We started out at Pothole Dome around 11, and surprisingly were the only people on the dome.
We didn't want to go back down the way we came up, so we had to pick our way through the brush and followed a deer trail down to the north side. The trail was a bit hard to follow, but we just kept to the river and let that guide us most of the way.
The mosquitoes were out in force. Unfortunately me and my partner are both very allergic and had to spray ourselves down with that nasty deet stuff to keep from getting eaten alive.
The cascade coming down from TM:
The water is still running, but not as high as the pictures from a couple of weeks ago:
Still a lot of water in the little meadow on the west side of the river. We renamed this the Mosquito Homeland.
A pretty easy crossing on the granite alongside the river.
There was still a little bit of snow.
Yay! True, it's not as impressive as Devils Postpile near Mammoth, but it was still pretty cool to see. Well worth the trip, the scrambles, and even the mosquito bites.
Looking back upriver just south of the bridge.
Looking downriver at the bridge.
Looking downriver from the higher rocks to the east of the bridge.
Since we got such a late start, and we weren't really in any condition to hike farther out, we headed back along the Glen Aulin/PCT trail to TM. Compared to the hike along the west side, this was pretty calm and uneventful. We did have a water crossing at Delaney Creek. It was deeper than my boots could handle, so I tried to ford it barefoot. It wasn't bad, just really really cold water. Just as I was about five steps in, my party called me back and convinced me to walk on a log just a few yards upcreek from the trail. I'm not a log-walker, and that was quite unnerving for me. Just as I managed it, a group of hikers came down from even further upcreek, where they had been able to cross without un-shoeing. I didn't get any pictures of this creek for some reason.
