On the 14th, Gail and I drove to Yosemite N.P. where we met our friend Jim. We car camped for two nights at the very smoky Bridalveil Campground. In fact, on the second day we were told the whole campground would be closed in order to accommodate firefighters. Fortunately, when we got into the back country, the smoke was much less of an issue.
The South Fork Fire had started just hours before our arrival at Wawona, the southern entrance to Yosemite N.P. The town was evacuated several days later. We picked up our wilderness permit.
A mile from our first come first serve campsite was another fire, the Empire Fire, which was being allowed to naturally do its thing for several weeks.
On the next day, we hiked 5 miles out to Dewey Point to look down on Yosemite Valley.
That big rock face is El Capitan. You could barely see Half Dome through the smoke.
Lunch at Dewey Point, Jim and Gail.
Jim and I at Dewey Point.
Fireweed as we neared McGurk Meadow on the way back.
Loaded up and ready to leave our trailhead at Glacier Point.
We were worried about fire and smoke as we dropped down to the beautiful Illilouette Creek.
The smoke dissipated the further we went.
Fording Illilouette Creek. Nick and I camped near here in 2004.
We found a couple Elegant Sheep Moths along the way.
And this larva wiggling vigorously out of the ground.
You never get tired of looking at all the crazy granite boulders in the Sierras.
Gail and ferns.
A Bruneau Mariposa Lily.
The first night, we camped along Illilouette Creek.
On Thursday, we made it to Upper Merced Pass Lake, elevation about 8,800 feet. This was 12.7 miles from our trailhead, and became our base camp from which to explore.
The first hailstorm - luckily we had our tents up!
Upper Merced Pass Lake.
Panorama shot by Gail.
Mountain Spiraea. Jim was very knowledgeable about the plants and wildflowers we saw, and was able to identify most from memory.
We called this Fire Rock. At sunset, near our camp, the red light cast by the sun looked surreal. Because of the inclination of the earth as it orbits the sun, this was apparently a one day of the year phenomenon, as we only saw this once.
Evening skies over the High Sierras.
Snow melt is still trickling down the slopes.
Friday morning, we hiked the short hike up to Merced Pass. On the way the backside of Half Dome was brilliantly lit up. that is Mt. Starr King to its left.
On top of the view-less Merced Pass.
We then hiked cross country to Lower Merced Pass Lake, which seemed to have no trail to it.
On the way, Gail spotted a cluster of four Mountain Gartersnakes.
Down near the lake we saw this adult Sierra Nevada Yellow-legged frog. These, like most amphibians, are disappearing fast from their original ranges.
Lower Merced Pass Lake was beautiful, but we liked our campsite better.
We scrambled the granite boulders on the southwestern shore to get around the lake.
Jim digs into his lunch.
Jim, a little earlier, leading the way.
Jim gave me a little climbing instruction to reach this cave overlooking our lake. No artifacts were found.
Our kitchen/dining room in the evening light.
Dinner back at camp. We had fine Sierra furniture.
Several times we had deer coming down to the lake.
A smoky sunset on Friday.
Thurdsay and Friday we had intense hail storms in the later afternoon, but then it would clear up and be absolutely calm. Enjoying another sunset.
Our camp.
Saturday, we hiked up to Ottoway Lake.
Penstemon, I believe.
Ottoway Lake, at 9,700 feet, was gorgeous. Its water was clear and reflective, with abundant trout.
Lewis' Monkeyflower, I believe.
A few feet from the water was this Sierra Alligator Lizard.
This area was like a perfect Japanese garden - much more beautiful in person!
A huge boulder hanging above our lake, waiting for the next shaker.
"Our" lake back at camp. You can barely see Jim on the far right. This lake had no fish, which explained why we saw many Yellow-legged Frogs and tadpoles here.
The previous picture cropped and turned 90 degrees looks like some kind of Yeti!
Gail and I explored further up the valley from our lake. The terrain opened up onto huge granite faces.
Looking down on our lake at sunset.
Happy campers!
Sunday morning we headed back, planning to camp along the way at the Clark Fork.
Hi, marmot!
Gail spotted this meringue looking fungus.
And she took this photo of what appears to be a probable Northern Flicker hole.
Putting your shoes back on after a stream crossing is as easy as falling off a log! Gail's heavy pack pulled her over backwards as she went to sit down. A soft landing, luckily!
No smoke this morning!
Sierra Fence Lizards were common along the way.
When we got to the Clark Fork, we decided to continue on instead of camp. The smoke had become intense, and there was not much to do at that spot anyway. We knew we had a tough climb ahead, though, getting back up to Glacier Point.
It was eerie hiking through this previously burned forest with the air so smoky.
A particularly bleak area.
Hey Nick, this is the trail we took in 2004 to camp along Buena Vista Creek and hike up to Buena Vista Lake!
Well, we all made it up the last two mile grind to Glacier Point after hiking much farther than planned. It was a great trip, and we owe a lot to Jim for planning it out. Thank you Jim!
