R02 TR: Wet in the Cathedral Range, July 25-31, 2021

[wildhiker]

This is the report of my solo backpack trip in the Cathedral Range of Yosemite National Park from July 25 to July 31, 2021, revisiting many of my favorite wilderness destinations.

Warning: this is a long and detailed report spanning multiple posts in order to include lots of photos as attachments. I wrote it from a "stream of memory" (and photos and notes) as a way to enjoy my trip again in the stormy winter. If you don't have time to read it all, you can just scroll through the photos which have identifying captions.

Total stats:

All distance and elevation measurements are from Caltopo.com profiles of my route which I carefully plotted after the trip.

I backpacked 33 miles with 7,000 feet elevation gain and loss in seven days. I only used trails at the beginning and end of the trip. From 11 am on day one through noon on day six, I was hiking entirely cross-country - a distance of 18.5 miles. During those five days of cross-country hiking, I saw only one other person - a camper at Ireland Lake in the distance.

Introduction

My backpacking adventures were limited in 2020 due to a bad case of plantar fascitis in my right foot causing substantial pain when hiking. Carrying a pack made it worse. By spring of 2021, this injury seemed to be healed, so I decided to plan something more ambitious for 2021. I was still concerned that a multi-day trip would cause a resurgence of the injury and pain, so I didn't want to put myself in a position where I was two long days hike to get out. Yet, I still wanted to visit more pristine areas, with lots of cross-country hiking. I settled on this plan: a mostly cross-country traverse of the Cathedral Range and Kuna Creek basin in Yosemite National Park.

This was basically a repeat, with some variations, of a trip my wife and I did in 2001. We found the trip challenging back then, but since then, I have done nearly every section of this route multiple times as parts of various backpack trips over the years, so I was very familiar with the terrain. I knew it would not be difficult, even at my "advanced age" (68), as long as I planned low mileage days. I'm a bit of a lazy hiker anyway, and enjoy spending time hanging out in camp or exploring the area around camp without that heavy pack, so low mileage days suit me. To that end, I carefully planned the trip to make my camps in scenic locations.

Familiarity with the terrain also reduces the danger of going solo on cross-country routes. I've also carried an inReach satellite communicator on solo trips for several years now. I can let my family know where I camp each night and the uploaded GPS route points would be helpful if I did go missing. I can also import the full GPS track into Caltopo after the trip.

The other advantage of my planned route is that there were multiple opportunities to "bail out" along the way if my foot acted up again. If all went well, it would be a week of cross-country solitude. In fact, my foot was fine (and still is), but I did have to "bail out" and shorten my planned trip due to bad weather.

Trip timing was another issue. Bad wildfires in the last few years have enveloped the High Sierra in smoke much of the time in late summer and fall. Smoke really ruins the experience for me. Since 2021 was shaping up as a very dry year, I figured fires were likely to break out by mid summer, so I should plan my trip for sometime in July. July is normally peak mosquito time in the very high country, but I figured (rightly, as it turned out) that they would not be a big problem this dry year. My calendar was full of family obligations for most of July, but fortunately, the last week was clear.

I could start my traverse from several possible trailheads: Sunrise Lakes, Cathedral Lakes, Budd Lake, or a shortened version from the Nelson Lake trailhead. I could even do it in reverse starting at the Mono/Parker Pass trailhead. I settled on my plan in May and then checked the wilderness permit options for Yosemite. The only trailhead with available reserved permits for my planned start date was Budd Creek. This also happened to be the only trailhead in the Tuolumne Meadows area that I had not used already, so that suited me and I grabbed my reservation.

The map below shows the trip I actually hiked as a green line, with campsites denoted by the obvious tent symbols. The yellow line shows the part of my original plan that I had to abandon because bad weather slowed me down so much. I've done that yellow line route several times and really like the basin of Kuna Creek, so I was sad that I had to miss it. I used the John Muir Trail as my exit instead.

Map of hiked route (green) and planned extension (yellow)

About that weather: I had substantial rain and hail with thunder and lightning every day but one, generally starting around noon and lasting on and off straight through the afternoon and sometimes into the evening. This was a big problem for me, because my hiking plan required that I cross several high exposed passes and I couldn't hit them all in the mornings if I stayed on schedule. I've developed a healthy respect for thunderstorms, and was not willing to head up and over those passes in a storm. So I ended up stopping my hike early on several days and then realized I could not make up the time to complete the planned hike. I used the John Muir Trail as a quick exit on days 6 and 7.

I can only cram seven days worth of food in my original Garcia bear canister, so that is my trip length limiter. My plan was to spend seven full days in the backcountry with additional days on each end to drive up and back. I've learned that my body really rebels if I try to drive up from sea level here in the Bay Area to high altitude and immediately set off on the trail with a heavy backpack, so I need to spend the first night acclimating at a high altitude car campground. I also don't like to rush home through all the traffic on the same day that I hike out, so another car camping night at the end of the trip makes it more relaxing. I planned to camp the night before and night after my trip at the Tuolumne Meadows backpackers' camp.

I was monitoring the weather forecasts during the week before my trip. The weather service was predicting a slug of monsoon moisture to arrive during my trip week. This made me happy to be heading to the Cathedral Range, and not to higher crest areas to the south.


Day 0 - Saturday, July 24: Drive to the mountains


I left Palo Alto about 10 am to leisurely drive up to Tuolumne Meadows. I stopped at the Big Oak Flat entrance station visitor center to convert my reservation into an actual wilderness permit. The ranger saw in the computer that I've done a lot of trips over the years and skipped "the lecture". Taking my time, I arrived at Tenaya Lake about 4 pm under overcast skies. But it didn't look like rain was imminent. I decided to take a short conditioning dayhike before setting up camp at Tuolumne Meadows. I found the turnout to park to access the climber's trail to Medlicott Dome, and followed it up to the base of the dome proper. The trail was steep in sections but in good condition. In 2020 I had hiked down this same trail from Lower Cathedral Lake to the base of the dome. Now that I have put the two halves together, I would definitely use it in the future as a shortcut to the Cathedral Lakes.

Medlicott Dome from base

IMG_2518-Medlicott Dome from base.jpg (483.19 KiB) Viewed 508 times

Back at the car, I made it to the Tuolumne Meadows store at 5:50 pm with a mission: ice cream. But the store was sold out. I consoled myself by purchasing a local craft beer to have with dinner. I found a parking spot close in on the Soda Springs dirt road, stashed some extra food and fuel in the bear box to use on my planned last night camp after completing the loop, and hiked into the Tuolumne Meadows campground for my first night "backpack" camp.

The backpackers' camp was much more crowded than the last time I stayed there in 2019. Although it looks a bit like a refugee camp, it is also inspiring to camp among so many others who love the backcountry. "Elders" like me were a distinct minority. The vast majority of backpack campers I saw were in their 20s and 30s. I shared a picnic table and bear box with a few small groups at the back end. The overcast skies finally yielded a few sprinkles around 7:30 pm. After chatting with the nearby groups about our respective plans (all heading in), I crawled into my tent about 9 pm.

Day 1 - Sunday, July 25: Budd Creek and Echo Lake

Today's stats: 2.5 miles and 1400 feet elevation gain on good use trail plus 2.5 miles and 300 feet elevation gain cross-country.

I slept poorly at the backpackers' campground, possibly a reaction to the altitude and the excitement of the coming trip. The night was warm - probably no colder than 50 degress F. Since I wasn't sleeping much, I just got up at 5:45 am (early for me), had breakfast, packed up, and was back at the car at 7:30 am. I had decided to drive over to the Cathedral Lakes trailhead to start the hike there, rather than add the 2.5 miles of extra hiking from the Tuolumne Meadows campground onto the first day, when I had the heaviest pack. I also wanted to get up and over my first pass early because of the forecast for thunderstorms. I was on the trail at 8 am - very early for me - with a too-heavy pack weighing about 40 pounds (including a quart of water).

Phil at start of hike

P1190534-Phil at start of hike.jpg (522.78 KiB) Viewed 508 times

About 15 minutes of hiking up the John Muir Trail heading toward Cathedral Lakes brought me to the obvious junction with the climbers' use trail that heads up Budd Creek. I had hiked up to Cathedral Lakes in 2020 and noticed this junction then. It is even more obvious now: it is marked by a wooden post with a carabiner symbol. You can't miss it!

