Yosemite in 4 days…

Ilya, Ksenya, Lachy, Marek, V, Me, Uraib, Jose, Govi

We started out at the Soda Springs trailhead near Lembert Dome and hiked to Glen Aulin High Sierra Camp.  “V” had intended to hike further however there is apparently a rule on Labor Day weekend (and other big holidays) that you have to hike out of the location where you reserved your permit.  Since Glen Aulin was only 6 miles away we did a few detours before getting there and also took advantage of some photo ops.

We also decided to climb this random granite mountain before the thunderstorms rolled in and that was really cool.  It doesn’t look like that much of a climb but check out the views once we got to the top.

From the bottom of the mountain it doesn't look like much

But check out the view!

After fighting the wind to quickly scale the mountain we had lunch.

After hiking back down the mountain we encountered this really cool mountain man who led a pack of mules on horseback through the dusty winding trails.  The mules are used to pack in supplies and pack out garbage from the high sierra camps where for a fee, you too can live like a pioneer (complete with flushing toilets and warm showers I’m sure).  😉

Mountain man (See Marshall, that's a beard)

Mule train

Once we got to Glen Aulin we found a beautiful waterfall and cold river to swim in there.  Even though I tend to dislike cold water, these backpacking trips have gotten me used to it and I jumped right in with Marek, Govi, Ilya and Lachy.

Chillin' (literally) under a waterfall

We spent the rest of day 1 sitting around our stoves cooking food for dinner, sharing stories and talking religion and politics.  Yes, religion and politics!  Definitely some interesting discussions had that day.

On day 2 we packed up and prepared for a long day of hiking (I believe about 16-17 miles).  Before we got too tired, Marek and Govi play fought and then Marek made nice with the camera.  =)

Marek and Govi play fighting (yeah I know, normally that's me)

Marek and me hamming it up. Supastar!

We kept hiking and arrived at Tanaya Lake around noon.  We stopped there for a bit and had lunch.  Not exactly sure which direction I was going from the position of my feet but one thing was certain, I was ready to go!  =)

Tanaya Lake, ready to go!!

Now for the tough part, a steep hill climb and poor Govi Bear all loaded up like a pack mule.  I gotta say the guy did extremely well for never doing an overnight backpacking trip.  Very impressive indeed.

Govi A.K.A. Govi Bear A.K.A. Pack Mule

Once we reached the top we realized how tired and sweaty we were.  Uraib and “V” were a ways behind us (at least an hour) because Uraib was having problems with the altitude so we decided to lay out and dry out.  Ah the sun felt so good and I found the best natural recliner in the whole place, footstool and all.  😉

Relaxing in the sun

But all good things must come to an end so once Uraib and “V” joined us, we continued on our journey.  We decided to head to Sunrise High Sierra camp instead of Lake Merced so that we could all stick together.  This campsite had very few locations for backpackers to settle down into so we had to make the best of it.  It was also extremely cold and all our water ended up freezing that night.  We had to wait until about 9am before we could get water from the faucet (there were no other water sources here).

Frozen Nalgene bottle

From Sunrise we headed out to Cathedral Lakes.  There were two lakes, the first absolutely amazing.

Cathedral Peak

The second lake was even bigger and more magnificent than the first.

Cathedral Lake (campsite)

Once we found a location to camp we pumped some water.

Pumping water from Cathedral Lake

Smile!

And then a group of us hiked up a mountain to find Bristlecone Pine and lots of amazing views.

My Crew (Ilya, "V", me, and Uraib) - Marek taking picture

"V" and his Bristlecone Pine throne

That evening we went out to the lake when it was dark and sat along the beach watching for satellites and counting stars.  It was freezing at first but seemed to warm the longer we were out there.  It is really amazing how many stars you can see without all the light pollution from the city.  I slept better this night because it wasn’t as cold although I had burned my face and shoulders from lack of adequate sunblock so that was a bit painful.  Apparently I still drove Ksenya crazy with tossing and turning (I can’t help it, my arm goes dead if I stay laying on one side for too long) so I bought my own one person tent at REI last weekend.  I can’t wait to use it.  It’s a Quarter Dome T1 (just like Ilya and Marek’s tent except for one person).  =)

After packing up for our final time, we hit a brief climb and then it was downhill until we reached the base of the mountain.  This was the last picture before we reached the car.  With only 2 miles to go, we were happy to be back safe and sound.  I think I may have skipped the rest of the way back.

Almost There

So thanks again for another great trip “V” and to Ilya Katsnelson for his incredible pictures.  My camera died just as we were preparing to hit the trail so these pictures are much appreciated.  Can’t wait to hike with you guys again.  =)

For the rest of Ilya’s pictures, check out his Flickr account.  Bye for now!