Whoa! I finally get to post something of my own again, although much of it will look very familiar just because a number of you have done this hike and written reports.
At any rate………
Thanks mostly to this forum; my list of destinations in Yosemite continues to grow. Somehow it’s been over a year since my wife and I were in Yosemite and I was dying to get back up there for a hike. As I mentioned, a number of people have posted about their trips to Mt. Watkins and despite the lack of fish (as far as I know!) I figured that would be a good destination for the day.
We drove into the park and began our hike just before 10:00am, with me attempting to recall from memory the information from wherever’s post:
http://yosemitenews.info/forum/read.php?3,57351
A nice new sign pointed the way to the valley, making me wish we were backpacking instead of just doing a day hike.
Very shortly we had a nice view of Mt. Hoffman to the North.
We followed the trail and then noticed a different trail heading off to the left, and correctly assumed it was the off trail portion of the hike. As others have said, it really is a well-worn trail at this point, although unofficial, except during winter.
My wife heading down to the saddle.
Soon enough we were walking along the shoulder of Watkins, keeping an eye on Half Dome as it came into view more and more. I’m not sure what I was expecting, since it is August, but there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and it felt really hot walking along in the sun.
There were some great views, but I was definitely wishing we had some clouds or we were doing this hike in Spring or Fall.
Inexplicably, it didn’t occur to me to go to the actual summit of Mt. Watkins……. as Half Dome came into view we just headed towards it, walking along the shoulder and heading for the point in the distance. Some of the photos from one of my cameras came out a bit dark, this being one of them. Not sure why.
We explored a bit and I saw this cool looking erratic that reminded me of a heart.
Only a few of my iPhone panoramas came close to showing what it felt like out there, this being one of them.
Of course, I kept my eye out for what I now think of as “The Tree” that been made famous on this forum. Another dark photo unfortunately.
I saw evidence of someone having recently bedded down on their pad next to the tree. I’m sure it’s a wonderful place to spend the night……. maybe next time.
Another panorama, further out along the ridge.
We took tons of photographs, including tons of the big dome.
And of course, I had to get a zoomer of the people going up the cables.
Mirror “Lake” isn’t really much of a lake right now.
It’s not exactly Arches National Park, but it’ll have to do.
Here’s a boring photo of me responding to my niece (with a selfie) to rub it in the fact that I was out hiking… “Hey where are you?”
This reminds me of my front sidewalk. The power of the root system I suppose.
This angry face kept a watch on us as we hiked back out.
Me checking out the view of Hoffman while using my hat to keep the sun off my neck.
One of the fires we saw on our drive out. The smoke was giving the light a very eerie glow.
And lastly, just in case anyone else could use the information in the future:
We had a wonderful time and I’m looking forward to going back again, hopefully to spend the night next time.