Junction of Budd Lake use trail

P1190538-junction of Budd Lake use trail.jpg (600.44 KiB) Viewed 508 times

The Budd Lake use trail is in excellent condition and easily followed. It parallels Budd Creek, which had a good flow but was often in a gorge below the trail. After about 30 minutes, the trail gets onto a more open granite slope with glimpses of Cathedral Peak, a good view of Unicorn Peak, and views of the crest from Matterhorn Peak in the north to Mount Dana. The air was slightly hazy, probably from smoke from the Dixie fire far to the north, and getting very warm - probably 70 degress F by 9 am. I don't think it got that warm again for the rest of the trip. Small puffy clouds were starting to form by 9:30 am.

The Unicorn over Budd Creek

P1190542-The Unicorn over Budd Creek.jpg (499.4 KiB) Viewed 508 times

Above the open granite slope, the use trail returns close to Budd Creek and comes to a junction. The right fork is the climber's route to the base of Cathedral Peak and heads uphill away from the creek. The left fork, looking less used, immediately crosses Budd Creek heading for Budd Lake. A log was placed across the left fork of the trail at the junction, probably to signal to climbers to continue on the right fork. I took the left fork. The water in Budd Creek looked very clean with no suds or algae.

The left fork of the use trail continues following up close to Budd Creek through forest and small meadows, eventually getting to a less steep and more open area with full views of Cathedral Peak and part of the Sierra crest. I could hear climbers on Cathedral Peak shouting to each other, but did not see them. Big cumulus clouds were building over the crest.

Cathedral Peak over meadows on upper Budd Creek

P1190557-Cathedral Peak over meadows on upper Budd Creek.jpg (471.5 KiB) Viewed 508 times

Sierra Crest from upper Budd Creek

P1190552-Sierra Crest from upper Budd Creek.jpg (559.11 KiB) Viewed 508 times

The last stretch of the use trail ran over open attractive meadows with lupine in bloom and ended at Budd Lake, which I reached at 10:30 am after my leisurely hike up. From the lake, even more clouds could be seen building to the south. I had been passed by a few climbers on the use trail up Budd Creek, and a lone day hiker arrived at Budd Lake while I was resting there.

Budd Lake

P1190559-Budd Lake.jpg (466.32 KiB) Viewed 508 times

After a nice rest and snack at Budd Lake, I began the true cross-country part of my trip. My goal was to head up and over the west shoulder of the Echo Peaks, along the divide on top of the cliff east of Upper Cathedral Lake at about 10,400 feet elevation, down the forested slope to the vicinity of Cathedral Pass, and then downstream to camp at Echo Lake.

The slope up toward Echo Peaks from Budd Lake was dissected by numerous granite walled ravines. I took too high of a path southwest, crossing the grain of these ravines, and had to search around for breaks in the cliff walls to cross them. It would have been easier to head directly west from Budd Lake staying at the 10,000 foot level until reaching the divide, and then heading up that to the south. Anyway, I got to the top of the divide around 12:30 pm, looking down over the Cathedral Lakes, with a good view also of the Clark Range to the south.

Cathedral Lakes and Mount Hoffman

P1190577-Cathedral Lakes + Mount Hoffman.jpg (529.19 KiB) Viewed 508 times

By now, there were dark clouds above me and to the south. The rain started lightly while I was admiring the view. I put on my rain jacket and pack cover and started down the slope toward Cathedral Pass. Rain soon became steady, mixed with some hail, and I would wait out the heaviest showers under the foliage of densely branched trees. The top of this slope was granite slabs with a thin covering of sand and gravel - this can be slippery. It then turns into open forest with solid dirt to walk on, but was very steep in sections. There were loud peals of thunder to accompany my descent. I reached the east edge of the big meadow just south of Cathedral Pass, directly opposite some unmapped tarns, at 1:20 pm.

Heavy rain with more muffled and distant thunder started up and I waited it out for almost 40 minutes under dense forest at the edge of the meadow. While waiting, I saw several hikers on the John Muir Trail on the other side of the big meadow. They would be the last people I would see for five days, except for a distant view of another camper at Ireland Lake.

When the rain and thunder finally stopped, I headed south, downstream on the edge of the big meadow. The meadow was very green and attractive. There were no mosquitoes to speak of. Also no flowers. I had easy walking along the meadow edge and then through open forest as I stayed along the east side of the incipient Cathedral Fork of Echo Creek, which had a small flow. There were traces of faint use trail in the forest sections.

The forested section opens onto a large meadow that extends to Echo Lake. Here I crossed to the west side of the small creek and worked my way south along the meadow edge, looking for potential campsites among the trees at the base of the slope. I found one directly west of the middle of Echo Lake, with a view of the meadow, lake, and surrounding peaks and setup camp about 3 pm in light sprinkles.

camp by Echo Lake

P1190593-camp by Echo Lake.jpg (536.8 KiB) Viewed 508 times

Because the weather forecast before my trip showed a high probability of thunderstorms for at least a few days, I brought an extra small silnylon tarp to pitch using my hiking pole over the front of my older Big Agnes tent, as seen in the photo. This gives me a "porch" where I can sit out of the rain but still able to see the view, store wet jackets, etc., and cook if necessary.

The rain stopped and the clouds started to break up so I did some exploring and walked all the way around Echo Lake. I saw no signs of any other people. I didn't see any good potential campsites on the east side. I noticed that the majority of lodgepole pines on the slopes all around Echo Lake are turning brown and apparently dying. I've seen this same problem throughout the Cathedral Range over the past few years. I assume it is a result of our multi-year droughts.

Echo Peaks and Matthes Crest from near Echo Lake

P1190596-Echo Peaks + Matthes Crest from near Echo Lake.jpg (480.51 KiB) Viewed 508 times

The clouds did not break up enough to give any sunset color on the Matthes Crest, which I have seen on previous trips. I was in bed by 9 pm. It rained again for about 15 minutes at 10 pm. No mosquitoes at all at Echo Lake or its meadows, not even at dusk.

To be continued ...

[wildhiker]

Continued from Day 1 post ...

Day 2 - Monday, July 26: to Matthes Lake and Nelson Lake

Today's stats: 4.0 miles and 900 feet elevation gain, all cross-country

Today's hike will be entirely cross-country, below timberline in open forest and meadows, with only one very low pass.

After another mild night when I slept a bit better, but still woke a couple of times, I got up at 6:30 am to see clear skies. The sun did not make it over the high Matthes Crest to reach my campsite until 7:50 am. I was packed up and on my way at 8:40 am, after giving condensation in the tent some time to dry out in the sun.

I set off down the valley below Echo Lake walking along the edges of very green and attractive meadows. I was aiming for the base of the big granite slope dropping down from point 10,040+ on the ridge between Echo and Matthes Lakes, as seen in the photo below.

meadows downstream from Echo Lake

P1190600-meadows downstream from Echo Lake.jpg (455.89 KiB) Viewed 507 times

I soon crossed to the east side of the creek and started angling slightly uphill away from the creek, first through open forest with really big boulders and then into more mature forest. I stayed in the forest just below the talus coming from the granite slope and then turned the corner into the drainage of Matthes Lake. There were some steep forested slopes here, but always easy walking. The last 1/2 mile was gently sloped open forest that then gave way to meadows just before the lake. This forest appeared totally pristine, with no trace of any trail.

Matthes Crest over Matthes Lake

P1190605-Matthes Crest over Matthes Lake.jpg (456.54 KiB) Viewed 507 times

I got to the lakeshore at 9:35 am and stopped for snacks and to rest and soak in the glorious view. Matthes Lake, with the magnificent granite peaks of Matthes Crest rising above it, is one of the most scenic spots in the Cathedral Range. It also appears to be quite pristine. The water is perfectly clear with no suds. There is no fisherman's use trail along the shore, like you usually see. There is one good campsite among scattered trees above the east shore with great views of Matthes Crest over the lake, and some more camp spots in denser forest on the west shore. The lake itself has a lovely sandy bottom along the south shore, perfect for wading, which I did!

