Yosemite National Park
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Almost to Sunrise Lakes Yosemite National Park |
July 27, 2020
Hooray! I finally have made it into the park for the first time this year,
on the earliest date for which I was able to secure a reservation in this time
of virus-related restrictions.
The grand plan for today is to utilize my bicycle for a 3½-mile shuttle that will
enable me to revist a favorite region of the Cathedral Range without duplicating any
trail mileage. When I took some friends through there three years ago
(Hike #368), forest-fire smoke took a lot of fun out of our
trek. I would do the route backwards this time, and take in some new sights
as well.
Biking on Tioga Road
Well, that was an easy downhill all the way to the Sunrise Trailhead at Tenaya
Lake. After locking up the bike and stashing some trail mix in a bear-proof
container, I head out.
Tenaya Creek already has stopped flowing
Oops! I seem not to have packed my map for this venture. Oh well, I'm not about to bicycle another seven miles to retrieve it; and it's not as if I'll be entering totally uncharted territory.
Slogging through the forest
Lewis's Monkeyflower
Pearly Everlasting
Corn Lily
Lots of stone steps today
I last was here in 1978, when I backpacked to Clouds Rest and Half Dome with my late wife and baby brother. While camping at Sunrise Lakes the first night, a bear ate much of our food; but we continued the mission anyway with the help of donations from fellow hikers.
Zerene Fritillary
Paintbrush
Almost there
At the pass, a signpost says that it's only 4.7 miles farther to Clouds Rest; but I won't be going that far today.
I guess I'll be going around that mountain...
after negotiating this talus jumble
Just where are the Sunrise Lakes anyhow? I didn't expect them to be so far away.
Unnamed pond
It's a boulevard
I've been heading south for quite a while now, and that is absolutely not what is
wanted. Finally the light dawns — I might just be on the wrong
trail.
There is some running water
Presently a hiker comes by, heading my way, and informs me that the Sunrise Lakes junction is about a mile and a half back up the trail. Bummer. Having no interest in actually visiting Clouds Rest today, I start back.
An old-fashioned blaze
Hanging in there
I guess I wasn't destined to circle that peak after all
Whoa! Some activity ahead stops me short. It seems that a squirrel is trying to drag around a mushroom that is bigger than it is; in fact, I remember having seen that huge fungus earlier.
It's mine! Go away!
The little guy continues gnawing on the thing, ignoring my presence until I start walking forward. Then it scales a tree and chatters at me until I am gone.
More unwanted uphill going
Okay, I'm back at the pass, and surely enough, there is a second signpost that was unaccountably overlooked earlier.
The sign I ignored previously
Now I not only am bummed out because of my idiocy, but I already am weary, having already climbed more than 1,600 feet over six miles. On top of that, big clouds are rolling in, suggesting that some showers are imminent.
Clouds Rest
Half Dome
I really hate to do it, but prudence dictates that I abort today's mission.
I would be looking at another six miles, some of which would be new off-trail
territory; also, my run-down condition would prevent me from enjoying all the
wonderful stuff that I know is up there, and I would be fighting the clock and the
weather as well. I can do this again at another time.
Mount Hoffman on the left, Tuolumne Peak on the right
So it's back down the rough switchbacks that I had expected never to see again.
Those young women are faster than I
My friend Gary spotted that balanced rock three years ago
Clouds are moving in
Tenaya Peak
Nobody is home at the moment
Back at the trailhead, I retrieve my stuff and ride back to the
car — uphill all the way.
Cathedral Peak from Highway-120
§: Well, I turned a potentially top-rated hike into a relative
non-event. Sure, there was some good scenery, but I cannot give this
one much of a rating. According to my own specifications, even a 5-rating
indicates a 'good day', and I really didn't have one of those, all things considering.
My only excuse for getting off-track is the onset of age. Perhaps I need to pay closer attention to my preparations, and begin acting more like the old person that I actually am.
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