I'm awake and hungry now. Very disappointed my friends didn't wake me up for any backcountry skiing this year. They say they didn't get a chance to do any, but whatever, they obviously didn't try hard enough. Anyway - they cheered me up with a longer version of our annual Tioga Pass opening pilgrimage. The first day was our traditional frontcountry mini-hikes, this time we did Olmsted Point, Tenaya Lake, Pothole Dome, the twin bridges over Lyell fork, and the Gaylord Lakes trail. We camped down in Lee Vining Canyon, and the next day we hiked from Porcupine Creek to North Dome. There were delays at Ellery Lake due to Warner Bros. filming something and taking up every inch of the shoulders, pull-outs, parking in the area, along with blocking the road from time to time, so the third day we did a short hike in Little Lakes Valley instead of returning to Yosemite.
Tenaya Lake was absolutely infested with mosquitos, and we found a new fire ring near the outlet. GRRRRRRRR. The outlet is easy to cross, shouldn't get anything wet besides the paws.
Was surprised to not see, hear or feel mosquitos along the Toulumne!
Gaylord Lakes Trail had a few patches of snow still on it, but easy to walk through, until the ridge. From the ridge down into the drainage, the snow was everywhere.
Next day went out to North Dome. Pleasant walk. Again surprised by the lack of mosquitos.
Day 3 we decided not to deal with delays at Ellery Lake, so stopped at Little Lakes Valley on the way back to the den. Snow free until Long Lake, then pretty constant snow.
Do what you love.Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/03/2018 06:51PM by Ursa Minor.
