Interim post about happy things
My friend Suzie died last Friday.
But I can't have two sad posts in a row... and honestly just thinking about what I would write makes me cry.
SO!
Let's talk Yosemite.
Jeff took this amazing photo on the backpacking trip we took over Memorial Day weekend. FYI he took most of the photos in this post. I'll be sure to mention if any are my work.
This is the Tuolumne River as it winds down through Glen Aulin.
This is the group, minus Jeff who was taking the photo. From left to right/front to back: Amanda, Amin, Christian, Amanda, Brian, myself, and Chase.
We spent the first night of the trip camping in Lone Pine. It was our second time staying the night at Alabama Hills, the BLM area between Lone Pine and the Sierras. It was very easy to find what we think to be the campsite we stayed in two years ago. Weird!
The next morning, Jeff, myself, and Christian, our car-ride buddy, got up at 5amish. We had to be at the Tuolumne permit office by 8am to ensure we could backpack our desired trail, Tuolumne Meadows->Glen Aulin, Glen Aulin->Poppy Lake, and Poppy Lake->the road near Tenya Lake. Glen Aulin is very popular, partly because it's the site of a High Sierra Camp. High Sierra Camps normally have better equipped backpacker campsites. In this case, it meant self-composting toilets and fire rings.
Day 1 on the trail was mostly downhill. You essentially follow the Tuolumne River as it winds northwest through the middle-upper reaches of the park.
We had several stream crossings. They weren't very long. Some were as easy as hopping over a couple rocks. Others required more thought, walking a few dozen feet up or down the river to find a suitable place to cross. There was minimal snow, a blessing since a few people didn't have hiking boots!
The most downhill part of Day 1 was basically the end of the hike. There was a marvelously huge granite boulder that marked the start of the downhill. We took a long break there.
I was resting on the other side of that log towards the center of the photo.
After what felt like an hour or so of resting, I was ready to get moving. Amanda kindly accompanied me while the rest of the group ate more food. I didn't want to lose my momentum by resting too much.
The downhill was painful on the legs. Most of it was on man made rocky staircases. The view made it all worth it.
This is the start of Glen Aulin Falls. It's rather long, and stops just west of the Glen Aulin campground. It was misty, just like Vernal Falls in Yosemite Valley.
Amanda has a cell phone photo somewhere of the two of us in front of this view... if I can find it I will post!
Since Amanda and I were the first ones to camp, we got to pick out a spot. The ranger earlier that day told us the best spots were towards the back. After all that rocky downhill, it felt nice to climb up a small hill to look at campsites. Our site was above another river, which meant easy access to water when we need to filter more.
That night, we made friends with other people on the hill, drank tea and small small alcohol out of a flask, and sat in front of a fire. It was kinda cold, but we made it!
The next day, after a lovely chilly morning (I always do better in cold mornings than cold evenings) we hiked to California Falls. It was 1-2 miles, mostly flat. The trail was so beautiful!
This is California Falls.
On the way there, I saw more wildflowers. We normally don't see that much variety in wildflowers. Never go at the right time! However, I guess with the decreased snowfall this year a lot was blooming early? Regardless, yeah! I took these two pictures.
Another heartwarming discovery was ASPEN TREES! Aspen Trees are probably my favorite tree.
EEE SO HAPPY!
When we got back from the Falls, we packed up camp and headed south. More uphill. A little snow. Still, it was beautiful. The goal was Poppy Lake. It was hard to find though! You have to find an unmarked trail about a quarter mile past a trail post just to get going in the right direction. Since there was a lot of snow here, the trail was impossible to find in parts. We almost gave up about halfway through. A few group members went off to do more searching while the rest of us took a break. They had success!
Poppy Lake is similar to Tenaya Lake, a sub-alpine crystal clear body of water beneath a granite dome.
The campsite was quite nice. It even had a fire-ring. Yosemite has fire restrictions above a certain elevation, and luckily our campsite was low enough to allow fires. Sweet! It was colder that night than the night before. I was very grateful to have more warmth.
The next morning, we had an easy downhill couple of hours to the road. More stream crossings- yea! Jeff and Amanda drove back to the trailhead to pick up the Prius. The rest of us lounged around Tenaya Lake.
