Yosemite 2012 trip. Day 2: Cascade Creek to Yosemite Falls
2012 Yosemite Trip, Part 3 (days 3-5): YOsemite FAlls to Olmsted Point and May Lake
2012 Yosemite Trip, Part 4 (days 6-8); Tuolumne Meadows, Glen Aulin, Cold Canyon, Miller Lake, Matterhorn Canyon, Burro Pass
2012 Yosemite Trip, Part 5 (days 9 and 10): Slide Canyon; Mule Pass; Crown, Robinson, Peeler Lakes; Kerrick Canyon, Peeler Lake, Rodgers Lake
2012 Yosemite Trip, Part 6 (days 11-13): Rodgers Lake, Rodgers Meadow, Pate Valley Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne, Waterwheel Falls, Le Conte Falls, Tuolumne Meadows
Aerial pics from plane of Northern Yosemite
A few words a pictures from our Yosemite backpacking trip: July 19 - July 31 (13 days of backpacking).
We travelled from Nashville and Cleveland to Sacramento, then used the Amtrak system to Merced, and the YARTS system to travel into Yosemite Valley. We arrived in the valley on July 18th, and after setting up camp in the backpackers camp, buying fuel, getting permits, renting bear canisters for my nephews, talking to rangers, and eating, we decided to wander up from the backpackers camp to Mirror Lake. Upon arriving we never saw a lake. We barely saw a puddle. I have never been there before so do not know what it normally looks like, but I am wondering if the following picture is where the lake might normally reside.
The next morning we took our time getting packed up and moving. We were beginning our hiking adventures on this day, but the route was relatively short. The first four days would take us form the Valley at the Rockslides trailhead up to the Cascade Creek footbridge and then along the North Rim past El Capitan, Eagle Peak, Yosemite Falls, YOsemite POInt, North Dome, Indian Rock, Snow Creek, and ending at Olmsted Point on Tioga Road where we would catch the shuttle to the Tuolumne Meadows backpacking campground.
We took the El Capitan shuttle to the trailhead or near it (or so I though). In retrospect it may have made sense to go to the next stop. We walked for a while along a trail on the north side of the road past El Capitan until it merged with the Old Big Old Flat Road. This was near the Rockslides Trailhead. There we began walking along the old road, a task that was regularly interrupted by rockslides, washouts, etc. Here is a view east from the old road.
To be completely truthful, I found the rockslides a little unnerving when I thought about it a bit. Rocks (both relatively small, and quite large) covered a wide swath looking uphill beside the trail and also looking downhill. It was clear that we were the things that were out of place here. In fact, the rockslide was so imposing on the uphill side that it felt as though it could all "readjust" at any moment and we would be toast. Perhaps the rocks have not moved since coming to rest back in the 1940's (or whenever it occurred). On the other hand.....
There were several sections of the road that were washed out. I believe the section below is a section we had to pass through (that is, before the uphill climb). While negotiating the various obstacles we ran into a Search and Rescue group that appeared to be from some surrounding community based on their shirts. They were in bright neon colors, had very very small packs, and were moving very quickly downhill. When they saw us with our large heavy packs moving uphill they gave us one of those "looks" and wished us well.
Finally we came to the section we had all been wondering about -- the section of the rockslide where we had to head up the rockslide itself to meet up with the top section of the road "switchbacks". One of the nephews eagle eyes came in useful as he quickly spotted the rock "wall" at one end of a switchback that would be our target. It was not a walk in the park. Finding a path, balancing the heavy pack, and keeping on target required considerable effort. Some of the smaller rocks actually MOVE. That makes it interesting. Some of the "space" between rocks goes down rather deep. Again, there was an acute awareness of how soft and squishy people are compared to rocks, an awareness heightened by being in the midst of a stream of rocks that at some point actually flowed for a bit. Eventually we made our target, and once back in the edge of the woods on the old road, stopped to rest for a bit.
This is looking back from where we had just come, although in truth in shows only a small portion. The rock "wall" of the road is visible just left of the center and the main part of the climb up lie beyond and down from that.
I dont' know where this is. Maybe Inspiration point?
Is this inspiration point?
Once beyond the rockslides the going was pretty easy as the Old Big Oak Flat Road moved steadily upwards through a pine forest. Most of the walking was on a bed of pine needles, with the old road occasionally showing through.
We made it to the Cascade Creek footbridge and the most obvious camping spot, up on a large granite shelf to the left of the trail overlooking the creek, was occupied by a group of kids with a few adults for some type of boys camp. So, we ended up camping on the north side of the bridge not far from the trail. Further back there was a great swimming hole that was deep and quite cold. One of the nephews insisted on jumping in, and rather miraculously was back out in about the same amount of time it took to get in. It was the coldest water we would encounter during the next 13 days.
That night was a new moon. We spent some time laying on the footbridge staring into the universe, or more precisely the Milky Way, the center of which made itself very visible. It's amazing the number of stars that appear in certain areas of the sky under a new moon in a remote area. This was not a Nashville or Cleveland sky.
It's very possible some of the identifications I have made or will make will be wrong. Please correct if you are inclined to do so.
Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 02/19/2023 03:39PM by Frank.
