One of my goals for this summer’s backpacking trips is to get back to some of my favorite stretches of the John Muir Trail. I have two longer trips planned, and the first trip back was a five day stroll last week from Tuolumne Meadows to Agnew Meadows. The purpose wasn’t just to hike the John Muir Trail again – rather it was to take time to fish, relax, explore off-trail, and just enjoy the amazing surroundings. When I did the JMT I flew through this stretch in about 48 hours, so it was good to see it at a slower pace!
We drove out towards Mammoth on Wednesday night and crashed at the Glass Creek campground around midnight (less than a mile off of 395, it’s not perfect but it’s free and easy to get to in the dark). Alarms went off about 5:15 and we were quickly on our way to Mammoth to catch the 7 am YARTS bus after dropping a car at the Inn. At $8 a ticket for the one-way to Tuolumne, YARTS is a bargain.

We were in Tuolumne by 9 am and waited (and waited) in line for our permits. A group of 14 was hogging all the rangers’ time since they had come completely unprepared without a permit reservation and expected to get a walk-up for one of the most popular trailheads that day. Um, no. About an hour later I finally had my (reserved) permit in hand and we started up Lyell Canyon by 10:30.
Lyell Canyon is a perfect way to ease into a hike at altitude. For 8 miles it follows a flat and open canyon along the Lyell Fork of the Tuolumne River. It is enjoyable and hardly strenuous. Hiking  the JMT through Lyell will eventually take you to Donohue Pass and out of Yosemite (into Ansel Adams Wilderness). It is about a 2500 foot climb to Donohue Pass from the canyon, and the beginning of the climb seems that much harder because you’ve been lulled into a sense of comfort and ease during those eight flat miles.

The climb to Donohue can be broken into about three chunks of 800 foot-ish climbs. The first stage will take you to the footbridge over the river – there is a lot of camping around here and it helps reduce the next morning’s climb to the pass. The next stage takes you up to some beautiful subalpine meadows below part of the Cathedral Range (Lyell, Maclure, and other prominent peaks). The final stretch is along the granite slopes leading up to the pass. When I hiked through here on the JMT in 2007, we camped at the footbridge. Although it was fine, I was kicking myself the next morning once I saw the meadows – they are absolutely stunning, so on this trip I wanted to make it up there for out first night’s camp.
The lower meadow was somewhat busy with JMT hikers, but we were able to find a nice campsite and set up just in time for an afternoon storm (thunder, hail, rain, lightning) – typical in the Sierra. After about an hour of dozing to the slapping sound of hail hitting the silnylon tent, the skies cleared and we went fishing, catching a few small brookies. I ended up calling this ‘Freebie Lake’ in my journal – around our campsite we found a new, unopened bottle of SPF 55 Neutrogena sunscreen, a new bottle of Ultrathon insect repellant, and a brand-new looking hemostat (for fishing). We took them all since no one came around to claim them. I like packing out trash I can use!  After a late dinner it was time for bed – the late drive the previous night, the 5 am rise time, and first day on the trail had wiped us all out.

Lyell Canyon (07.30.2009)

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