Started day 7 by descending from May Lake to Tioga Rd. According to the timetable I had just missed the shuttle bus, so I continued on the trail to the Tenaya Lake parking, where I lucked out by getting a ride up to TM from a young couple from Finland. Went up to the backpackers campground, set up my tent, and then dayhiked to Elizabeth Lake. Beautiful area. Came back to TM and found the campground was way over-crowded, other people adding themselves to my campsite, but they needed a place to sleep and the whole campground was like this (a Friday night) so it was fine -- the more the merrier. Ended up with 6 other people in just the one campsite! A couple of JMT thru-hikers, a PCT thru-hiker, a half-crazed guy who had been on the trail for about 6 weeks and didn't know where he was going next, etc. Hung out at the grill, had some beers, then back to the campsite for dinner.
At this point I was having a very different Yosemite "backpacking" experience, with the proximity of the store, the "regular" campground full of RVs and car-campers, an actual bathroom with flush toilets, etc. Decided to complete this different experience by sitting in on the ranger presentation in the campground amphitheater that evening, I don't know why – it was a pleasant gathering, lots of families with little kids bundled in blankets, kept my attention for a little while before I wandered back up to the campsite where we all sat around a fire and talked until late.
Next day I left about half my stuff in the bear box and dayhiked to Dog Lake and then up Lembert Dome. Came down the south face of Lembert rather than the trail, much steeper but shorter. Came out on Tioga Rd literally across from the road to the TM Lodge. Retrieved my stuff from the bear box and had lunch at the campground, then hung out at the grill talking to people and drinking a couple of beers until Old Dood arrived to pick me up. A lazy last couple of days.
Unicorn Creek, approaching Elizabeth Lake:
Sunset sky over the backpacker's campground that evening:
Dog Lake. No dogs allowed
From trail to Dog Lake, across TM to Unicorn and Cathedral Peaks:
The western end of Dog Lake has nice views of Dana and Gibbs:
Lembert Dome summit:
TM from Lembert:
And finally:
BIG pine cone:
LITTLE pine cone:
- Billy Joel
Anyway, sounds like you had a lovely extended trip bopping about Yosemite! As Chick-On has probably told you, there's still a lot more to see and experience! Oh, and no altitude issues this time, it seems? Hope so!
