Goal for the day: Tuolumne Meadows or beyond

I woke up before dawn (typical when I backpack) and got some nice views of the stars over the mountains. I also had a spectacular view of the sunrise and it’s affect on the surrounding mountains.

I hiked up past the Sunrise Backpacker’s Camp, over Cathedral Pass (9,703 feet), and to Upper Cathedral Lake. I was a little amused (or maybe irritated) that the high point was not the pass, but the route around Columbia Finger. So it was a little extra climbing to get over that and then over the pass than I had expected.

Somehow during my Yosemite wanderings I had never had a chance to get to Cathedral Lakes, so it was nice to see it and take a break there. I took a short swim in the lake to cool off and also get some of the dirt off my body. Without showers, this would be my primary way of keeping clean for the next 3 weeks.

A passing ranger encouraged me to stay the night at the lakes and it would probably be nicer than staying at the Tuolumne Meadows Backpackers Camp, but it wasn’t even noon so I decided to continue to Tuolumne Meadows. Staying at the lakes would put me a half day behind my schedule and I’d hate to have to be behind after only 3 days. I also decided not to take the 1 mile round trip detour to see the lower lake. It wasn’t part of the JMT, so I decided to conserve the wear and tear on my legs and feet. It was an easy day hike (but I’ve never bothered to day hike it before). 🙂

It was all downhill to Tuolumne Meadows from there, but still a long 7 miles down and then to hike the loop up to Soda Springs and down to the campground. I could have gone directly to the campground, but I figured it would be best to get the loop the JMT takes in Tuolumne Meadows out of the way right away.

At the campground, I was pleasantly surprised that the backpacker’s sites were actually decently sized and each had their own picnic table and bear box. I had envisioned something like Camp 4 in the Valley where everyone was just crammed together. This year, that would make it VERY hard to keep my distance from other people. They were even allowing some of the regular campsites to be used as overflow for backpackers. I wish I had know about that before selecting my spot in the backpackers area. The regular sites were bigger and were closer to the bathrooms.

Despite the backpackers sites being better than expected, I was still amazed that THERE WERE NO BATHROOMS near them. Whoever laid out the campground seemed to not care about that detail. Maybe the backpackers sites were added after the rest of the campground. It was quite a little walk to the closest bathrooms. Which worried me a little since backpackers tend to use whatever bush is available in the wilderness and they may be temped to do the same there. 🙂

Once my tent was up, I had another detail to handle that afternoon: Getting the resupply package I left on day 0. So wearing a mostly empty backpack, I hiked over to the Wilderness Center and got my package from the bear box where I left it. First thing I did was to drink one of the Diet Cokes in it. Ahhhhh… civilization. 🙂

From there, I could have just gone back to my campsite, but I decided to do the loop that went around the Dana and Lyell Fork bridges so I wouldn’t have to do that part of the JMT in the morning. I kind of regretted it half way around since it did add a lot of mileage to my day’s total. But it was too late by that point. When I added the mileage together for the day, it was a whopping 15 miles. Granted 4 miles of that wasn’t with a full pack, but my resupply package was heavy enough that the extra loop was still a challenge when added to the rest of the day’s hiking.

One option I had considered was to skip staying overnight at Tuoumne Meadows altogether. But that would require me to get at least 4 miles down Lyell Canyon before I could camp and my legs insisted that wasn’t happening that day. How I felt after doing that loop confirmed that decision. 🙂

Back at my campsite, I sorted through my resupply package and determined what I needed to take to get to Reds Meadow for my next resupply. I added the extra socks, underwear, bug spray, cooking gas canister, and a few other items to my gear. Based on my progress so far, I ended up throwing away a few meals and a few trail snacks that would probably not be needed. So, I’d be able to throw away a number of items in the morning to keep my pack as light as possible for the 4 day hike over Donahue Pass and down to the Mammoth Lakes area.

I could have gone up to the open area of the meadows for sunset, but decided to turn in and prepare for the long hike the next day.

15 miles hiked, 10:15 hours, 1,500 feet climbed
25 total miles hiked on the JMT

Highlights:
• Cathedral Pass – 9,703 feet (Pass #1 Conquered!)
• Cathedral Lakes
• Tuolumne Meadows
• Daily Goal Achieved!