8/18/14
It was cold with white frost on the shrubs this morning. Our first obstacle was Benson Pass at 10,100 feet as we moved away from Smedberg Lake up the granite staircase toward the pass.
This meadow bowl was above Smedberg Lake. I'm looking back at the peak we contoured around all yesterday, happy to say goodbye to it. The sandy trail was ground granite.
This climb was steep and hard, it took me an hour to make the pass where 3 guys were standing looking in awe over the peaks behind me. I was so glad to get to the top I didn't stop for a picture, I wish now I had!
Down from the pass I found Peggy resting by the trail. We had a short break and again started picking our way down the rock strewn trail.
Crossing this meadow the trail steeply ascended through forest, at last, nice, soft pine duff underfoot! I startled a few deer on the way up, they bounded with such grace over the steep mountainside while I huffed and puffed at each step.
I passed a man named Jeff hiking toward Miller Lake where Peggy & I were meeting to eat lunch. He ended up stopping to take a break with us once he reached the lakeside.
Miller Lake had a nice little beach where we stopped in the shade. Jeff, Peggy & I ended up chatting about hiking, gear and food systems. We encouraged him to dry his own food, then he could eat what he liked instead of the prepared hiker food that didn't suit his taste. He seemed pretty excited about new options.
About 2:30 we left the lake, moving downhill we hiked in forest, seeing big, beautiful green and black stripped rocks along the trail. I've asked but haven't found out what type of rock this is.
We crossed a stream and hiked beside it for awhile, it ran over granite shelves creating small waterfalls and pools. We could walk out onto the rock and look up the stream. It was delightful!
There were still a few miles to go to camp which was along another stream so we kept moving into the adjoining Virginia Canyon to camp by Return Creek.
We camped off trail, this is my tent in the late afternoon sun. Behind me is the granite shelf and beyond that is Return Creek where we got water & sat looking at a pretty waterfall and pool. We're not far from Glen Aulin and Tuolumne Meadows (both are above Yosemite Valley) where we'll hike tomorrow, we're seeing more and more people on the trail.
8/19/14 14 miles.
Wow, I was cold this morning so I started hiking when I was ready knowing Peggy would catch up with me soon enough. The trail was nice, not too steep and soft with pine and fir needles. After about a mile I stopped because I kept hearing Ospreys calling to each other, I wondered if there was a nest. Stepping a little way into the forest off trail I tried to see if I could locate a nest but I couldn't see anything. After listening for a couple of minutes I saw an osprey fly away on long wings! I never could see the second osprey but it was cool to stand in the forest listening to them talk. Peggy joined me as the osprey flew off and we finished hiking up to the mountain top. From there we had 5.5 miles of gradual trail down through forest
and meadow where we noticed lots of little ground squirrels darting between rocks, standing like sentries by their burrows. They called out a warning that intruders were in their meadow! Later we learned the early settlers called them "picket pins" because they looked like the stakes that were once used to picket horses.
Hard to believe we've logged 1500 of the 1700 miles that make up California's PCT. Some of those miles I hiked in previous years but Peggy has done them in continuous miles this year!
1.5 miles of not so great trail into Glen Aulin where Peggy celebrated her personal completion of the entire PCT. She's hiked all the remaining miles in previous hikes, now I am the one who still needs to finish California.
The Tuolumne River at Glen Aulin creates a beautiful waterfall here on it's way down to Yosemite Valley. Glen Aulin is a tent resort, all amenities being furnished by mule train, guests staying in tents with stoves for warmth and a cafe that wasn't opened until 1:00 the day we got there. At the end of the season all tents get taken down and moved out by pack train.
The Tuolumne River continues from one waterfall to another as it drops out of sight. I'm standing on a bridge over the river.
Leaving Glen Aulin we walked beside the Tuolumne River as it ran down granite shelves providing wonderful seating for people to picnic. We began to see lots of people with packs, day hiking or week hiking. We once again played the game of identifying the smells, Tide? Deodorant? Perfume? Wow, definitely lots of perfume!
Tuolumne Meadows Resort was our destination, 6 miles away, so our new goal was lunch at the cafe!
These clouds began to gather, we hoped no rain was in the near future.
Granite hillsides glared in the bright sun, worn smooth by glacial action.
The Tuolumne River followed the trail for awhile, the Sierras are in the background.
When we arrived at Tuolumne Meadows near Hwy 120 there were loads of people and traffic, quite a change from our life on trail. We navigated highway traffic and crowds then found the Post Office, store and cafe where there were rules for everything. We waited in line (per instructions) for our resupply boxes and unpacked them (per instructions) at a specific picnic table throwing our cardboard in a specific place. When we had lunch it started to rain but only for a few minutes. We hiked back to the campground for walk-in campers and set up tents for the night. We wanted a zero day tomorrow, 8/20/14. Our plan was to get breakfast then catch the YART bus at 10am to Yosemite Valley to see the sights. We plan on camping again tomorrow night and leaving 8/21/14 for Donohue Pass and Red's Meadow.
Finally I had cell service so I called home to make plans for Robin to pick us up on 8/24/14 at Red's Meadow in 3 days.
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