Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne/Ten Lakes Basin TR Days 7&8

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MountainMinstrel
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Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne/Ten Lakes Basin TR Days 7&8

Post by MountainMinstrel »

We wake up at lake 9298 on day seven in absolutely no hurry whatsoever.
We were originally going to spend the whole day hanging out here in Ten Lakes Basin and then hike the whole way out tomorrow (10.3 miles) but decided that instead we would hang out here for the morning and move on to the Ten Lakes trail junction in the afternoon. That will give us 4.8 today and an easy 5.5 tomorrow, allowing us to have a nice burger at Curry Village and a visit with my friends who are assistant camp hosts at upper pines, and still allow us to get back to Fresno early.

We spend a relaxing morning enjoying the lake.
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Then lake off towards lake 8947
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Cindy and I drop off John and our packs here and head upstream toward Lake 9229 to have a swim and lunch. Along the way we pass more flowers…
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…butterflies…
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And more flowers.
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Passing this un-named lake we save someone’s tent from the lake, as the wind was about to send it out to the middle.(I guess the never heard of tent stakes). We put it back and toss some rocks on it to hold it down. That held it in place at least until we came back.
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The skies were just an amazingly dark blue today.
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This made water of lake 9229 the bluest I may have ever seen.
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We spent about an hour swimming and enjoying lunch before heading back down to grab John and head on out of Ten Lakes Basin. Climbing quickly we soon leave the Basin behind.
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True to form things changed quickly and the top of the climb and we found ourselves in a high desert area.
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It was amazing how hard and clod the wind was blowing here.
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Then just s fast as it changed, it changed again.
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Half Moon meadow.
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We find an overused campsite just before the Ten Lakes junction. It was big and comfortable, but very dirty.
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The creek was small with barely enough water to rinse off. It was however, very cold which did wonders for the ankle I mildly turned earlier in the day.
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So, off we go for the hike out (5.5 miles of easy downhill). The funny thing is that although we have been out 3 days longer than we ever have, we are not that exited about burgers and cold drinks. We would rather we could re-supply and go back out again. We are making plans to do the JMT in five years when Cindy retires.
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We lost the trail for the first time in 8 days when it took a turn into this chest high meadow.
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What beautiful flowers…
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…and more butterflies…
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…including this white one.
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With about a half a mile, this dear showed up to give us a grand send off.
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Then just that fast we are back at the trailhead not nearly as clean as we were a week ago but our spirits are refreshed.
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I have just one last thing to say about this hike,

YOU MUST TAKE THIS HIKE!

ken
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maverick
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Re: Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne/Ten Lakes Basin TR Days 7&8

Post by maverick »

Thank you MM for the TR and pictures.
Have you visited Waterwheel Falls earlier in the year? If you go right when they open
Tioga Pass or within 2-3 weeks the wheels are at least 10-12 feet high!
I still want to descend the Muir Gorge from the Ten Lakes area as a late season trip
one of these years.
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Re: Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne/Ten Lakes Basin TR Days 7&8

Post by MountainMinstrel »

maverick wrote:Thank you MM for the TR and pictures.
Have you visited Waterwheel Falls earlier in the year? If you go right when they open
Tioga Pass or within 2-3 weeks the wheels are at least 10-12 feet high!
I still want to descend the Muir Gorge from the Ten Lakes area as a late season trip
one of these years.

No I have not. It is a trip we are planning to do early next year as a warm up and to take the nephews. A late season trip down from Ten Lakes would be awesome, but probably hard on the knees. :eek: This trip was the first time my knees have bothered me. It looks like I will be using poles both up and down hill from now on.
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Re: Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne/Ten Lakes Basin TR Days 7&8

Post by maverick »

They are very useful on down hills and skiing down scree, also on traverses to maintain
balance.
Be careful, they can cause pain in your shoulders (rotary cuffs) when using
them a lot on ascents.
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Re: Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne/Ten Lakes Basin TR Days 7&8

Post by hikerduane »

Once again, thank you. Like the southern Sierra, I am slowing exploring Yosemite too. No dog, so I can do those things for now.
Piece of cake.
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Re: Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne/Ten Lakes Basin TR Days 7&8

Post by MountainMinstrel »

maverick wrote:They are very useful on down hills and skiing down scree, also on traverses to maintain
balance.
Be careful, they can cause pain in your shoulders (rotary cuffs) when using
them a lot on ascents.
I think if I hadn't have been at 43 lbs. on those first couple of days I would have been OK As it was, it took until this week (2 weeks) for my knees to recover. Part of that is due to my job (housekeeping) making it hard to recover, but I think if I try to be a bit more carefull, it will help.
Plus, I have much more upper-body strength than I do in my leggs.
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Re: Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne/Ten Lakes Basin TR Days 7&8

Post by SkagetMuir »

I know this response is a little late but what an awsome trip. I came on here thinking of taking this very trip hoping someone had some pictures and found you folks. Thank you for the post it has got me excited for next year already.

I did have some questions though. Did you do any fishing on your trip or see anything that was promising? How crowded was the trail? If i plan on going the end of June depending on the water situation is there any creek/ river crossing that may be tough?

Thanks in advance.

Muir
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Re: Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne/Ten Lakes Basin TR Days 7&8

Post by MountainMinstrel »

SkagetMuir wrote:I know this response is a little late but what an awsome trip. I came on here thinking of taking this very trip hoping someone had some pictures and found you folks. Thank you for the post it has got me excited for next year already.

I did have some questions though. Did you do any fishing on your trip or see anything that was promising? How crowded was the trail? If i plan on going the end of June depending on the water situation is there any creek/ river crossing that may be tough?

Thanks in advance.

Muir
We did not do any fishing but there were plenty of fish in the Tuolumne river. The trail was not very crowded but we were on it a bit late in the year. All of the major stream crossings were on foot bridges so I do not think you will have problems with that. Most people say that the best time to do it is within the first few weeks after Tioga pass opens.
Just an old musician who loves the Mountains.
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