Cumulus clouds were building by 10:30 am, some thick enough to block the sun. I left Matthes Lake at 10:40 am. My goal was a low saddle in the ridge separating the Cathedral Fork (draining Echo and Matthes Lakes) from the main Echo Creek drainage that includes Nelson Lake. This saddle is about 1/2 mile south of Matthes Lake, on the forested ridge, with a little hill of solid granite on the ridge just to the west of the saddle. That little hill was my landmark as I angled up the forested slope between granite bedrock outcrops in 20 minutes of easy class 1 walking.

Others on HST have described using the saddle directly upslope from Matthes Lake to the east to get over to the Echo Creek drainage. I walked up to it from the Matthes Lake side on a previous trip and decided that the smooth granite slopes on the east side were too steep for me! I then found the second much easier saddle to the south which I used again on this trip.

The top of my saddle offered good views of the Clark Range and the jumbled granitic terrain of Echo Creek. I found a granite walled ravine on the eastern end of the saddle, close up against granite cliffs, which starts down a moderately steep slope to the south.

Start of correct ravine to descend from saddle south of Matthes Lake

P1190612-start of the correct ravine to descend.jpg (631.59 KiB) Viewed 507 times

Where the ravine opens up, I continued working my way down on steep class 2 slopes of dirt and broken rock with low brush, as shown in this photo:

descending the ravine from saddle south of Matthes Lake

P1190614-descending the ravine.jpg (659.69 KiB) Viewed 507 times

At the base of the ravine, now fully in forest, there is an enormous Sierra Juniper tree with a diameter of 8 to 10 feet. This is at the head of a little bowl with a cliffy low granite ridge on the east. I descended the bowl until I found a break in the ridge to cross it. I then walked east through gently sloping forest with granite ridges on either side to get to Echo Creek, which was flowing well, with no suds or algae in the water. I stopped here for lunch at 12:30 pm. Cumulus clouds have been building and the sky was about 80% covered.

I followed Echo Creek upstream about 1/4 mile to a large flat (saw a pile of old horseshit here!) just below a section of granite gorge. Here, I left the creek and walked up the less steep slopes east of the gorge and around a knob to get to the top of the ridge. This ridge had downed trees everywhere, but all easily stepped over, as shown in this photo:

downed trees on route above Echo Creek

P1190617-downed trees on route above Echo Creek.jpg (660.17 KiB) Viewed 507 times

Walking easily up this broad ridge, I passed a large meadow on the left (northwest) where Echo Creek gathers before plunging through the aforementioned gorge. After another 1/4 mile on this mostly granite ridge with scattered trees, I reached the large open granite area where the Nelson Lake use trail crosses on its way to Nelson Lake. Unfortunately, the use trail on this granite bedrock is marked only by a few "ducks". Once again, I missed the use trail (easier to follow if coming down from the north), but no matter - I know where it goes and just headed up the forested slope to the east, finding the use trail again just where it crosses a low ridge and bends immediately up the outlet stream from Nelson Lake.

I reached Nelson Lake at 2 pm and followed the use trail around the western shore to my favorite campsite just in the trees beyond the northwest corner of the lake. This was my eighth time camping at this site! Like most times, I saw no one else at the lake. With the sky threatening, I had my tent setup by 2:30 pm and collected water from the lake. Strong gusty winds hit at 2:40 followed by about 5 minutes of heavy rain. Then a break with no rain for about an hour, followed by rain, mostly light, off and on for the rest of the afternoon, with real thunder around 6 pm.

During a break in the weather around 5 pm, I walked all the way around Nelson Lake. The south and east shores are wet meadow with stands of dense young pines and possible campsites well back from the lake, mostly near the outlet. The north side of the lake is an immense meadow which can be wet in the middle, but was fine walking near the shore. Only saw a couple of mosquitoes. During this weather break, I took the photo below of Nelson Lake from near my campsite.

Nelson Lake in late afternoon

P1190619-Nelson Lake, late afternoon.jpg (356.61 KiB) Viewed 507 times

Unfortunately, with nearly full cloud coverage and occasional rain, there was no sunset light show on the big granite cliff on the east side of Nelson Lake. This sunset light is usually a highlight of camping at this lake. Here's a sunset photo from camping at Nelson Lake in 2020:

sunset over Nelson Lake from an August 2020 trip

P1190043-sunset over Nelson Lake, August 2020.JPG (325.93 KiB) Viewed 507 times

I neither saw nor heard evidence of any other person for the entire day. I went to bed with light sprinkles at 8:45 pm. Heavy rain and strong gusts of wind started at 9 pm and continued until about 10:15 pm.

To be continued ...

[wildhiker]

Continued from Day 2 post ...

Day 3 - Tuesday, July 27: Rafferty Pass to Evelyn Lake

Today's stats: 4.5 miles and 1350 feet elevation gain, all cross-country

After sleeping reasonably well, I woke at 5:45 am and was disappointed to see that the sky was still about 50% covered by medium height flat clouds. Was this a portend of rain coming early in the day? I have an exposed above-timberline pass to get over today. Here's a photo of Nelson Lake just before the sun rose weakly over Rafferty Peak behind thin clouds at 7 am.

Nelson Lake in early morning

P1190627-Nelson Lake, early morning.jpg (356.89 KiB) Viewed 507 times

My tent was quite wet from last night's rain, including condensation on the underside of the fly, and I was hoping to get it dry before leaving. But by 7:30 am, the sky was completely clouded over with little chance for further drying, so I packed up the wet tent and left at 8:15 am.

I followed the route over Rafferty Pass that I previously described in the HST cross-country pass section; see
http://highsierratopix.com/community/vi ... 31&t=21003.
There were occasional mosquitoes in the big meadow stretching upstream from Nelson Lake. The inlet creek had a small flow. At the top of the first "riser", I took this photo looking back toward Nelson Lake. Skies were dark and leaden and rain looked likely to the northeast, where I was headed, but I could see some clearing to the southwest.

Nelson Lake in distance from top of first riser on route to Rafferty Pass

P1190630-Nelson Lake in distance from top of first riser.jpg (486.19 KiB) Viewed 507 times

I reached the northeast corner of Reymann Lake about 9:25 am and stopped for a snack and rest. To my surprise and delight, the clouds rapidly cleared until the sky was almost completely blue! This relieved my weather concerns and lifted my spirits. What a difference the sun makes! The landscape was dull and depressed under leaden skies. Now it is bright, colorful, and joyous - the true Range of Light.

Clouds breaking up at Reymann Lake

P1190634-clouds breaking up at Reymann Lake.jpg (469.21 KiB) Viewed 507 times

I took advantage of the return of the sun to do some laundry and wash my hair during my extended break at Reymann Lake. The air had warmed up to the low 60s F, compared to low 50s F earlier. I left the lake at 10:25 and reached Rafferty Pass at 11:10 am. There were no mosquitoes at Reymann Lake, but a few in the forest ascending above it. On the way up, I could see back west to the Matthes Crest, which I had rounded yesterday from Echo Lake to Matthes Lake.

After resting on Rafferty Pass for a few minutes and enjoying the clear distant views, with no sign of any wildfire smoke, I headed southeast to the little saddle on the side ridge coming off Rafferty Peak. Along the way, I enjoyed the shining granite rocks so artfully placed in the green meadows, with reddish-brown Mount Dana on the horizon.

Mount Dana from just east of Rafferty Pass

P1190641-Mt Dana from just east of Rafferty Pass.jpg (613.1 KiB) Viewed 507 times

Walking up on the granite knob just northeast of this saddle, I had even better views of the Sierra Crest, Kuna Crest, and peaks of the Cathedral Range around the Vogelsang Area. Since it was just about noon, I decided to eat lunch and drink in the views. I realized that the clouds had probably cleared because southwest winds had pushed the monsoon moisture off to the east, where cumulus buildups were peeking over the crest. Would this weather pattern last?

Sierra Crest from east ridge of Rafferty Peak

P1190643-Sierra Crest from east ridge of Rafferty Peak.jpg (386.48 KiB) Viewed 507 times

Evelyn Lake, Rafferty Creek, and Fletcher Peak from east ridge of Rafferty Peak

P1190646-Evelyn Lake, Rafferty Creek, + Fletcher Peak.jpg (501.46 KiB) Viewed 507 times

I resumed my hike at 1 pm. I took a higher traverse along the eastern slope of Rafferty Peak than usual so I could get on top of a cliff overlooking the Fletcher Creek valley for this view.

