(For those who don't follow this site, the "May Lake Mystery Trail" is an abandoned trail that starts from about 1/4 mile north of May Lake, just past a trail sign, then climbs a wooded gully to a saddle before descending to the Ten Lakes trail between two trail signs that formerly marked the junction. There's really not much mystery left: the trail was the original route from Glen Aulin to May Lake, before the current trail past Raisin Lake was blasted out of open granite. The trail was very well-engineered--one of the better trails in Yosemite--with extensive rockwork and numerous switchbacks.)
The southern part of the "Mystery Trail" was in the best condition I've seen it: well-ducked and distinct all the way to the saddle, where we stopped for a snack and enjoyed the views of the Tuolumne Meadows area and the Cathedral Range. Although the forecast was for a 20% chance of showers, dark clouds formed and it rained briefly during our break.
It didn't rain while we descended the less-well defined, but still well-engineered and well-ducked, northern segment of the "Mystery Trail", but the dark clouds created appropriate atmosphere for traveling on a "mystery" trail.
Conditions worsened as we started climbing the northern rib of Tuolumne Peak: thunder echoed in the sky, and a few switchbacks from the tarns, cold rain and light hail started to fall. We quickly set up camp near the upper tarn and waited out the storm under cover. Fortunately, the rain stopped in time to enjoy dinner outside and watch the sunset. The night sky was clear, but clouds returned the next morning.
We returned by climbing to the summit of Tuolumne Peak, then descending to the "Mystery Trail" saddle.
By the time we descended the Mystery Trail to May Lake, dark clouds were forming again, so we quickly returned to the trailhead, which was surprisingly packed with cars.
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