Tuolumne Meadows

Per calorie of effort expanded, I'm hard pressed to think of a more rewarding hike than the Dog Lake/Lembert Dome in the Tuolumne Meadows section of Yosemite National. In essence, I stitched two distinct destinations into a single hike; first to a small lodgepole-rimmed lake in backwoods, then to the top of a massive granite dome poking above the surrounding forest. The hike took four hours to cover eight miles; though looking back it seemed like a fraction of that.

I vaguely had this hike in mind when I started the day, but it was secondary to my earlier activity, touring Bodie SHS. Then, with the mountains cloaked steel grey rain clouds that were cold just to look at putting me in no hurry to enter the park, I diverted for a closer inspection of Mono Lake. When I finally did start up the mountains, it did rain for much of my drive to the visitor center, but it wasn't a hard rain and I had gear sufficient for the elements. After parking at the trailhead and dutifully 'bear-proofing' my car to the best of my ability, the rain abated. It would not resume until I was off the trail.

I dispensed with the most majority of the climbing--about 500 feet--in the first mile of the hike. Starting late in the day and still unsure of the weather, I set a rather quick pace, but slowed immensely upon reaching Dog Lake. Maybe twice as long as it is wide, the lake meets the trail at its narrowest point, its outlet, though this late it he year little, if any, water escaped via marshy route. Anchoring the opposite shore, the gray peaks of the easternmost mountains rose above the expansive forest. The trail technically ended here, but not to my surprise, previous hikers wore a trail the looped around the lake. It is hard to imagine anyone coming this far and not wanting to continue their walk. I actually did two laps. (The second in a vain attempt to recover a pair of lost sunglasses.)

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From Dog Lake, I hiked another mile to the junction of the trail to the to the top of Lembert Dome. What started on fairly typical, if steep, path soon opened on the barren face of the dome itself. It didn't take me too long to reach the true summit, but I found better views further along at the front edge of the dome. With no obstructions in front of me the Tuolumne meadows fanned out like ancient Greece must have to the gods from Mount Olympus. The same lack of obstructions also allow the West Wind to pummel me with its full force. Seeking reprieve from the Zephyr, I started the two-mile unremarkable but pleasant hike back the trailhead.

Dog Lake

Dog Lake Trail

Climbing Lembert Dome

Mono Pass

Tuolumne Meadows

Trip Statistics
Length: 7.8 miles
Time: 3 hours 51 minute
Elev. Change: 850 ft.
Max Elev.: 9,463 ft.

Elevation Profile

Nine Miles

Though taken nine miles apart, these two pictures are connected. It took me months to see it, but the location where I took the first is visible in the second and vice versa. It took both on the second day of my Sierra Nevadas trip last September. I wanted to take a long day hike in Lassen Volcanic National Park, ideally to the highest peak in the park, Lassen Peak; however that trail was closed so I opted for the second choice Brokeoff Mountain.

On my way to the park early Saturday morning, I pulled off to the side of the highway to take the first picture. I thought the mountain might be Brokeoff, but that hunch wasn't a big consideration in taking the picture. Primarily, I just wanted a great shot to remind me of the scenic ride. Three and a half hours later I was at the top of that mountain taking pictures of the magnificent views left and right.

Recently while going through my pictures, I verified that that mountain is brokeoff. I also noticed that in the middle right can you make the out highway where I take the first picture that day.

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Feather River Scenic Byway

I spent last Labor Day driving the Feather River Scenic Byway, a stretch of CA-70 that hugs the river as it flows through the northern limit of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The lowest pass through the mountains, I seen this route described as the dividing line between the Sierra Nevadas to the south and Cascades to the north. It it gorgeous route that requires creative engineering on plenty of occasions to make way with limited options. The highway is actually a latecomer to the canyon. The Western Pacific RR blazed the first route, tracks which are still in use.

I dedicated a whole day to the byway, an easily justifiable decision. The pins in the map recount most of my stops on the 120 mile journey.

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Feather River

Grizzly Dome Tunnel

I hoped to reach this peak, Ben Lomand, but...

3.5 miles (about 75%) up the trail, it disappeared into this dense underbrush.

All was not lost. There was plenty to admire from where I stopped.

Keddie Why

Eureka Peak

Eureka Lake

Clio Trestle

Half Dome

I've been able to travel so frequently this year that I haven't had much time to post more than an overview of each trip. One activity that definitely warrants a closer look is the Half Dome hike I completed on my Sierra Nevadas trip in September. Almost twenty miles in length and requiring a climb of nearly 5,000 feet, trailhead to summit, it was undeniably the most difficult hike I've ever undertaken. The views of Yosemite National Park from the summit made it one of the most rewarding.