View down Fletcher Creek canyon

P1190654-view down Fletcher Creek canyon.jpg (637.24 KiB) Viewed 507 times

Then I worked my way back down to the normal route at the saddle north of peak 10520+ (northwest of Tuolumne Pass) at 1:45 pm. The tarn in this saddle north of Peak 10520+ was full of water. Last year in the first week of August, it was half dried up.

I took a 30 minute break here to consider my next move. I used my inReach satellite communicator to get an updated weather forecast. The rest of today would be dry (hooray!) but there was basically a 50% chance of thunderstorms every day from tomorrow through the rest of the week and thus the rest of my trip. In my experience in the Sierra, a forecast of 50% chance of thunderstorms in the summer means it definitely will rain, but maybe not on you. By the way, the free "basic" weather forecasts provided by Garmin are useless. Instead, I use the free WX2inReach service (https://wx2inreach.weebly.com) to get the official US Weather Service forecasts on my inReach.

While planning this trip, I had several ideas for how to get from the Tuolumne Pass area to the Ireland Lake area. I could use the trail from Tuolumne Pass to Fletcher Lake, and then the use trail and cross-country route along Fletcher Lake and up to Townsley Lake and camp somewhere in that area before continuing the next day cross-country over the ridge between Evelyn Lake and Ireland Lake, by point 11100.

Or I could continue on the trail from Fletcher Lake to camp by Vogelsang Lake, and continue the next day over the dramatic looking Parsons Peak Traverse to the basin above Ireland Lake, as just described in June 2021 on HST by Flamingo; see
http://highsierratopix.com/community/vi ... 31&t=21661.

Finally, I could avoid all trails by heading cross-country directly upslope from Tuolumne Pass to Evelyn Lake and camp there, then continue cross-country up to the plateau above Townsley Lake and then on to Ireland Lake. I would have to choose very soon when I got to Tuolumne Pass.

Based on the weather forecast, I decided it would be foolish to tackle the Parsons Peak Traverse with thunderstorms likely. I had been up to Townsley Lake several times in the past, but never directly cross-country from Tuolumne Pass to Evelyn Lake. One of my goals for the trip was to maximize the percentage of cross-country travel, so I picked door number 3.

I reached Tuolumne Pass and the heavily used Rafferty Creek trail at 2:35 pm.

Fletcher Peak over Tuolumne Pass

P1190658-Fletcher Peak over Tuolumne Pass.jpg (542 KiB) Viewed 507 times

I was surprised to find no hikers on the trail or resting at the pass. After walking north on the trail about 100 yards to get past the small tarn, I took off across the meadow to the eastern side, heading north for an open granite slope I had spied while on the traverse from Rafferty Pass.

I climbed up a dirt and rock floored ravine that bordered this open granite area on its southern and eastern sides, then continued diagonally northeast up a steep slope of granite slabs, dirt and grass in sparse forest, then turned back southeast in a grassy gully that led almost to the Evelyn Lake plateau.

This plateau is a lovely expanse of dry meadow with views to the Sierra Crest. I walked easily across it to the west end sandy beach on Evelyn Lake at 3:35 pm, crossing the regular Evelyn Lake trail and seeing no hikers. Although I was originally thinking of continuing up to the tarns on the meadowy plateau above Townsley Lake, I was tired and decided to find a campsite here at Evelyn Lake.

The slope heading south up from Evelyn Lake was grassy with sparse trees and granite outcrops. I scouted around and found a sheltered campsite on granite sand among bedrock outcrops about 50 vertical feet above the lake. Fortunately, I had an extra gallon collapsible water container, so I wouldn't have to trudge down to the lake and back for water very often. I rigged up a cord between trees to dry out my still-wet tent, fly, and tarp, and had my tent and camp all setup by 5 pm.

Camp above Evelyn Lake

P1190672-camp above Evelyn Lake.jpg (491.26 KiB) Viewed 507 times

Evelyn Lake had very clear water with no suds or algae. There were no mosquitoes during the day and just a few at sunset and dusk. The view north over the lake and its plateau to the Sierra Crest was particularly expansive. I could make out peaks ranging from the Sawtooth Ridge in the north almost to Koip Peak in the south. The air was very clear, with no smoke or haze.

View north over Evelyn Lake

P1190679-view north over Evelyn Lake.jpg (368.11 KiB) Viewed 507 times

This turned out to be the only evening of the trip with clear skies and good sunset colors to admire over the serene landscape.

Sunset colors on Evelyn Lake

P1190682-sunset colors on Evelyn Lake.jpg (280.59 KiB) Viewed 507 times

After sunset, I lingered outside as the dusk deepened and heard a couple of coyotes yipping on the far side of the Evelyn Lake plateau. I had neither seen nor heard any evidence of other people all day. I went to bed at 9:30 pm.

To be continued ...

[wildhiker]

Continued from Day 3 post ...

Day 4 - Wednesday, July 28: to Ireland Lake and beyond?

Today's stats: 2.6 miles, 750 feet elevation gain, all cross-country

My plan for today was to hike entirely cross-country over the ridge between Evelyn and Ireland Lakes and then up the drainage behind Ireland Lake, over Amelia Earhart Pass, and down to the unnamed lakes on Maclure Creek at 10,500 feet, a distance of about 5.4 miles. This plan was not to be.

I woke at 6 am after finally getting a good night's sleep. Cumulus clouds were already forming over the crest. The sun hit my camp area at 6:30 am, but would have been earlier if not for those crest clouds.

Early morning clouds from Evelyn Lake camp

P1190689-early morning clouds from Evelyn Lake camp.jpg (388.01 KiB) Viewed 506 times

I ate breakfast and packed up. Tent was dry, with no condensation. Clouds were moving, dissipating, and re-forming quickly. I started my day's hike at 8:40 am by walking up a grassy swale directly upslope from my camp on a mostly moderate slope.

Grassy swale extending upslope from Evelyn Lake

P1190695-grassy swale heading upslope from Evelyn Lake.jpg (651.61 KiB) Viewed 506 times

This swale was a pleasant introduction to the magical spot that lay ahead - the grassy plateau with tarns above Townsley Lake. That plateau is a pristine carpet of green with dramatic cliffs to the south and long-distance views to the north. Fletcher Peak and the ridge to its east were spectacular sights in the morning light.

Peak 11850 over tarns and plateau above Townsley Lake

P1190701-Peak 11850 over tarns and plateau above Townsley Lake.jpg (409.91 KiB) Viewed 506 times

This view reminds me of scenes from the Alps, such as this meadow seen on a hiking trail in the Val di Funes in northern Italy in September 2018.

Odle Mountains above Val di Funes, Italy, September 2018

IMG_3465-Odle Mountains above Val di Funes, Italy.jpg (374.45 KiB) Viewed 506 times

But the Sierra meadows are so much wilder and more pristine than the Alpine ones! What you don't see in that photo from Italy are the cows grazing the meadow and the farmhouse and mountain lodge crowded with people directly behind me.

I noticed campsite options on decomposed granite among whitebark pines on the slope north of the tarns, which I originally planned to use but stopped at Evelyn Lake instead. The two large tarns were full of clean looking water with no algae. I reached them at 9:15 am and spent some time just looking around and taking photos.

Next, I headed east over the meadows to the inlet stream of Evelyn Lake, which was flowing well, and then walked up a broad ridge among whitebark pines heading toward point 11100 on the main ridge separating Evelyn and Ireland Lakes. Views back to Fletcher Peak and its neighbors were inspiring all the way up.

Peak 11850 and Fletcher Peak from Evelyn Lake inlet stream

P1190717-Peak 11850 and Fletcher Peak from Evelyn Lake inlet stream.jpg (517.3 KiB) Viewed 506 times

There were also good views northwest to Rafferty and Johnson Peaks and north to the Sierra crest. Scattered alpine lupine and tiny lemmon's paintbrush were in bloom. I saw a deer grazing in one of the high meadows on this ascent.

