High Sierra Topix

Day 16 – Benson Lake to Matterhorn Creek
In the morning, I found I was still alive, neither me or my tent having suffered any damage from the wandering herd. Once I was up, I went to get my canister, and it, too, was unscathed and did not appear to have been touched. I packed up, then walked to the beach for a few more photos before heading out.
As the trail climbed away from the lake, there were opportunities to look back and savor. This would be a day to revel in the northern Yosemite trail builder’s true joy – the switchback. They like them short and snappy, short enough so that when a good-sized tree falls over the trail the trail crews who come to clear it have the pleasure of cutting the same log twice or even three times. And since the general direction of the PCT in northern Yosemite is across the grain of the country, there is plenty of up and down each day, plenty of opportunity for switchbacks.
This morning it was a steady 2000 feet up from Benson Lake, then down a couple hundred feet, then back up a bit to get to Smedberg Lake. In the middle of that, I stopped for breakfast, and as I sat there admiring the surrounding cliffs, I got to thinking about the trees clinging to them and the patches of grass alongside them, managing to maintain a toehold up there amid the rock. And it occurred to me that along with the trees there will of course be birds, and bugs, ground squirrels of various stripe scampering up there to all but the most inaccessible of ledges to get the seeds and gobble the bugs – a whole ecosystem clinging to the rock. And in the winter, all of this is encased on snow and ice for months, yet in the spring life returns. It’s quite amazing.


Smedberg Lake By this point I was really not surprised to get to one more spectacular lake – it’s just the standard deal, and of course, I had it to myself while I ate my first lunch. If it had been less windy, a swim would have been nice, but you can’t have everything. As it was, I waded in to mid-thigh for the cryotherapy benefit.
As I was leaving after my break, a party of hikers with a pack train was arriving. A short time later, going up the switchbacks toward Benson Pass, I met the rest of the group. I think the timing of my stay at the lake was good.


It was pretty warm going up over Benson Pass – despite the wind. Looking back to Volunteer peak (on the right) and friends.

East from Benson Pass

The sandy meadow sort of feeling at the top was reminiscent of areas much further south in the Sierra. But soon I was down the other side far enough to get into the forest, and a nice shady second lunch next to Wilson Creek refreshed my energy for the rest of the descent to Matterhorn Creek and the walk up its broad valley bottom to the junction where the PCT swung back south and up out of the canyon. Here I found a spot to camp.
Today had been full of beautiful sights, just like every other day on this journey. But I had a feeling today unlike any I had experienced before – something like overload, as if I just could not take in any more spectacularity. I felt as though I needed a nice stroll through a quiet forest with no views for a few miles to calm me down so that I would be ready to take in more big views and gorgeous scenery. What I was seeing, had been seeing for so many days, was almost too much. Physically, I didn't feel like I needed a day off. Emotionally, I sorta did.

Day 17 – Matterhorn Creek to almost Glen Aulin
Well, no pass today, but still, plenty of up and down, so no shortage of switchbacks. In the forest almost all the way up to Miller Lake.
When I passed by there at 8:30, I saw a tent near the lake, and the occupants were nowhere to be seen. Whether they were early risers and already up and away, or slug-a-beds who were not up yet, I shall never know. I kept going, up and over two saddles, neither of which is a Pass, and dropped down the switchbacks to Spiller Creek. Up to now, this had been just the kind of walking I felt I needed – mostly forest, just a few views – but Spiller creek messed that up completely. Huge swaths of colorfully water-stained and polished granite, threaded by little cascading branches of the creek, ran for hundreds of yards alongside the trail. Gorgeous. I took bunches of photos and some videos, none of which are going to convey anything of what this is like. Just fabulous. On down to Return Creek and first lunch, a nice shady rest by the creek. Then up the hill through the woods, and on the level through the woods, to Cold Canyon. I had low expectations for Cold Canyon. On the map it did not seem like much of a canyon; meadowy, probably not much in the way of views, but nice easy walking for my last afternoon on the journey (tomorrow I would be done well before noon). But appropriately for this trip, it was surprisingly beautiful, and in a new way. The sharply incised groove of the trail through the grass, winding in and out of the trees; meadows spreading out to one side or the other; the granite ridges on either side poking their bones through the forest here and there; and views back up the valley to the high granite of the Stanton Peak massif; it all had an appropriate, farewell to the high country, end of journey kind of feel.
And as I entered another meadow, peaks came into view to the south. The peaks of the Cathedral Range, sitting on the south side of Tuolumne.
So the end was now in sight. I knew, of course, just where the end was, and how near I was to it; but actually seeing it made a big difference.
I stopped for my second lunch at the edge of that meadow, and my thoughts and emotions were complex as I sat there eating. I was glad to be nearing the end, and a sense of accomplishment was growing. I was also ready to be done because of that feeling of overload, of satiation. And yet, some part of me wanted to keep going. The routine was pretty solidly established now, the pattern of walking and resting and all of the daily life on the trail stuff. While I was sitting there, a gentleman came along heading south, looked like a thru-hiker and proved to be one. He said he was up to 2000 miles on the PCT, all this year; he had missed out on part of Washington due to fire and smoke, but he was going to do as much as he could. He kept going, planning to camp at Glen Aulin.
I wondered what that would be like – I don’t expect to ever attempt such a thing, but what would my state of mind and body be after months of continuous walking? No way of knowing. But I wondered if he had experienced the kind of overload feeling I have had, and did he get through that to a state where he could just bask in all the beauty and not be overwhelmed by it, or instead become inured to it and take it all for granted? I could have asked, but it seemed to me a rather personal question to be asking in such a casual encounter. I suppose there are as many versions of that as there are walkers. This was not the longest trip I have taken, but it had been many years since I was on the trail for this long, and of course I have changed in those years, so my experience this time was different than before. I think I am more reflective now, and I like to think I am more appreciative of all the varieties of beauty that are to be experienced in the mountains. So, this experience was quite different from my earlier long trips.
Still ruminating and reflecting, I got going again to finish out the last couple of miles before Glen Aulin. I did not go quite all the way there; I stopped at a little shelf on the west side of the trail just above the valley bottom. I wasn’t sure what the rules might be for camping at Glen Aulin and did not want to deal with it. And anyway, this spot had better views.