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Luckily in planning my trip, I was able to reserve a Camp Curry tent cabin not far from the Happy Isles trailhead in Yosemite Valley. My first morning in the park, I woke up in time to be out the door by 5:00 AM. It was still pitch dark. By themselves, the swath of stars, visible through the conifer canopy, were worth the early start. A few hundred yards from the camp, I got anxious being alone in the woods and seriously contemplated returning to the cabin until sunrise. Another hiker passed and I siphoned comfort while following him at a slowly expanding distance.

The main trail hosted more, but not too many more, hikers. I hiked this path as far as Vernal Fall in 2008, though not in the dark. I that waterfall about first light, conversed with another hiker for much of the steep segment up to the top of Nevada Fall, and had covered five miles in two hours before the first rays of the sun bounced off Liberty Cap, which rose over on the trail's left side.

Nevada Fall

Trail to Half Dome

A steady ascent ensued after a short level span along the north bank of the Merced River. Four hours and nine miles in to the hike, I reached the 8,000 foot benchmark, a long shoulder on the northeast flank of Half Dome. I had another 800 feet to climb in about a half mile. Put another way, 17 percent of the climb came in the last 5 percent of the distance. That first 95 percent wasn't a cakewalk either. Not long after starting up this portion, I stopped from my first extended rest.

Half Dome from Saddle

Steel Cables assist hikers the last 400 feet up the dome. Being among the early arrivals, I set a comfortable pace interrupted by a handful of breathers to the top. Reaching the summit just after 10:00AM, I first had my picture taken at the requisite spot (Yosemite Valley serving as the backdrop) before finding a quiet place on a cliff-edge to finish my breakfast. I further explored the top a bit prior to descending the now hiker-clogged cables.

Yosemite Valley from Half Dome

Tenaya Canyon from Half Dome

Top of Half Dome

After following the same trail back as far as Nevada Fall, I explored the crest of those falls before finishing the hike along a slightly different route. Around 4:00 PM, I arrived back at cabin #663--there is no #666, I checked--and collapsed on the bed for a well earned nap.

Half Dome Cables

Camp Curry Cabin

Trip Statistics
Length: 19.2 miles
Time: 11 hours 1 minute
Elev. Change: 4,801 ft.
Max Elev.: 8,836 ft.

Elevation Profile

Sierra Nevadas

Back in September, I took my big trip for the year, a trip focused in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range, but with extensions into the Bay Area and Cascades. In the span of eight days, I climbed summitted no less than four peaks; entered as many national parks and twice as many more state parks; crossed the mountains three times, twice via scenic byways; toured two historic homes; gazed on the Milky Way as never before; and seen, among others, Mark Twain's desk, the locomotive used in Back to the Future: Part III, the site of the gold discovery that set off the California Gold Rush.

I flew to San Jose one Friday night after work and started my explorations the next day in rugged landscape north of the Golden Gate Bridge. That night, I stayed with my aunt in Northern California. From her cabin, I sought out two nearby attractions: to the north a hike in Lassen Volcanic National Park and to the south a Bidwell Mansion led my aunt herself. Labor day found me cruising the Feather River Scenic Byway on my way toward on overnight in a $20/night hotel in Reno.

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Changing the pace a little, I spent majority of Tuesday in one place, Virginia City, Nevada. Bidding good-bye to one city born of silver mines and sustained by the tourist trade, I headed 100 miles south to a gold-era ghost tour preserved as a state historic site. I closed out my fifth day on the road, with a short investigation of Mono Lake and a moderate warm-up hike in Yosemite National Park.

I dedicated Thursday to the single task of hiking to the top of Half-Dome, an rewarding, nineteen-mile-eleven-hour endeavor. To follow a day spent almost exclusively on foot, I recovered with a day spent mainly in the car, but not without leg-stretchers at a railroad museum, state park full of giant sequoias, and delightful dusk hike on Lake Tahoe. I closed my time in the mountains with a visit to Sutter's Mill in Coloma, and closed the loop on the trip at Winchester Mystery house, practically in the flight path of San Jose Airport.

Statistics
Total Miles: 7,174.5 miles
• Plane: 5,677
• Car: 1,433
• Hike: 61.5
• Train: 3.0
Total Counties: 29
New Counties: 15
Fuel: 42.8 gallons
MPG: 33.5
Cost: $1,067.91

Driving Elevation Profile

Day 1 - Golden Gate Bridge

Day 2 - Lassen Volcanic National Park

Day 3 - Feather River Scenic Byway

Entr'acte - Reno

Day 4 - Virginia City

Day 5 - Bodie

Day 6 - Half Dome

Day 7 - Lake Tahoe

Day 8 - Winchester House