dark, the JMT is probably the easiest route down" from the successful summiteers. I'm guessing that the couple's summit attempt was aborted early.
- Over one hundred of canvas platform tents at Half-Dome (aka Curry) Village forming what we affectionately called "the ghetto."
Tom's Daily Stress Points
- Will bears break into our car during the day to get our food? We know the official line is that it's ok during the day, but ... (stress level = 2/5)
Sleeps
- Yosemite: Upper Pines Campground (site 227 = ok, even number sites 224-232 look great).
Eats
- Karen's simple camp fare, including the yummy salad with grilled chicken!
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