Yosemite National Park – BOOTS on the TRAIL

Sawtooth Ridge ~ Yosemite National Park (6) 11-Sep-2020

2020-09-112022-09-18Posted in California Wilderness Areas, Hiking, Sierra Nevada (California), U.S. National Parks & MonumentsTagged Burro Pass California, Crown Lake California, Day Hiking, Hiking, Hoover Wilderness California, Mule Pass California, Northern California, Twin Lakes California, Yosemite National Park, Yosemite Wilderness California

Overnight, the wind shifted yet again and the morning dawned not nearly as smoky as it had been the day before. Not completely clear but clear enough for some views of scenery on the way out. After breakfast, we headed directly down 7.1 miles to the pick-up point at the Robinson Creek Trailhead at Twin Lakes. All the other hikers, apparently being more spry, did a detour (uphill!) to Peeler Lake. While they were tromping around in the woods, we got to sit in chairs, drink cold beer, and play catch with Jethro the Wonder Dog. Seemed like a fair trade at the end of an especially adventurous and dramatic trip. 🙂

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Sawtooth Ridge ~ Yosemite National Park (5) 10-Sep-2020

2020-09-102022-09-18Posted in California Wilderness Areas, Hiking, Sierra Nevada (California), U.S. National Parks & MonumentsTagged Crown Lake California, Day Hiking, Hiking, Hoover Wilderness California, Matterhorn Peak California, Northern California, Yosemite National Park, Yosemite Wilderness California

If yesterday had been a study in crisp, bright clarity with the scenery resplendent around us, today was its exact opposite. We awoke into a smoke bank as thick as anything we’d yet experienced. The winds had shifted yet again and the smoke from wildfires to the west, north, and south was being driven right up Matterhorn and Slide Canyons. So not only did we have to two passes to cross, we were going to do so without much scenery to enliven the journey. 😦 But you play the cards you’re dealt so, after a good breakfast, we started our hike to Crown Lake in the Hoover Wilderness.

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Sawtooth Ridge ~ Yosemite National Park (4) 09-Sep-2020

2020-09-092022-09-18Posted in California Wilderness Areas, Hiking, Sierra Nevada (California), U.S. National Parks & MonumentsTagged Day Hiking, Hiking, Matterhorn Canyon California, Matterhorn Peak California, Northern California, Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), PCT, Sawtooth Ridge California, Yosemite National Park, Yosemite Wilderness California9 Comments

On our layover day, a stiff wind from the north had pushed almost all of the smoke away from Miller Lake. The wind had abated by evening, giving us a quiet night in camp – something we all needed after the drama of the previous 24 hours. Because of the unexpected layover, the trip’s itinerary had to be changed. So today we’d proceed as planned to a camp in Matterhorn Canyon then, the next day, cross both Burro and Mule Passes in one day to a camp at Crown Lake. So, with a plan in hand, we headed north on the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) on a bright and clear morning toward Matterhorn Canyon. From Miller Lake, the PCT rises a bit before plunging some 1,400 feet down to a junction with the trail up Matterhorn Canyon.

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Sawtooth Ridge ~ Yosemite National Park (3) 08-Sep-2020

2020-09-082022-09-18Posted in California Wilderness Areas, Hiking, Sierra Nevada (California), U.S. National Parks & MonumentsTagged Hiking, Miller Lake California, Northern California, Yosemite National Park, Yosemite Search and Rescue, Yosemite Wilderness California4 Comments

At 0300 on Tuesday morning, two Yosemite Search & Rescue (YOSAR) personnel (Jake and Erika) reached our camp, after having hiked 14 miles from Virginia Lakes in the dark with headlamps. The PLB had worked exactly as advertised – notifying the U.S. Air Force Rescue Coordination Center of our plight; they then notified the closest relevant authority, Yosemite National Park. The YOSAR personnel assessed Aniela (concluding that she didn’t have a head injury), communicated (they had a sat phone) her condition to dispatch, and then waited until morning to decide what to do next. At first light, the decision was made to stabilize Aliana’s arm (we’d later learn that she’d broken her radius and ulna and dislocated her elbow) and walk her out to Tuolumne Meadows. She made it out that day and was waiting to say good-bye to the group when we reached Twin Lakes a few days later.

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Sawtooth Ridge ~ Yosemite National Park (2) 07-Sep-2020

2020-09-072022-09-18Posted in California Wilderness Areas, Hiking, Sierra Nevada (California), U.S. National Parks & MonumentsTagged Hiking, Hoover Wilderness California, Miller Lake California, Northern California, Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), PCT, Yosemite National Park, Yosemite Search and Rescue, Yosemite Wilderness California

We went to bed at Avalanche Camp in Virginia Canyon bathed in a smoky miasma. We awoke to find that the wind had shifted in the night, clearing the air somewhat. Today was planned as a short hiking day (4.3 miles; 1,050 feet of gain) to a camp at Miller Lake – an even shorter hike than planned because we’d hiked an extra two miles the day before. After breakfast, we hiked a short way down Virginia Canyon to a junction with the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). We followed the PCT westward across Spiller Creek and up numerous switchbacks to Miller Lake. Once again the LovedOne and I were ahead of the pack train but the large campsite on the southwest side of the lake seemed like an obvious packer campsite, so we waited there. The pack train arrived an hour or so later and we settled in to hang out and explore around the lake for the rest of the day.

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