Day 18 – Almost Glen Aulin to Tuolumne
Knowing that the YARTS Bus leaves Tuolumne at 10:16, wanting to be there by 9:30 to be on the safe side, and with about 6 miles to cover, I figured about 3 hours of walking plus breakfast and rest stops, so I wanted to be on the trail by 5:30. For the first time on the trip I set an alarm to be sure I would wake up in time. At 4:45 I started getting dressed and packing up. I don’t like to use any lights for my early starts, as I don’t want to mess with my night vision, so I function to some degree by feel when I first wake up. But since everything is in the same spot in the tent every morning, that is easy to do. And there was moonlight; the moon still about 2/3 full. By the time I was on the trail, there was some light in the sky to the east, and enough light overall that I could pick my way along the trail. Juniper by moonlight

Passing through Glen Aulin, all was quiet at the camp area. The light was not ideal for viewing the falls, but I still enjoyed every glimpse of white water that I had as the trail climbed up towards the meadows. I also had views back to the north of the Cold Mtn. massif.
Shortly after I crossed the big bridge at the top of the uppermost falls, I met a dayhiker coming the other way. He was the only person I would see until I got within a half mile of the Tuolumne Parking. I was surprised at first to see so few people, but then I remembered that the campgrounds were all closed, so there would be a lot fewer folks at Tuolumne than usual, especially this early.
Soon I was into the edge of the meadows, and began to get more views of the Cathedral range on the far side, under a mostly blue sky with just a few wisps of cloud.
The trail gives you a taste of the meadows, then returns to the forest – though it is a very open forest, no undergrowth to speak of, and I felt I could wander anywhere through these trees, and thought that on most days, probably you could wander around here and see few people away from the trail. A short distance past the junction with the trail to Young Lakes, I spotted a miniature dome off to my right, and decided that might be the spot for breakfast. And indeed it was. Just big enough to get up out of the trees here on the north side of the meadows, the little dome gave me a nice viewpoint to look over the meadows to the Cathedral range and savor my arrival in Tuolumne. It was windy (how else would it be, on this trip?), and the temperature was lower this morning that I had been seeing, so the top of the dome was a rather brisk spot at 8 in the morning. After photography, I retreated to a more sheltered but only slightly less spectacular spot on the east slope of the dome to eat my breakfast.
Looking back at this I think how appropriate to the whole trip that last breakfast spot was. The meadows, of course, are famous, as are the views of the Cathedral range. But the little dome itself is just one of the many unnamed and largely unnoticed spots in the Sierra that I enjoyed so much throughout my journey. Right next to a very popular and well used trail in Yosemite, it has no use trail to it, and no apparent signs of being visited at all. I expect that plenty of people scramble up there as I did, but they have left no signs of their visitation, so it seems entirely pristine and wild despite being so close to where throngs of people fill the trails on a normal summer day. This is the takeaway I have from this journey – that the Sierra is so full of wondrous, beautiful spots that you really cannot fail to find them if you look, regardless of where you go. Pick any place on the map and go there, there will be beauty of one kind or another, a lot of it unheralded, and in unexpected corners.
My last breakfast on the trail done, I hefted the pack and set off for my trail’s end. As I approached the parking, I met a few backpackers setting out, but still, not many folks. And yet, the parking was pretty full. Where all these people were, I have no idea. I reached the highway, crossed it and walked to the store. A sign said that the YARTS bus stop was in the parking just west of the store, so I walked over there.
And I was done.

What a neat trip and route, especially with the significant detours off of the PCT. It really captures the north-south changes in the Sierra, too. There are several places along your route I've never been to and your photos of them give me additional fuel to get there.

Paul - I don't post much, but I really enjoyed this trip report and photos. It's inspiring me to get into some nearby parts of the Sierra that I haven't explored enough. Congratulations on completing a goal that's been a long time in the making!

Your prose matches the quality of photos. I especially liked your summary:

paul wrote: ↑Fri Sep 06, 2024 10:12 am This is the takeaway I have from this journey – that the Sierra is so full of wondrous, beautiful spots that you really cannot fail to find them if you look, regardless of where you go. Pick any place on the map and go there, there will be beauty of one kind or another, a lot of it unheralded, and in unexpected corners.

If HST had a motto, I think this could be it.

Thanks. I'm glad someone has managed to get through the whole thing! And happy to hear that it brings some new areas to your attention, I very much enjoyed seeing country that was new to me, and there are so many spots that do not get much mention but are well worth visiting.

I kinda liked how it came out in installments, made it easier than reading a big one all at once.

Next time you gotta put Skynyrd's Call Me the Breeze in your headphones. :-)

Thanks for taking the time to post a full report of your journey. I appreciated reading and following along!

Just in case anyone wants to see more photos, I have added photos from this trip to my Flickr page. I still need to work on captions, but:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/26480813@ ... 320296176/

This looks like a great trip (and very non-standard), thanks for taking the time to put the report together.