View northwest to Rafferty and Johnson Peaks from slope of Point 11100

P1190720-view northwest to Rafferty and Johnson Peaks from slope of Peak 11100.jpg (511.04 KiB) Viewed 506 times

Alpine lupine

P1190723-alpine lupine.jpg (713.13 KiB) Viewed 506 times

Around 10 am, I noticed that the cumulus clouds were really starting to billow to the south.

Cumulus clouds over Peak 11860

P1190721-cumulus clouds over Peak 11860.jpg (423.78 KiB) Viewed 506 times

Above the meadows, the broad ridge I was ascending was a moderate grade on bedrock slabs, rocky dirt, and some grassy areas with many clumps of whitebark pine. I headed a bit too far to the north side of this ridge and ended up having to pick my way through some dense areas of whitebark pine; slightly south of the broad ridge would have been more open. When I reached the top of the main ridge at 10:40 am just south of point 11100, I got a glimpse of Mount Lyell, surrounded by clouds.

Mount Lyell from Point 11100

P1190724-Mt Lyell from Point 11100.jpg (455.59 KiB) Viewed 506 times

The descent of this ridge toward Ireland Lake was frustrating. Trying to head straight down the slope, I ran into a series of northeast trending ravines with granite cliff sides. I was trying to cross them at right angles and getting stuck on the top of 15 to 20 foot high cliffs. So I switched tactics and headed south first, staying high and paralleling the ravines and the ridge until I got to grassy slopes that I could descend to Ireland Lake. At 11 am, I could see a big cloud over the Donohue Pass area that looked like it was already raining.

Descending to Ireland Lake from Point 11100

P1190730-descending to Ireland Lake from Point 11100.jpg (544.13 KiB) Viewed 506 times

The magnificent big meadow around Ireland Lake was still mostly green. Walking across it heading for the Ireland Lake outlet was an exhilarating experience of vast openness. But I was getting increasingly concerned about the dark clouds forming all around. I still wanted to get over Amelia Earhart Pass today - another thousand feet higher and completely exposed - and down to the unnamed lakes on Maclure Creek. I figured that would take about 3 hours total. Would the storm hold off that long?

Storm brewing over Ireland Lake

P1190740-storm brewing over Ireland Lake.jpg (368.75 KiB) Viewed 506 times

To be continued ...

[wildhiker]

Continuation of Day 4 post ...

I soon got my answer. I started hearing thunder from the big black cloud stretching from Parsons Peak north through the Vogelsang area while walking along the lake. Rain seemed to be coming when I reached the outlet of Ireland Lake at 11:30 am. I decided to seek shelter by setting up my small tarp against a large rock just below the outlet.

Tarp pitched by Ireland Lake to shelter from storms

P1190744-tarp pitched by Ireland Lake to shelter from storms.jpg (474.53 KiB) Viewed 506 times

I just got the tarp pitched when the rain started at 11:45 am. After a few minutes of light rain, it suddenly turned to heavy rain with much hail and very gusty winds up to 30 mph or more. Loud thunder was booming overhead. The air temperature dropped considerably. The storm had begun!

The tarp was keeping me and my pack dry. But in my hurry to pitch it, I didn't guy out the long sides. The storm winds were pushing in one side, threatening to get me wet, so I had to hold that side out with my hand for the duration. My hand got very cold. Heavy cold rain and hail lasted about 20 minutes, with lighter rain until 12:30 pm. Taking advantage of the break, I added guy lines to improve the tarp coverage. Then the rain started again at 12:45 as the next big dark cloud moved over from the south. There were alternating periods of light and heavy rain (with thunder) for the next three hours, with breaks of no rain up to 15 minutes long. There were three major pulses of frequent thunder and heavy rain, which seemed to be three separate thunderstorms moving over my area. During a break, I got out and looked around, taking this photo of reflections in Ireland Lake.

Ireland Lake reflections during break in storms

P1190755-Ireland Lake reflections during break in storms.jpg (389.1 KiB) Viewed 506 times

During the next longer break in the rain, close to 4 pm, I gave up on the idea that the storms would end and I could continue over Amelia Earhart Pass. Now I needed to find a campsite. I pulled down my tarp and walked down along the outlet stream of Ireland Lake a couple hundred yards to where bristlecone pines grew and found a usable campsite on a decomposed granite flat in the first big clump of pines, just above a small lake on the stream. Normally I would spend quite a bit of time searching around for the best site. But I felt that rain could start again anytime, so I settled for the first usable spot.

Storm number four started with light rain as I was setting up my tent about 4:15 pm. I managed to keep the tent body dry by draping the fly over it as I was setting up. Then I got my extra tarp pitched in front of the tent as the rain increased and got my pack secured underneath just as heavy rain came. This was the strongest storm of the afternoon, with continuous heavy rain for an hour and plentiful thunder and lightning flashes.

The ground in front of my tent soon became saturated and puddles were forming. I couldn't make a drainage ditch - my little flat area was surrounded by granite bedrock. So I resorted to bailing the puddles with my plastic bowl while the heavy rain lasted, to keep them from overflowing into the tent. With the tarp "porch", I could do this while squatting out of the weather. Fortunately, no puddles formed under the tent and the inside stayed dry. The storm brought much colder air and I needed to put on all my extra clothes to stay warm while I crouched under my tarp bailing puddles.

After the hour of steady heavy rain, there was another hour of light to moderate rain. The rain stopped and the clouds started breaking up at 6:20 pm. By 7 pm, the sky was almost completely clear and the sun came out. I was happy to be done with these storms and quickly set about making dinner. During this time, I saw a single man in the distance walking from the stream up into more of the pines. I figured he was also camping here. He was the only person I saw in my five days of cross-country hiking. Here are late evening photos of my campsite and the view from my camp to Amelia Earhart Peak.

Camp below Ireland Lake in the evening

P1190762-camp below Ireland Lake in the evening.jpg (620.33 KiB) Viewed 506 times

Amelia Earhart Peak from Ireland Lake camp in evening

P1190763-Amelia Earhart Peak from Ireland Lake camp in evening.jpg (527.5 KiB) Viewed 506 times

Because of higher peaks and lingering clouds to the west, there was no sunset color today. I went to bed at 9:15 pm.

Day 5 - Thursday, July 29: Amelia Earhart Pass and lakes on Maclure Creek

Today's stats: 2.75 miles, 900 feet elevation gain, all cross-country

I got up at 5:30 am to get going before today's storms hit. Surprisingly, most things dried in the night, including the tent, tarp, and some things I hung up under the tarp. The sunrise light gave some color on Parsons Peak to the west and then rose above the ridge to the east and flooded my camp at 6:55 am under blue skies.

Sunrise light on Parsons Peak from Ireland Lake camp

P1190765-sunrise light on Parsons Peak from Ireland Lake camp.jpg (377.98 KiB) Viewed 506 times

I still had hopes to catch up on my schedule and complete my original planned hike if I could make enough progress today. I started hiking at 7:55 am. The small lake just below my camp really shone in the sharp early morning light and even large Ireland Lake was calm with nice mountain reflections.

Early morning reflections in tarn by Ireland Lake camp

P1190767-early morning reflections in tarn by Ireland Lake camp.jpg (459.25 KiB) Viewed 506 times

Early morning reflections in Ireland Lake

P1190772-early morning reflections in Ireland Lake.jpg (365.4 KiB) Viewed 506 times

Under beautifully clear and clean skies I started hiking up the valley behind Ireland Lake. This is basically a class 1 walk until just under Amelia Earhart Pass, where there are steeper slopes to negotiate. The route more or less follows the creek. I started by diagonally heading up the hill on the east side of the inlet creek on grassy slopes and ramps among granite outcrops with widely scattered trees. This shortcuts a big bend in the inlet creek. Here's a photo looking back at Ireland Lake from this hill section, with the Sierra Crest very clear in the background.

Sierra crest over Ireland Lake from route to Amelia Earhart Pass

P1190774-Sierra crest over Ireland Lake from route to Amelia Earhart Pass.jpg (451.63 KiB) Viewed 506 times

Above about 11,000 feet, the easterly branch of the inlet creek is flowing in rough terrain, so I crossed it and headed directly up the broad slope to the south on granite slabs and broken rock. Here's a photo taken on that section. Because I'm higher, more of the Sierra Crest is visible. I could see all the way north to Tower Peak at the northern tip of Yosemite Park.