Overall, this is how I felt the whole trip:
But I can't have two sad posts in a row... and honestly just thinking about what I would write makes me cry.
SO!
Let's talk Yosemite.
Jeff took this amazing photo on the backpacking trip we took over Memorial Day weekend. FYI he took most of the photos in this post. I'll be sure to mention if any are my work.
This is the Tuolumne River as it winds down through Glen Aulin.
This is the group, minus Jeff who was taking the photo. From left to right/front to back: Amanda, Amin, Christian, Amanda, Brian, myself, and Chase.
We spent the first night of the trip camping in Lone Pine. It was our second time staying the night at Alabama Hills, the BLM area between Lone Pine and the Sierras. It was very easy to find what we think to be the campsite we stayed in two years ago. Weird!
The next morning, Jeff, myself, and Christian, our car-ride buddy, got up at 5amish. We had to be at the Tuolumne permit office by 8am to ensure we could backpack our desired trail, Tuolumne Meadows->Glen Aulin, Glen Aulin->Poppy Lake, and Poppy Lake->the road near Tenya Lake. Glen Aulin is very popular, partly because it's the site of a High Sierra Camp. High Sierra Camps normally have better equipped backpacker campsites. In this case, it meant self-composting toilets and fire rings.
Day 1 on the trail was mostly downhill. You essentially follow the Tuolumne River as it winds northwest through the middle-upper reaches of the park.
We had several stream crossings. They weren't very long. Some were as easy as hopping over a couple rocks. Others required more thought, walking a few dozen feet up or down the river to find a suitable place to cross. There was minimal snow, a blessing since a few people didn't have hiking boots!
The most downhill part of Day 1 was basically the end of the hike. There was a marvelously huge granite boulder that marked the start of the downhill. We took a long break there.
I was resting on the other side of that log towards the center of the photo.
After what felt like an hour or so of resting, I was ready to get moving. Amanda kindly accompanied me while the rest of the group ate more food. I didn't want to lose my momentum by resting too much.
The downhill was painful on the legs. Most of it was on man made rocky staircases. The view made it all worth it.
This is the start of Glen Aulin Falls. It's rather long, and stops just west of the Glen Aulin campground. It was misty, just like Vernal Falls in Yosemite Valley.
Amanda has a cell phone photo somewhere of the two of us in front of this view... if I can find it I will post!
Since Amanda and I were the first ones to camp, we got to pick out a spot. The ranger earlier that day told us the best spots were towards the back. After all that rocky downhill, it felt nice to climb up a small hill to look at campsites. Our site was above another river, which meant easy access to water when we need to filter more.
That night, we made friends with other people on the hill, drank tea and small small alcohol out of a flask, and sat in front of a fire. It was kinda cold, but we made it!
The next day, after a lovely chilly morning (I always do better in cold mornings than cold evenings) we hiked to California Falls. It was 1-2 miles, mostly flat. The trail was so beautiful!
This is California Falls.
On the way there, I saw more wildflowers. We normally don't see that much variety in wildflowers. Never go at the right time! However, I guess with the decreased snowfall this year a lot was blooming early? Regardless, yeah! I took these two pictures.
Another heartwarming discovery was ASPEN TREES! Aspen Trees are probably my favorite tree.
EEE SO HAPPY!
When we got back from the Falls, we packed up camp and headed south. More uphill. A little snow. Still, it was beautiful. The goal was Poppy Lake. It was hard to find though! You have to find an unmarked trail about a quarter mile past a trail post just to get going in the right direction. Since there was a lot of snow here, the trail was impossible to find in parts. We almost gave up about halfway through. A few group members went off to do more searching while the rest of us took a break. They had success!
Poppy Lake is similar to Tenaya Lake, a sub-alpine crystal clear body of water beneath a granite dome.
The campsite was quite nice. It even had a fire-ring. Yosemite has fire restrictions above a certain elevation, and luckily our campsite was low enough to allow fires. Sweet! It was colder that night than the night before. I was very grateful to have more warmth.
The next morning, we had an easy downhill couple of hours to the road. More stream crossings- yea! Jeff and Amanda drove back to the trailhead to pick up the Prius. The rest of us lounged around Tenaya Lake.
Overall, this is how I felt the whole trip: