Just returned home to NC after annual Yosemite trip. This year I started out with a day trip 8/17 to Gaylor Lakes/Granite Lakes, including a climb up the mountain immedietly behind Upper Granite Lake which is part of the White Mountain ridge. Later that day I finally met Len Szalkowski and his son, Stephen, who would become my backpacking partners the next day. They entered Murphy Creek that day. On 8/18 I entered on the Glen Aulin trail and we met above the HSC. From there we planned a 7-day/6-night hike to Virginia Canyon, Matterhorn Canyon, Benson Pass, Smedburg Lake, Rodgers Lake, Rodgers Canyon, Pate Valley, and return up the Grand Canyon. We actually finished it in 6-days/5-nights. The last day we got up at 4:00 AM at Return Creek and were on the trail by 5:45 AM so we could climb out of the canyon without the sun beating on us. We parted company at the same trail junction and 2 days later I did a day hike at Saddlebag Lake up to the top of Secret Pass by way of the shelf that comes out next to North Peak.
I want to take this moment to say what a pleasure it was to get to know Len and his son and spend 6 days with them on the trails. Our hiking abilitities were pretty comparabile and we enjoyed each other's company immensely. This web site provided the opportunity for total strangers to become aquainted and eventually embark upon a major backpacking trip. As bill-e-g told me several months ago, "kinda cool". Thank you, eeek.
I was suppossed to fly home Saturday but AA cancelled my flights to Raleigh due to the hurricane, rescheduling for Sunday. Got home 1:15 AM this morning!
As for the trip itself, as usual in Yosemite it required far more physical effort than I expected, having opportunity to do this only once per year. We make no apologies to bill-e-g for cancelling side trips to the summit of Volunteer Peak and Table Lake. When we saw the terrain involved on top of Volunteer we said, "no way". Rodgers Lake looked so much more appealing at that point. On the following day we said the heck with Table Lake due to its 5-mile round trip downhill--then back uphill nature. I get no Table Lake t-shirt! Just the downhill to Pate Valley was exhausting in the heat. If anybody here is ever planning to do this circle route or something simmilar I urge you not to pass up the Rodgers Lake trail. Rodgers Lake is one of the most ruggedly beautiful lakes in the park with great camping sites. We had it all to ourselves.
At a later date I will post access to pictures and I know Len will be doing the same.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/07/2012 12:49PM by tomdisco.