View north from halfway up route to Amelia Earhart Pass

P1190790-view north from halfway up route to Amelia Earhart Pass.jpg (661.07 KiB) Viewed 506 times

Unfortunately, thick clouds were forming to the west by 9 am. and peeking over the ridge, so I kept moving. Above this slabby and rocky section, at about 11,300 feet, I entered a broad meadowy upper valley. In this next photo of this upper valley, Amelia Earhart Pass, my destination, is on the far left. The broad saddle on the right leads to the Lewis Creek drainage (steep talus on the west side).

Amelia Earhart Pass at far left from upper Ireland Creek watershed

P1190792-Amelia Earhart Pass at far left from upper Ireland Creek watershed.jpg (461.27 KiB) Viewed 506 times

The final slope to Amelia Earhart Pass is moderately steep and mostly solid rock. I walked up it easily in a zig-zag pattern. The low point on the ridge is not the pass - the other side of that low point is extremely steep with lots of talus. The pass is actually higher on the ridge to the south by the point shown as elevation 11641 on the USGS topo map. This leads to the easiest descent on the east side.

To be continued ...

[wildhiker]

Continuation of Day 5 post ...

I reached the top of Amelia Earhart Pass at 10:05 am and took a long break to take in the views and have a snack. Clouds were building to the south, but didn't look threatening yet. The view south was very hazy south of broad Donohue Pass. The lake basin immediately below the pass on the east is very austere. Mount Lyell was just visible to the right, as shown in this photo.

View south from Amelia Earhart Pass

P1190806-view south from Amelia Earhart Pass.jpg (425.75 KiB) Viewed 506 times

The view north was crystal clear. I could see the entire Yosemite north country and even some of Emigrant Wilderness to the northwest, with big blue Ireland Lake in center view.

North panorama from Amelia Earhart Pass

View north over Ireland Lake from Amelia Earhart Pass

P1190808-view north over Ireland Lake from Amelia Earhart Pass.jpg (407.18 KiB) Viewed 506 times

Clouds were building rapidly while I was on the pass. I started my descent to the lake basin immediately east of the pass at 10:40 am. Initially, I worked my way down a moderately steep slope with lots of granite bedrock mixed with dirt areas and broken rock. Then came a less steep section of solid granite slabs, followed by grassy rock and dirt strips. The final descent to the lakes involves zig-zagging down broken areas of a cliffy rock band. These lakes look quite pristine with very clear water. There are four small lakes nestled close together on a rocky bench, and a fifth larger lake up the valley behind a moraine dam.

From the four lakes, there are two grassy ramps that lead through the granite down towards Maclure Creek. The lower ramp starts by the outlet of the lowest lake and runs continuously until it merges with a larger grassy slope heading down to Maclure Creek. The upper ramp starts at the south end of the southernmost lake. It is not as continuous as the lower ramp and has some talus sections. I decided to use the upper ramp mostly for variety, because I have usually used the lower ramp in past trips. However, this upper ramp eventually disappears and I had to work down some steep slopes to reunite with the lower ramp at the head of the grassy slope, where there are also some clumps of whitebark pines. Here's a photo midway down this upper ramp with Mount Lyell in the distance. The lower ramp looks similar but runs continuously down.

Mount Lyell over grassy ramp route down to Maclure Creek

P1190829-Mt Lyell over grassy ramp route down to Maclure Creek.jpg (477.46 KiB) Viewed 506 times

From where I rejoined the lower ramp at the whitebark pines, I walked down a shallow meadowy gully that looked like it would take me straight to Maclure Creek and then the unnamed lakes at about 10,500 feet elevation. But as this valley bent to the east, I saw that the meadow ends in a big talus field. So, I contoured east on a rock and dirt slope with scattered whitebark pines, and came out on a gentler slope of solid granite slabs heading right down to the lakes, as shown below.

Granite slabs above Maclure Creek lakes

P1190837-granite slabs above Maclure Creek lakes.jpg (400.44 KiB) Viewed 506 times

I reached the upper lake at 11:50 am under dark clouds yielding a few sprinkles. I decided to setup camp under the presumption that a good thunderstorm was imminent. I found a spot that looked suitable behind clumps of whitebark pines just above the junction of the two lakes. I heard the first boom of thunder to the north at 12:20 pm and then occasional subsequent peals to the south and east. I had my tent and tarp all setup by 12:40 pm.

Light rain started at 12:55 pm, but turned to heavy hail within five minutes that almost coated the ground and then became very intense rain for about an hour. This turned out to be the most intense rain of the trip, although the stormiest day overall was Wednesday. There was lots of thunder, some directly overhead, and I saw at least one flash of lightning.

I was beginning to doubt my camp siting skills, as once again, I had problems with rain water ponding right in front of the tent and threatening to spill into it, requiring continuous bailing using my plastic bowl during the hour of intense rain. This time, I thought I had my tent on a slope that would drain, but the problem was that the rain was intense enough to be running everywhere down the slope and pouring off my tarp and fly. Some was ponding in front of the tent where I was bailing. Some actually flowed under the back of the tent, but did not get inside.

While it was raining heavily, I heard a loud rushing sound. Peeking out from under the tarp, I saw a large waterfall leaping over the cliffs above the southeast side of the lakes and splashing onto a talus pile below. This was an ephemeral fall, solely from rain runoff. It was not there before the rain and dried up very quickly when the rain stopped.

The rain stopped at 1:45 pm. The sky continued to look threatening, but only light sprinkles fell the rest of the afternoon. At this point, I gave up on the idea of finishing my original route plan and realized that with this weather pattern and only two days left, I would have to start my exit tomorrow. I was sad to give up my carefully planned route when it was only 2/3 completed. But adjusting my expectations allowed me to enjoy the day I had at these beautiful lakes.

With the heavy rain over, I wandered about the lakes taking photos. The clouds broke a bit and allowed a sliver of sunlight on the shining wet cliffs on the southeast lake shore where the ephemeral waterfall had roared earlier. I also found a lone paintbrush flower highlighted at the edge of the lake and took a photo showing my campsite location.

Maclure Creek upper lake during break in storm

P1190843-Maclure Creek upper lake during break in storm.jpg (539.67 KiB) Viewed 506 times

Paintbrush flower at Maclure Creek lakes

P1190855-paintbrush flower at Maclure Creek lakes.jpg (406.22 KiB) Viewed 506 times

My camp at Maclure Creek lakes

P1190864-my camp at Maclure Creek lakes.jpg (533.63 KiB) Viewed 506 times

A bit after 4 pm, fog started to flow down from the Donohue Pass area into Lyell Fork canyon. Eventually, it filled the sky with a ceiling only about three hundred feet above me. I don't recall ever seeing fog in the high country before.

Fog descending into Lyell Fork canyon

P1190858-fog descending into Lyell Fork canyon.jpg (395.83 KiB) Viewed 506 times

After making dinner, the fog lifted and clouds were dissipating, giving a nice reflection of the Kuna Crest and Donohue Peak in the lake and then finally a bit of sunset color on those same distant mountains.

Evening light on Kuna Crest from Maclure Creek lakes

P1190896-evenng light on Kuna Crest from Maclure Creek lakes.jpg (350.77 KiB) Viewed 506 times

Sunset light on Donohue Peak from Maclure Creek lakes

P1190899-sunset light on Donohue Peak from Maclure Creek lakes.jpg (389.72 KiB) Viewed 506 times

I saw no one else on this day. There were no mosquitoes at all. I noticed a lot of dwarf lupine blooming all along the route today from Ireland Lake. Water quality in Maclure Creek and its lakes was good with no algae. In 2019 I was surprised to find algae in these lakes. I went to bed at 9:15 pm.

To be continued ...

[wildhiker]

Continued from Day 5 post ...

Day 6 - Friday, July 30: to the John Muir Trail and Lyell Fork canyon

Today's stats: 2 miles all downhill to the Muir Trail cross-country and 4 miles downhill on the Muir Trail.

