Clouds Rest
Yes, been there and done that, but it's a favorite. One big difference: very little water. Tenaya Creek? Not so much:
Last year, for comparison:
All water sources north of the Sunrise junction were dry. The tarn between the Sunrise Lakes and Forsyth junctions was low, but had water, as did the creek just south of this tarn. Given that this is a record-dry year, I think we can concur with the pink chicken: these water sources are "reliable".
The view from the top was wonderful, as always:
Unfortunately, the dry conditions resulted in very aggressive yellow jacket-y bugs, who were very interested in my turkey sandwich... On the other hand, there was no interest in some of the other food I'd brought along, despite having left a hand-written invitation:
(Oh, one more thing: whoever has been pruning the small whitebark pines on Clouds Rest to build illegal fires... please stop! Let's not give the park service a good reason to ban camping on CR like they've done for HD...)
El Capitan
Yep, another repeat, but this time from Tamarack Flat. The smoke from the Cascade Fire was a bit thick in the morning, but we were past most of it by the Cascade Creek bridge:
We took the "shortcut" mentioned in the Schaffer book--much nicer than the officially-signed trail (shortcut climbs to left, 100-200 yards south of bridge):
Cascade Creek was the last water until Ribbon Creek, which had only a few stagnant ponds (conclusion: not reliable). The views of and from El Cap were of course very nice:
(Similar note: while fires are technically legal on El Cap, it doesn't count as "dead and down" wood if you had to saw it off the tree first... At 7,200' in the Sierra, you shouldn't need a fire, even in winter... sheesh!)
Lyell/Ireland/Evelyn Loop
Another repeat, this time with much less snow... We followed the Lyell Fork to the Ireland Creek Junction, looped towards Evelyn Lake, then descended the Evelyn Creek outlet to try out some easy cross-country travel. The Lyell Fork had some water, as did Ireland Creek near where the trail leaves the creek.
The views from the Ireland/Evelyn saddle were excellent, including much of the Kuna Creek headwaters area:
(Alas, the trap didn't work, despite the correct bait...)
Evelyn Creek was dry:
(it was only mostly dry in mid-August: not reliable. Oh, and WTF?)
Rafferty? Also dry, even at the trailside falls:
Compare to last June or so:
Tuolumne definitely had that "end of the season" feel, the peak summer season's crowds now gone and the light taking on a warmer, more golden hue instead of the harsh "high noon" light more typical of summer.
Summer may be over, but fortunately it's not the only season Yosemite is accessible.
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