We continued with the 'easy' portion of our trip on the morning of Day 5 by turning off the John Muir Trail and heading up Piute Canyon to Humpreys Basin.…
The big day! I've been wanting to get over Lamarck Col for a long time. Typically used as a quick approach into the Evolution area of the Sierra, it's not…
When planning this trip I kept three things in mind for the first day: it's a long drive to the trailhead from the Bay Area, I had to pick up…
On Wednesday we will be leaving on a backpacking trip that will have us above 10k for six days, so we decided to head to the mountains this past weekend…
Day 5 was a quick and enjoyable day of hiking up the Kern Canyon. The canyon can be really hot and dry during the day, but in the morning it…
We took our time packing up and getting moving this morning, wanting to hang around to see the colors in Precipice pop with the mid-morning sun. There was another group…
On the morning of Day 4 we had a break from packing up camp. Instead we prepared for dayhiking to some of the other nearby lakes. With no rush, David…
We had an easy day ahead of us on Day 3, so we took our time packing up in the morning. Pavla went for a swim, I wandered around with my camera looking for wildflowers, and David fished a bit. I think we hit the trail around 10 am and headed south along the JMT towards Shadow Creek. When I went through here in 2007 I was flying and barely noticed how amazing this stretch is. Ruby lake is a stunning deep turquoise color, Garnet Lake has a million little things that make it unique and different, and the wildflowers were just popping.
Once at Shadow Creek we left the JMT and headed up the Lake Ediza trail. The plan was to find a campsite somewhere in the area and stay for two nights, dayhiking some of the less popular lakes in the area. We found a nice legal site just before Lake Ediza where we could have campfires (so we could cook any fish we caught!), and set up.
After setting up, resting, and eating, we decided to dayhike up to Cabin Lake, which is a bit off the beaten track. It was stocked with golden trout in 2000 and David wanted to see if there were any left. Rumor had it there was an unmarked trail heading up to the lake, but we couldn’t find it on the way up. A bit of bushwhacking, scrambling around rock, and persistence finally got us to Cabin Lake. Of course, once we were there we saw the use trail. Figures.
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.