Pictures From The Trip

This was in Lyell Canyon in the first stretch of the first day leaving from Tuolumne Meadows. We started out and immediately took a wrong turn and found ourselves near a highway which shouldn't have been there and found we were going the opposite direction than the way we were supposed to be going. So we had to back track about a mile and start again. Our two 'never been backpacking' companions on this trip, a 22 daughter of my friends and a 15 year old Boy Scout from the troop my buddy and I still help out with were both filled with great confidence in us. But of course said nothing. 

We camped the first night near our, turn off and climb out of Lyell Canyon, and then climbed a thousand feet and hiked a bit more to reach here, Evelyn Lake. Both nights got down to around 34 degrees. There was still ice on the lip of the lake and here my water bottle was half frozen in the morning when I tried to make coffee. My buddy and the Boy Scout tried to fish here, but didn't catch anything. The snow was a bit of work to cross, the sun melts it every day in an odd way that leaves it like those waffle like foam pads they put under bed-ridden patients to prevent bedsores. Its frozen and slippery and since it melts mostly from underneath, you can break through and find yourself with a foot down in it up to your knee- which happened to me early on, but not again. We had to cross a patch that was directly over a running stream beneath it, but didn't break through. There was a ranger that passed us and helped by waving back at us. He sat for several minutes looking at the patch over the stream before trying it. The snow also covers the path, so you have to try to keep it in mind where the path comes out so you keep in the right direction. It a bit worrying to lose the path for a bit. You may be climbing the wrong hill. This was a bit of work and we lost about a day's hiking here navigating it down and out of the snow. I was going to cancel the trip because of the rangers report of it being here. My buddy says, we can do it. It was worth doing.

 My buddy helping Jeanette across a stream we had to ford with our boots off. I had had always believed that if you got your socks and shoes wet and then hiked you would get blisters. Afterward, we talked to a couple of different Rangers and none of them bother. We could have done this in our shoes. But it did feel really good. The water was cold cold.

This was the gorge above Merced Lake. It was a hell of a lot of water roaring down. I need sound effects.

The was the top of the Mist Trail. We had cell phone coverage at the campgrounds the night before above here and had found out that three church group hikers had fallen from the the falls below here on the Tuesday we came in. The Boy Scout's father had called my wife very concerned. My wife said it was alright because it was only three, if it had been us, the fourth one would have called them. We were a day behind schedule, but we were up in Lyell Canyon on the day it happened. The Rangers all were upset. It was dumb and sad. They were just trying to find a a way to recover the bodies- they had no other expectations. There was a poster above the railing and drop with their pictures on it asking for help if anyone spotted anything. They were young.

 This was overlooking where they went over. There was so much water and so much spray that there were rainbows all the way down this incredibly steep descent of a thousand feet and a mile or two of rough hewn stone steps that were all slippery with water. There was also hundreds of sightseers from the valley up here to see it all. Families, little kids, little old ladies. It took a while to work through them - you are supposed to give the right of way to the people coming up.

 It was probably one of the best trips I've had. Me and my buddy who have been doing this for 6-7 years and we were having fun being together. Got to reconnect with a girl that had hung out out at my house when all the kids were in grade school and I was a stay at home parent and we meet this 15 year old who will probably be up here from here on out.