John Muir Trail: Day 21

Day 21 I spent exploring Tuolumne Meadows.  I left in the late afternoon and crossed over Cathedral Pass before I made camp.

It was a very long day because of the camping restrictions.  I hiked 17 miles and climbed 2000 ft, all after leaving Tuolumne Meadows.

My daily progress and major trail milestones can be seen at https://caltopo.com/m/DKGD, or on Google Earth using https://www.dropbox.com/s/9cy12lzxnuvatsa/2017.07.30_JMT_Actuals.kml?dl=0. The caltopo website is the best place to look to find the place name I use.

Day 21 elevation profile in yellow

Day 21 route in blue

Walking through Lyell Canyon is about as easy as walking gets.  The path is flat and smooth, not rocky at all.  I put my sticks away and just walked on.  It is hard to overstate how big the meadow in the canyon is.  It is about a quarter mile across and 3 miles end to end of continuous meadow. 

Meadow in Lyell Canyon above Evelyn Lake trail junction

Meadows are formed in low areas left by glaciers.  They start as lakes then fill in with sediment until the water just flows through in a stream.  Since the underlying rock retains the water, meadows are too wet for trees to take hold and so are left open for grasses and wildflowers that would otherwise be overshadowed by the trees.  In dry periods the trees may encroach a bit on the meadow, but when the wet years come the trees retreat.

Meadow in Lyell Canyon above Evelyn Lake trail junction

Wetfoot crossings were becoming more infrequent.  There were more and more bridges because there are more hikers in Yosemite.  There were some fallen logs near this crossing but I chose to wade through.

Ireland Creek crossing

I spotted a building across the meadow in the trees.  It looks like the roofing used on the Ranger's housing I had seen elsewhere, but there is no Ranger stationed in Lyell Canyon.  I asked a permit Ranger about it and she had no idea. I could also see solar panels positioned out in the meadow.

Something in the trees in Lyell Canyon above Evelyn Lake trail junction

The Belding's ground squirrels were everywhere.  When I saw this guy he scurried.  I stopped and stood perfectly still for what seemed like a few minutes.  After a while he no longer registered me as a threat and stood up again to keep watch.  I was able to stealthily capture this picture, then when I started walking he scurried away.

Belding's ground squirrel (Urocitellus beldingi) in Lyell Canyon

During the walk down the second half of Lyell Canyon these mountains dominate the background.  The peak on the left is Ragged Peak.  The highest peak visible is unnamed but it has the uppermost of the Young Lakes just below it on the other side.

Ragged Peak and the mountains in front of Young Lakes from Lyell Canyon

Lyell Fork meanders back and forth across the canyon floor as so it a recurring presence but is absent for much of the hike.

Lyell Fork of the Tuolumne River near the lower end of Lyell Canyon

At this trail junction I was back in territory I had traveled before.  Jacob and I hiked from Tuolumne Meadows, up the Rafferty Creek trail and over Vogelsang Pass last year.  I had hoped he would be able to join me for part of this hike, but it didn't work out.

Rafferty Creek trail junction

To give an idea of the amount of water there was this year compared to other years, look at the two photos below.  The first one is from this year, the second is from last year.  Last year the snowpack was just at the historical average.  This year it had been in excess of twice the historical average.  Even as late as August Rafferty Creek was flowing, whereas last year it was dry at roughly the same time.

Rafferty Creek 8/19/2017

Rafferty Creek 8/14/2016

I left the JMT to explore Tuolumne Meadows.  The "official" route has changed over the years and currently stays south of the meadow in the forest.  I decided that was silly and took the trail north at the eastern end of Tuolumne Meadows.

Bridge across the Lyell Fork in Tuolumne Meadows

This is yet another view I found by leaving the trail.  Staying on the trail through this part of the meadows keeps you in the forest with nothing to see.  Leaving the trail and finding a high point rewards you with this view of Cathedral Peak at the western end of the meadows.

Cathedral Peak as seen from the eastern end of Tuolumne Meadows

The trail crosses the Dana Fork of the Tuolumne River.  On the other side of the bridge the trail to the right goes to the "Tuolumne Meadows Lodge".  This "Lodge" is made up of canvas tents with wooden or concrete floors.  It is part of the High Sierra Camps in Yosemite, but no one stayed there when it was called a High Sierra Camp.  They changed the name to the Tuolumne Meadows Lodge and now they are sold out most of the summer.

Bridge across the Dana Fork of the Tuolumne River

At the Tuolumne Meadows Lodge I called Rebecca collect and bought an ice cream.  It was a cold, overcast day and the cashier looked at me funny when I bought the ice cream.  I hadn't made a collect call or used a payphone in more than 15 years.  I wonder if my kids will ever make a collect call.

Ice Cream!

Leaving the lodge I followed the Dana Fork to the confluence with the Lyell Fork.  Along the way I found this young buck grazing amongst the Lodgepole pines and their annoying pine cones.  He looked at me and then ran off.

A young buck in Tuolumne Meadows

The Dana Fork of the Tuolumne starts north east of Tuolumne Meadows just south of the peak of Mount Dana.  I followed the northern bank to where it joins the Lyell Fork and becomes the Tuolumne River.

Dana Fork in Tuolumne Meadows

Two spires are visible from most of the meadow.  Unicorn Peak and its more famous sister, Cathedral Peak.

Unicorn Peak, 10,823 ft

Cathedral Peak, 10,911 ft

When I was in Mono Creek on Day 16 I had no idea what the mounds of earth with red dirt and water bubbling out of them were.  When I got to soda springs there was a sign that revealed all.  The wooden structure was built around the springs in the 1800's to keep animals from trampling on them.  The bubbles in the water comes from carbon dioxide being dissolved under pressure underground, then coming out of solution at the surface.

Soda Springs

Soda Springs

John Muir was fascinated by the Sierras.  In his book, "My First Summer in the Sierras" he describes his experience herding sheep from the San Joaquin Valley up the ridge north of Yosemite Valley to Tuolumne Meadows.  After that trip he didn't heard sheep again.  He described them as "locusts" that would strip a meadow bare as they passed through.  It was in large parts his writing about Yosemite that got it declared the second National Park in 1890. 

Tuolumne Meadows

I left Tuolumne Meadows in the late afternoon and headed for Cathedral Pass.  There is no camping allowed within four trail miles of the wilderness boundary, so essentially I had to get to the top of the pass before I could camp.  I took this diversion down to Lower Cathedral Lake, but it was crowded and very buggy, so I went back to the trail and kept going.

Cathedral Peak from Lower Cathedral Lake

Cathedral Pass was not a dramatic as the passes in the southern portion of the trail.  It rounds off slowly and there is no clear "you are here" marker.  As the last pass of my journey it was a bit anti climactic. 

Cathedral Pass

It did have something that none of the other passes had.  Flowers!  All of the other passes were barren moonscapes (except the exceedingly underwhelming Island Pass).  Matthes Crest provides a backdrop for these Wild Lupines.

Matthes Crest

There were no places to camp anywhere near the trail, so I went off trail and found this secluded spot.  Even here in the clearing I had to clear Lodgepole pine cones off the ground to have a place to sleep.  This was my last camp of the trip even though I didn't know it at the time.  I had planned to spend one more night, but events tomorrow changed my plans.

Camp 21, near Cathedral Pass

All photos of Lyell Canyon
All photos of Tuolumne Meadow
All photos of Cathedral Pass