I've profiled (with photos) some Yosemite National Park backcountry trips here in "reverse chronological order": | « back to red7
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July 2014 (AKA “28.2”):
Several times over the years, we’ve gone to Mt. Hoffman or May Lake and have then journeyed to the north side of the mountain, past Vampires’ Lair, to the high alpine lakes on the far side. Clark and Jeff and Neil and Aaron and Era and Bill and Jason have seen various small lakes in this region. This year,for "28.2" we decided to traverse the ridge down to the largest of the lakes on the north side of Hoffman, which we learned is (in jest) called Brian Lake after Brian Shoor (say "shore"), who has been director of May Lake High Sierra Camp for a number of years. We checked for Brian on our way in, but didn't catch him. Spent two nights at our campside on the far side — three days of wonderful hiking all over these ridges. The lake is 1,000 feet below the peak of Mt. Hoffman. You can see it all in the photos. We ran into Brian on the trail on our last 30 minutes, on our way out from May Lake.
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Revisionist numbering: Some time in 2012 we got the idea that we had started expeditions in 1986. But we have evidence that the “7th” adventure was in 1993, meaning we started in 1987. This would mean that 2013 was adventure 27, being 20 years later. The numbering below reflects this recanting of our previous ”story.”
- “27.1” Lyell Canyon to Donohue Pass [July] 2013 Year 27, first trek. First trek of the year. Snowfall last winter was slightly below normal and streams are crossable. This route goes south on the Pacific Crest Trail very gently for the first 7 miles, then up a few thousand feet to Donohue Pass where the trail crosses into Ansel Adams Wilderness. We chose two base camps and spent two nights in each one, hiking out during the day to check our neighborhood. Total trek about 25 miles over five days — not too tough, and a really great area to camp in. One bear sighting (see photos).
- “26.c” Glen Aulin HSC [August] 2012 This is year 26 for our summer Yosemite ventures. At the height of the summer, Perseids meteor shower, Milky Way Galaxy big summer show, we go to Glen Aulin High Sierra Camp with six campers. Just about 6 miles in from Tuolumne Meadows.
- “26.1” Matterhorn Canyon [July] 2012 [photo gallery] — initially planned as a circle through the Matterhorn Peak area, this turned into a Pacific Crest Trail/Matterhorn Canyon/Miller Lake stroll that included the 4th of July — notably we had both water purification systems fail and one cooking system fail during this trip. (In the gallery, be sure you click the thumbnail images to see the full image in each case.
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Glen Aulin and Waterwheel Falls[August] 2010 [photo gallery] We saunter down the “fisherman’s trail” on the low-traffic west side of the Tuolumne River until we reach Glen Aulin. Waterwheel Falls is down the river as the trail enters “The Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne River.”
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Parker Pass [July trip] & Sunrise HSC [August trip] Summer 2008 [two trips in a single photo gallery] Parker Pass is spectacular - high, and dry, and with a commanding view of the Nevada side of the Sierras. For the “Sunrise” trip we took the “Fisherman’s trail” up from the east end of Tenaya Lake directly to the lower Cathedral Lake.
- May Lake & Mt. Hoffman August 2007 [photo gallery]
- Ansel Adams Wilderness & Red Peak Pass (the so-called Death March) July 2007 [photo gallery]
- Triple Divide Trek (also a Red Peak Pass attempt), August 2006 [photo gallery ]
- Cold Canyon/McCabe Lake, July 2005 [photo gallery ]
- Little Yosemite Valley, September 2004 [Jim and Clark and rain and snow] [download PDF* only 4.2 mb]
- May Lake, August 2004 (and Mt. Hoffman "Blue Moon" midnight mountain-climbing)
- Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne, June 2004 [this trip can also be downloaded as a 2.1 mb PDF* file]
- Illillouette Creek & Ottoway Lake (Red Peak Pass attempt) 2003
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