Tuolumne Meadows - Yosemite National Park - 8/12/16

Tuolumne Meadows - Yosemite National Park - 8/12/16

Our campground was going to hit temperatures in the high 90s (a heat wave, of course) ... So, we went off in search of cooler temperatures (and a gentler hike after the gut-buster to Nevada Falls).

We drove along the Tioga Road in the northern section of Yosemite National Park to Tuolumne Meadows.  First, a stop along the Tioga Road at the Olmstead Vista Point (yes, Olmstead as in Frederick Law Olmstead, landscape architect who designed Central Park in NYC as well as many others ... He personally provided the funds to survey the area that was to become Yosemite National Park).

We hiked along the John Muir Trail (still working on my "inner John Muir") over Dana Creek to Lyell Canyon and hiked along Lyell Canyon back to the Tuolumne Meadows.  Along the way we found the way that parents convinced their children to hike ... The secret to their success was to offer them time to play in the pools that were created by the creek.

Overheard on the trail:  One set of parents had an approximately 5 year old boy questioning his mother about her apparent pregnancy ... "How did the baby get into your stomach?"  "Did you eat it?" ... I only wish that we were on the trail in the same direction long enough for me to hear how she handled those questions.  It was clear that he was going to be insistent on an answer ... (And might be concerned about what was in the food ;-)

Lambert's Dome loomed large, but we decided not to join the folks climbing to the top ... Good call