Saunter in the High Sierra

Day 1: 10 miles; elevation gain 1490 feet

Last month we made an attempt to hike the PCT across Oregon and right out of the gate I hurt my knee. It’s been almost a month and I was itching to go backpacking somewhere.  We talked of heading back to Oregon, but it’s covered in wildfire smoke.   No summer really feels complete without a trip to the high Sierra, so we grabbed a permit online and drove south 9 hours to Tuolumne Meadows.

It’s gorgeous here and we set our sights today on a leisurely amble up the always lovely Lyell Canyon.   The creek nearby glistened in the intermittent sunshine.  White, voluminous clouds danced in the sky.   The granite peaks beckoned to us to climb higher.   

We stopped along the upper sections of Lyell Canyon and are camping in a spot I knew that’s tucked away behind some boulders.   The creek nearby plays a lively song and earlier I fished her banks.  I hooked many trout on my Tenkara style fly rod today, but I only landed one.  I had a blast though.  My hubby tried a little fishing with his spinning rod, but this creek is not conducive to that style of fishing. 

Day 2: 10 miles; elevation gain 2428 feet

Gorgeous sunny day for our hike up and over Donahue Pass.  We’ve done it quite a few times while hiking the John Muir Trail (JMT)  Phenomenal views all around.  While hiking the  JMT I’ve often wondered about the side trails that go to nearby lakes.   Since this is a saunter in the Sierra, we hang a right and go up to Marie Lakes.  

The first half mile was fairly well graded trail, but taking a sharp left the trail got much steeper for the last mile to the lakes.   I was huffing and puffing.   The lake we. First came to was pretty, but devoid of fish.   At least we didn’t see any.   I took a cold plunge in its icy waters though and it rejuvenated my legs.  

Our original plan was to camp at Marie Lake or on the bench below that has a creek running through it.   After some heated discussion it was decided to hike back to the JMT and continue south.  We were going to hike to Thousand Island Lakes, but I ran out of juice and decided to just pull over and camp by a friendly stream.  Fish aren’t biting though.   

Day 3:12 miles; elevation gain 2277 feet

Beautiful morning had us taking a side trail about a mile to Davis Lakes.   There is great views in all directions.  I caught a fish, which is always fun.   We then hiked on to Thousand Island Lakes and took the lakeside trail to the far end of the lake with Banner Peak looming large.   We set up our tent and unloaded most of our gear, but had decided on another side quest to Catherine Lakes high above us. There is a little over a mile of trail that stops at a boulder field.   Continuing on towards the lake rock hopping upwards we got about half way to the top when some weather moved in and with the wind and rain buffeting a bit, I lost my confidence and we turned around and headed back to base camp. The rain settled in and we are currently snug as a bug in our tent nestled up under some trees.  We have a bit of a view of Thousand Island Lakes and the wind is humming softly overhead.  

Day 4: 10 miles; elevation gain 1703 feet

Another rainy day.   We hiked 2.3 miles back around Thousand Island Lake and then headed south on the JMT.   Passed all the lovely gem lakes,  Emerald, Ruby and Garnet.   We began our side quest to Ediza Lake under really dark skies and the occasional drizzle.    We talked a bit about bailing, but decided to just go ahead and continue on my plan.   Ha!   The skies burst forth and we go hammered by rain on our way up to Ediza Lake.  It took a bit of searching to find a semi dry spot to camp, as most of the tent sites were pools of water.   Ate our lunch and dinner before taking off our rain gear and diving into our tent.  Now we are once again snug and warm inside.  

Day 5: 10 miles; elevation gain 1283

We woke up to no rain, but there was still a thick layer of clouds.   We laid our gear and clothes out for a bit of drying time while we enjoyed our morning cup of coffee.   Then we were off for another adventure.   

We headed up the trail to Iceberg Lake with the intent to hike onwards to Cecile and Minerets Lake, but I lost confidence again with the -choose your own adventure- up the boulders and scree. Trail runners dotted the rocky climb, and we watched them for a while before descending back to Edina Lake and then eventually back to Agnew Meadow where we caught the shuttle to Mammoth.   

This was a fun, pain free, saunter across a beautiful area of the Sierra Mountains and we are already looking forward to our next trip here.