I woke at 5:45 am. It was quite cool, probably in the upper 30s, and I needed all my clothes. There were some flat mid-level clouds over the crest and especially to the north. Some condensation on the tent, but not bad. I went out to see some nice sunrise colors in the clouds to the east.

Sunrise light over Donohue Peak from Maclure Creek lakes

P1190907-sunrise light over Donohue Peak from Maclure Creek lakes.jpg (354.73 KiB) Viewed 506 times

These lakes on Maclure Creek have great early morning exposure and the sun cleared the crest by 6 am, but was blocked by clouds from reaching my camp until 6:30 am. This nice early sun gave me a chance to dry out my tent fly and tarp on rocks and also dry the tent bottom!

Drying my tent at Maclure Creek lakes camp

P1190908-drying my tent at Maclure Creek lakes.jpg (582.34 KiB) Viewed 506 times

With lots of sunshine, I walked around before breakfast to take photos.

Morning reflections in Maclure Creek lakes

P1190909-morning reflections in Maclure Creek lakes.jpg (533.54 KiB) Viewed 506 times

But by 7:30 am, thick mid-level clouds were moving back from the northeast and blocking the sun. Although I had to give up on my original route plan to traverse through the Kuna Creek headwaters and over to the Mono Pass trail, I was still hoping to spend most of the day in the high country by traversing over at about the 10,800 foot level to the high lake basin under Mount Lyell and then hit the Muir Trail to descend into Lyell Fork canyon. But with the cloud cover nearly complete by 8 am, storms seemed likely today and photos would not be that good higher up. Maclure Creek was also running quite high because of the recent rains. I would have to wade it at the connection between the two lakes in order to make this high traverse. At that point it was about 20 feet wide with big rocks on the bottom and unclear depth. And frankly, I was feeling discouraged by so much bad weather and anxious to get out of it. So I decided to give up on the high traverse and just follow Maclure Creek down to the Muir Trail and then camp somewhere in Lyell Fork canyon before the rain starts.

I starting hiking at 8:45 am with the sky about 90% cloud covered. Maclure Creek cascades down a very steep headwall directly below the lakes. It's too steep and brushy to descend that way. The headwall extends to the west, but gradually gets lower and less steep, so I went that way. There is a large attractive meadow area below this headwall and views over to the Kuna Crest.

Meadows below Maclure Creek lakes

P1190922-meadows below Maclure Creek lakes.jpg (535.12 KiB) Viewed 506 times

I saw a couple of spots where you could work your way down the headwall on rocky slopes, but kept going west until I found a slope of granite slabs and grassy strips that I had used before and descended there. I didn't go quite far enough west to use the gentlest slope and slipped crossing a wet granite slab and slightly scraped my knee.

Route down to meadows from Maclure Creek lakes

P1190928-route down to meadows from Maclure Creek lakes.jpg (587.99 KiB) Viewed 506 times

The big meadowy basin was quite wet, but no mosquitoes. The streams in the meadow had good flows of clear water with no algae. The clouds broke a bit and allowed me to get a nice photo of Cathedral Range peaks from the big meadow.

Cathedral Range peaks over meadows below Maclure Creek lakes

P1190933-Cathedral Range peaks over meadows below Maclure Creek lakes.jpg (512.8 KiB) Viewed 506 times

Because I was taking the short route down and wanted to maximize my high country solitude before hitting the crowds on the Muir Trail, I took my time in this meadowy basin and circled it on the north side toward a tarn at about 10240 feet elevation that I've visited before, perched on the lip of Lyell Fork canyon, which I reached at 10:15 am. It had clear water with no algae and no bugs. This was the last truly alpine spot of my trip, so I took a 30 minute snack and photo break. Dwarf lupine was blooming around the tarn, but not yet in bloom in the meadowy basin above it. The air was fairly calm, giving good reflections in the tarn of Cathedral Range peaks including Mount Lyell and its glacier.

Cathedral Range peaks reflected in tarn 10240+

P1190946-Cathedral Range peaks reflected in tarn 10240+.jpg (377.71 KiB) Viewed 506 times

Mounts Lyell and Maclure over tarn 10240+

P1190950-Mts Lyell and Maclure over tarn 10240+.jpg (446.8 KiB) Viewed 506 times

From the tarn, I walked southeast down gentle slopes of meadows, granite slabs, and sparse forest to reach Maclure Creek in a little hanging valley at about 10,100 feet elevation. The creek was flowing strongly with clear water and no algae. I saw a coyote loping at the meadow fringe on the other side of the creek.

Maclure Creek at 11,100 feet

P1190958-Maclure Creek at 10,100 feet.jpg (535.06 KiB) Viewed 506 times

This little hanging valley soon becomes a very steep slope with cliff bands where Maclure Creek cascades down to meet the Lyell Fork Tuolumne River. At this point I headed north away from the creek to descend gentler and smoother forested slopes of mostly dirt. Then after a short section of nearly flat forest, I reached the John Muir Trail at the footbridge over the Lyell Fork at 9640 feet elevation at 11:40 am. There were some mosquitoes here.

I started down the Muir Trail and met other hikers within minutes, breaking exactly five days of solitude. The trail rapidly descends with carefully constructed switchbacks and rock work and occasional views down the valley.

Lyell Fork canyon from John Muir Trail

P1190964-Lyell Fork canyon from John Muir Trail.jpg (618.29 KiB) Viewed 506 times

I reached the Lyell Fork canyon floor with its vast meadows at 12:25 pm. Fifteen minutes walking down the canyon brought me to a nice lunch spot next to granite outcrops by the river. In this one hour of hiking on the Muir Trail and 30 minute lunch break, I passed or was passed by 16 backpackers - what a change from the solitude of my cross-country routes just a few miles away! The clouds over Mount Lyell were getting dark and heading my way. I heard distant thunder and it felt like rain was coming soon. My lunch spot had the last good view of Mount Lyell.

Mount Lyell from upper Lyell Fork canyon

P1190972-Mt Lyell from upper Lyell Fork canyon.jpg (445.47 KiB) Viewed 506 times

I enjoyed the walk down the nearly flat Lyell Fork canyon along the edge of beautiful meadows peppered with wildflowers and sliced by the deep green pools of the river in its lazy meanders and occasional brief cascades over granite bedrock. I continued to pass other backpackers hiking individually or in small groups, both north and south bound. They mostly appeared to me to be in their 20s and 30s and were about equally distributed between men and women.

I reached the trail junction with the Ireland Lake trail at 2:25 pm after crossing strongly flowing Ireland Creek on a log. This Ireland Creek junction has a large flat area with big trees that has been a camping area for generations. I saw three people already camped there. I considered my options as thunder occasionally pealed over the Kuna Crest. I could push on for five more miles to Tuolumne Meadows and camp at the crowded, viewless and beaten-down backpackers' campground. Or I could call it a day and camp here in the viewless and somewhat dingy forest.

Tuolumne Meadows offered ice cream and beer; Ireland Creek offered another quiet night in the wilderness. Continuing to Tuolumne Meadows would give me the entire next day to go collect my car and leisurely drive home; if I camped at Ireland Creek, I could still be out to the car by about noon with plenty of time for the drive. Pushing on might mean hiking and setting up camp in the rain; staying here means I have time to setup my tent and camp and have a dry place before any rain comes.

I decided to stay and camp my last night in the wilderness. I found a nice spot separated from other campers and well-used, but still empty, camp spots, pretty far from the river but only 200 feet from Ireland Creek. Unfortunately, I did not realize until the next day that there was a better third alternative: hike another 1/2 mile downstream to where the trail emerges from the forest to run along meadows with good views of the canyon and peaks and places to camp on open granite benches with easy access to the river and no other campers.

I got my tent and tarp all setup and collected water just before light rain with distant thunder started at 3:20 pm. Peals of thunder moved directly overhead with moderate rain about one hour later. Rain continued off and on the rest of the afternoon until 6:30 pm, mostly light but sometimes moderate. I did not notice any mosquitoes.

Backpackers were coming through this camp area all afternoon in both directions, and many of them stopped to setup camp. By the time I went to bed at 9 pm, there were about 15 people camping around this trail junction.

To be continued ...

[wildhiker]

Continued from Day 6 post ...

