with no itinerary planned we grabbed a Permit for passing through Glen Aulin, we didn't start hiking until 7pm and hiked the last mile in the dark. we finally reached the large Beachy area below the HSC and set up camp next to a fire pit ate and passed out before it started lightly sprinkling. breeze and light rain kept most of the mosquitoes at bay at night. We woke up the next morning and hiked to California falls. the water levels of the tuolomne seemed a little low compared to pictures from past years i have seen, but seeing the falls in person was amazing. I lost an argument with my companions about continuing on to the next two falls so we packed up and headed back to tuolomne
when we arrived back at tuolomne we decided to hike the lembert dome. The dome had great views, and we spent the rest of the night eating dinner and chatting with PCT/JMT hikers in Tuolomne.
After our restful night at the backpackers camp we hit the Permit office and grabbed a permit for 2 nights at echo Lake In Via Budd Creek and out Via Cathedral. we easily found the carined Budd creek trail and easily followed it up to the base of cathedral peak where we watched a few groups of climbers tackle the peak. we descended to upper cathedral lake for water and snacks before hiking along the JMT to cathedral pass.
At the pass we looked for a use trail to echo but couldn't find anything, we ended up following the east side of the meadow along the trees and down the drainage to echo Lake. views of the echo pinnacles and matthes crest were a Great backdrop for camp among the rocks at the south end of the lake. we set up camp and chatted with two climbers who were going to tackle matthes in the AM.
In the AM we started down Cathedral creek off trail from Echo lake and Met Up with the JMT. we hiked down Long Meadow past sunrise HSC and on to Sunrise Lakes. we were amazed at how it seemed around every bend in the trail there was something new and different from the last stretch of trail so much variety on our route to keep us entertained. Finally we trudged up the last few hundred yards up cloud's rest for the best view I have personally had. A NPS biologist on the summit pointed out a Peregrine Falcon flying from above half dome all the way to tioga pass in about 30 seconds... super cool. we hiked back to Echo lake taking a shortcut past sunrise lakes and promptly fell asleep after the sunset and comparing pictures with our new climber friends.
In the AM we hiked out past all the clean day hikers making their way up the cathedral lakes trail and had lunch and beers at the TM grill with our climber buddies
. Great Trip.Full 176 Pictures - https://www.flickr.com/photos/98779591@ ... 789097215/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;