On Day 20 I visited Thousand Island Lake and crossed over Donahue Pass into Yosemite National Park. I spent the night in Lyell Canyon, a few miles away from Tuolumne Meadows.
. The caltopo website is the best place to look to find the place name I use.
The day started with an easy walk down into Thousand Island Lake basin. Storm clouds were threatening and the combination of clouds, mountains, snow and reflections on the water make it difficult to tell where the lake ends and the land begins. If you look closely it is not where you think.
After leaving Thousand Island Lake the trail rises gently to Island Pass. I was daydreaming a bit and didn't even notice that I had gone over the pass, that is how intense Island Pass is.
Island Pass marks the southern boundary of the Rush Creek watershed. Donahue Pass marks the northern boundary. Rush Creek drains into Mono Lake in Mono Valley on the eastern side of the Sierras. It is the only waterway along the John Muir Trail that drains to the eastern side.
I spent much of the time in the Rush Creek drainage thinking that Donahue was the pointy peak and that Donahue Pass was to the right of the flat peak. It turned out that the flat peak is Donahue and the pass is to its left. Navigation is a continual process. You have to always be reviewing your surrounds and matching it to the map. Of course on the JMT it is not that big of a deal, you just follow the trail and you will get there.
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| Looking north from Island Pass. Donahue Peak is the flat topped mountain in the middle. Donahue Pass is to its left. |
The next section was hard to figure out what I was crossing, even when I looked at SPOT data vs. camera time stamp. There are more creeks on the ground than on the map so the captions are my best guesses as to where these creeks came from.
The path on the right is for people, the path on the left is for stock.
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| Davis Lakes Creek crossing |
The quality of the "bridges" varied greatly in this area. This log bridge had the tops of the logs flattened to make it easier to walk, but the log had twisted over the years so the surface was no longer parallel to the ground.
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| Davis Lakes Creek crossing |
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| Rodgers Lakes Creek crossing |
This bridge was particularly interesting. It was rotten and sagging. The stock path is on the right. I would take that next time.
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| Rush Creek crossing |
This was the only stone beam bridge I saw the whole trip. Very cool.
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| Unnamed Creek crossing |
I stopped to figure out where I was and which peak was Donahue Peak. After a bit of map and compass work I figured out that this was Donahue Peak and that I was just over 10,000 ft.
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| Add caption |
Fortunately I didn't need to know exactly where I was, only that I was on the right trail heading in the right direction. That I knew with certainty, so I carried on.
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| Donahue Pass at about 10,300 ft |
During all of the trips I have taken over the past 6 years I never felt like I was in the back country until I had crossed the first major pass and was out of range of day hikers. Donahue Pass was the last barrier between me and Tioga Highway and Tuolumne Meadows. Once I crossed it I had a ways to walk, but it would not be too long after crossing that I would be within range of day hikers. In fact I did see day hikers by the end of the day and on Day 21 and on Day 22. Don't get me wrong, I love day hiking, but it doesn't compare to getting deep in the wilderness.
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| Looking south from the top of Donahue Pass |
After spending some time on Donahue talking to a lady that had just finished a 30 day tour of the hot springs in the Sierras, I turned my attention toward Lyell Canyon.
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| Looking north from the top of Donahue Pass |
At about 11000 ft Lyell Canyon comes into view. It is a long broad valley that I had seen many times on the map. Nothing I had imagined compared to the grandeur that was there in person. From this point I would walk 5.5 miles to where I camped and I would be halfway through the canyon.
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| Looking north into Lyell Canyon |
At about 10200 ft you cross the Lyell Fork of the Tuolumne River for the second time. The first one was an easy rock hop. This one was wet sock style. Once across the trail drops into the canyon and into the forest.
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| Crossing Lyell Creek at about 10,200 ft |
At about 9700 ft you cross Lyell Fork for the third time. At this crossing this bridge is there to help you across.
This is a popular spot to stop for people going the other way.
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| Bridge across Lyell Creek at about 9,600 ft. |
Just past the bridge I came across this rope hanging from a tree with the end frayed. I am just guessing but I think a bear got someone food after it was not hung properly.
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| A cautionary tail for the counterbalance method |
I complain a lot about the bear canister, but it does make life simple. Birds, rodents, foxes, coyotes, bears, deer. None of them can get your food. You don't have to find a
mythical tree with just the right branch. All you have to do is close the canister and put it on the ground away from your tent. And you don't have to worry about this.
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| What broke the rope? |
I left the trail again around 9400 feet because I caught a glimpse of this view. I found my way to a rocky highpoint out of the trees and sat for a while and ate something.
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| Lyell Canyon |
Yosemite gets a lot of visitors and they like their trails to be durable. This trail will outlast your feet for certain.
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| Trail down Lyell Canyon |
At 9000 ft the canyon floor flattens out. Over the next 10 miles it drops only about 400 ft.
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| Meadow in Lyell Canyon |
The river is a slow meander all the way through the canyon.
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| Lyell Creek in Lyell Canyon |
Here I think someone got a little zealous about marking the trail. These boulders easily weigh 200 lbs each and walking on the rock on either side of the prescribed lane would not affect anything. I guess the rocks won't get washed away in the spring melt. I walked up the left side.
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| Excessive trail markers |
Campsites in Lyell Canyon were hard to find. I passed a large campsite a few hours before this, but it was too early and I figured that site would get crowded. The only other camp along this stretch was at the Evelyn Lake trail and I had heard that it was already crowded. Beyond the Evelyn Lake trail camping is not allowed until you get to the backpackers camp in Tuolumne Meadows.
I left the trail and walked into the forest looking for a clearing. After some zig zagging I found this spot less than 100 yards from the trail. The hardest part of the search was finding a place that was flat enough. I had to clear off the Lodgepole pine cones, but then had a fine campsite.
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| Camp 20, location is top secret |
All photos of
Thousand Island Lake
All photos of
Rush Creek
All photos of
Donahue Pass
All photos of
Lyell Canyon
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3 comments:
I still envy you. Great trip.
Come on over. We'll go see part of it.
Do not tempt me ��
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