High Sierra Topix

This is my rather long personal essay and collection of photos from my trip to the Vogelsang area of Yosemite last August. The essay is here:

http://laurencebrauer.com/Images/TripRe ... ley-23.pdf

The photos are here at the top of the page:

http://laurencebrauer.com/ASITHSTripReports.html

I hope you enjoy perusing the photos and reading the report.

Thanks so much for this beautifully-written report! It’s late so I’ll need more time to go through all the photos, but the ones I’ve viewed so far are quite stunning. I’m looking forward to reading others’ comment/discussion on your essay.

Thank you Lawrence for another lot of fantastic photos! My very favorites are the ones from around Townsley-- those reflections are beautiful! You've been there so many times, and after reading your long essay, we can sense that it is a special place for you. I really want to get deeper into the Lewis Creek high country that you were gazing up at from Bernice Lake.

I have only been around that high open plateau between Evelyn and Townsley Lakes in the winter-- here's what it looked like:

Looking east across frozen Townsley Lake.

Your photos of it in the green of summer make us really want to get there. Thanks for the inspiration, Ian and Lizzie.

What a lovely report and photos. Your love of the High Sierra wilderness really shines in your writing. I also feel moved by the melancholy in your reflections on the impact of aging on your ability to keep visiting the High Sierra. I feel a bit of that sadness myself, at just one year younger than you, but I'm optimistic that I still have many years to enjoy the High Sierra, even if I have to reduce the scope of my adventures.

The Vogelsang area is a favorite of mine, as well. My first trips in that area were in 1974, and I have been back numerous times, with family and alone. One thing I have noticed over the years is that the impacts of backpackers have been reduced since the quota system and bear canisters were required. The area (with the exception of that High Sierra Camp) looks more wild and less trampled now than it did in 1974.

I didn't discover that magical meadow plateau above Townsley Lake until 2012. I'm glad you got to see it, too. Oh, and Ian wants to see it, so let's both encourage him to get up there!

-Phil

Thanks for your kind posts grampy, Harlan, and Wildhiker. Harlan, that photo of Townsley in the winter makes me wish I had learned to cross-country ski. With that photo, I can feel that sense of profound solitude one gets when there in the winter. Wildhiker, your observation on bear canisters and the impact on the area is intriguing. I was thinking it was more this year’s snow pack was cutting down on the number of people, but I hadn’t been back there since September 2008. And yes, Ian needs to get to that magical meadow above Townsley.

Thank you for sharing the beautiful trip report. I went backpacking in the Voglesang Pass area in 2020, and the views from the pass towards Bernice Lake were spectacular. At the time, I didn't know the lake's name, but later, I learned that it was Bernice Lake. I'm planning to visit Vogelsang again this summer and hope to make it to both Bernice Lake and Townsley Lake. Your writing is heartwarming and inspires me to go back. I also enjoyed your Tablelands trip report and hope to visit there this summer too.