Day 7 - Saturday, July 31: heading out and driving home

Today's stats: 8 miles on trail with some ups and downs.

Today I needed not only to hike out to Tuolumne Meadows, but then on the connecting segment of the Muir Trail that runs behind the campground over to the Cathedral Lakes trailhead, where my car was parked. Although my original plan was to stay again this Saturday night at the backpackers' campground and drive home on Sunday, I saw little value in doing that when more rain was likely. So I was going to just get to the car and drive home!

I woke at 5:45 am. At 6 am, there were already a lot of high clouds, mostly to the south and east. My tent fly and tarp were all wet from both yesterday's rain and overnight condensation. I just packed them up wet, knowing I could dry them at home. I noticed that some of the backpackers who had camped near me were already on the trail by 7 am, which is also when I started to see other backpackers walking past my campsite heading northbound from points further south. I don't know how they get going so early. I'm most definitely not a "morning person" and it takes me quite a while to get moving in the morning.

I started hiking at 8:10 am as the sun was just starting to hit this camp area down in the Lyell Fork canyon. After only 10 minutes of hiking north on the Muir Trail from this Ireland Creek junction area, the trail broke out of the forest into an open area of meadow and granite, with good views up to peaks, and potential campsites on benches above the trail. This is where I should have camped if I had just looked a bit further along the trail yesterday.

Lyell Fork canyon below Potter Point

P1190988-Lyell Fork canyon below Potter Point.jpg (414.58 KiB) Viewed 506 times

This section of the Muir Trail heading down the Lyell Fork canyon is an enjoyable and easy walk, with periodic meadows to admire and places where the trail comes close to the river.

Lyell Fork Tuolumne River

P1190989-Lyell Fork Tuolumne River.jpg (519.9 KiB) Viewed 506 times

This trail is also very popular! Just for fun, I counted the number of other backpackers that I passed or was passed by. Mostly, they were southbound (makes sense, because I was headed northbound) and hiking alone or as couples. In the first hour and a quarter of hiking, I passed or was passed by 14 backpackers.

At 9:25, I encountered a friendly wilderness ranger packing southbound who asked to see my permit. He told me that there are 30 wilderness rangers in Yosemite National Park during the summer season, but only six do full-time backcountry patrols (nine days at a time). The rest split their time between the wilderness and visitor centers and patrols of three days. That's a lot of wilderness rangers out in the backcountry! In fact, the only place I've encountered wilderness rangers in the last 30 years or so is in Yosemite Park. About this time I also noticed large cumulus clouds building to the north with scattered clouds to the south.

I reached the bridge over Rafferty Creek at 10:15 am. This creek was flowing well, but not as much volume as Maclure or Ireland Creeks. From my encounter with the wilderness ranger to here, I passed another nine backpackers. The most interesting were a father with his son about 10 years old and daughter about 12, all carrying large packs (especially the father!). I chatted with them and found out they were planning to do the entire John Muir Trail southbound, plus thirty extra miles, because they had started at Chiquito Pass trailhead in southwest Yosemite and hiked over the Clark Range first to join the Muir Trail at Nevada Falls. My wife and I did a lot of backpack trips with our children years ago, but never anything that ambitious! They were in a good mood, kids included, and I wished them well.

About 10:35 I reached the junction of the trail that heads over to Tuolumne Lodge and continued briefly toward the campground before stopping for a snack on granite slabs at the river's edge. I passed another nine backpackers from Rafferty Creek bridge to this point and then decided to stop counting and just enjoy the rest of the hike.

Lembert Dome over Lyell Fork Tuolumne River

P1190998-Lembert Dome over Tuolumne River.jpg (446.28 KiB) Viewed 506 times

While snacking, I saw a large buck with a big rack of antlers grazing peacefully on the other side of the river just across from me. I resumed hiking at 11:05 am and in fifteen minutes reached the junction between the campground trail and what I call the "Muir Cutoff" trail that runs behind the campground over to the Cathedral Lakes trail. Now I still had about 2.5 miles to get to my car at the Cathedral Lakes trailhead. I did this same trail in 2020 and found it very annoying. Rather than a simple traverse paralleling the campground and road, it climbs up and down and up and down crossing ravines and small streams. This is tiring when you feel like you are done and just want to get to your car! Unicorn Creek and Budd Creek are the two major streams crossed by this cutoff trail, and both were flowing strongly.

I finally reached my car at 12:24 pm. It was washed very clean by a week of rain. Meanwhile, the sky was fully clouded over and getting dark. Views back while driving west on the Tioga Road showed likely storms developing. Around Porcupine Flat I ran into fog and then the aftermath of a storm that had completely coated the ground and road with hail for about one half mile, creating slippery conditions. It was nice to be in the dry and warm car!

General Observations

I've been pretty lucky with weather in my 51 years of backpacking in the Sierra Nevada, usually getting no more than a day or two with storms in a week long trip, and often having blue skies the entire week. But this trip turned out to be the wettest week-long backpack trip I have done. A 1974 trip, also coincidentally in the Cathedral Range, was almost as wet. And I've hiked through (or mostly sat out in the tent) some much more intense thunderstorms and rains on individual days, such as a July day in 2018 at Hamilton Lake where a really intense thunderstorm created at least five major ephemeral waterfalls on the cliffs around the lake.

As is my usual practice in the High Sierra, I drank freely from lakes and streams with no water treatment and no adverse effects. Your mileage may vary. Many streams were running higher than I expected in this drought year, no doubt due to rain from the thunderstorms. I was pleased to see clean water, with less algae than in recent years in this area.

The dry air of the High Sierra usually bothers my nose and sinuses after a couple of days, leading to minor nosebleeds and congestion, usually at night. I did not have that problem on this trip. Perhaps it was due to higher humidity from all the storms, or perhaps because I started using saline gel in the nose as described on this HST post:
http://highsierratopix.com/community/vi ... 0&p=167084 .

Although my environment generally looked and felt very wild and pristine on this trip, I was frequently reminded of human civilization by airplane overflights - at least 10 per day. Most of these were high commercial jets, not too noisy, but some were small and obnoxiously noisy propeller planes flying quite low. For example, I saw - and heard - one fly through Tuolumne Pass below the level of Rafferty Peak - that is, less than 1,000 feet above the ground.

Thankfully, I was not bothered by wildfire smoke on this trip, even though the massive Dixie fire was already burning in the far northern Sierra. Skies were generally very clear of pollution, with good long-distance views. Rainfall nearly every day may have helped keep the air clean.

There was no snow left, other than permanent (but shrunken) snowfields. My route was mostly on alpine meadows and granite, so no problems with mud. As a high traverse, I did not have to cross any big streams.

I saw no sign of bear, and few other large mammals. Alpine lupine were blooming above 10,000 feet in many areas, but generally there were few wildflowers. As I expected, I rarely saw mosquitoes, got no bites, and did not use any repellent.

Although I did not complete my planned route, I did fulfill my main objective: to enjoy the wildness, scenery, and solitude of the High Sierra on a leisurely cross-country adventure that gave me a satisfying sense of exploration. And I really enjoyed re-visiting many of my favorite places and campsites.

[rlown]

Nice report. Thanks for posting.

[balzaccom]

Thanks Wildhiker! We hiked past the trail crew that was "fixing up" the use trail to Budd Lake and Cathedral Peak about six years ago. They were turning what had been a rough track into a real trail. When we asked them about it, they explained that it was getting so much traffic that the Park System had decided to take the bull by the horns and fix it up. Wonder when they will do the same for the use trail from Pothole Dome down to the bridge towards Glen Aulin...

We've done the hike to Echo Lake via Budd Lake a few times---always aiming for the base of the Southernmost Echo Peak on the way in, and then heading down and then left to the easier slopes between Echo Peaks and Matthes Crest. That route has cairns for the top part, right where it descends from Echo Peaks. Don't miss the turn to the left though, or you will end up in some steep granite.

Seems like we like to camp in the same areas, both at Echo Lake and Nelson. And that route up from Nelson past Reymann over to Tuolumne Pass is lovely. We've learned that you can cross at the top of the meadow above Nelson and go up the south side of the valley towards Reymann. There is a lovely ramp there that takes you up on a granite freeway...