Emigrant Lake - El Dorado National Forest - 8/15/16

Emigrant Lake - El Dorado National Forest - 8/15/16

Thanks to Bruce and Karen, we had yet another excellent hike recommendation.  This time we started out at Caples Dam Trailhead and headed along Caples Lake to Emigrant Lake.  And, if possible, even more lovely than the hikes yesterday.

The trail was used by emigrants passing through the Carson Pass and heading down into the California valleys.

This trail was largely covered by forest ... It started a bit lower in elevation than yesterday's hike, so we were hiking below the tree line through healthy, lush pine, fir, spruce and cedar trees ... Initially along side a large lake (Caples), then in the last two miles climbing uphill around 800' in elevation to Emigrant Lake cradled on three sides by granite slopes.

I longed to take a refreshing swim, but there were others present ... So satisfied myself with wading into the ice cold water ...

The trip back seemed a bit endless ... Even going downhill and walking alongside the lake ... It seemed rather long ... May be hitting our upper limit of daily mileage and elevation gain at high altitude ...

We did indulge with a stop at the Kirkwood Inn, established in 1864 by the Kirkwood family as an inn for people crossing through the Carson Pass.  It is still in operation as a restaurant and bar ... Serves a wonderful hamburger and the beer was ice cold.  A wonderful way to end another magnificent day in the Sierras (and I was too busy eating my burger and fries and drinking beer to take any interesting pictures of the historic Kirkwood Inn ;-)

Carson Pass Trail Head - El Dorado National Forest - 8/14/16

Carson Pass Trail Head - El Dorado National Forest - 8/14/16

Our campsite at Silver Lake in El Dorado National Forest is a delight ... Cool temperatures, tall trees, nearby lake ... Life is good (and, with our Senior Access Card, cheap, too ;-)

Silver Lake was a recommendation by a couple from Palo Alto whom we met on our hiking trip in the Italian Dolomites.  They use to have a cabin in the area and were able to recommend the campground, several hikes and a few restaurants in the area ... Always good to have personal recommendations (like Bob's recommendation of Rock Creek Lake and golden trout ... It will have to wait for another trip to the Sierra Nevadas ;-)

And, one of their recommendations, was to drive to the Visitor's Center at Carson Pass, get a map, and head out to some of the glacially-formed, alpine lakes.  We started at the Carson Pass Trailhead along the Pacific Crest Trail and headed out first to Frog Lake.

Frog Lake is a pleasant small alpine lake surrounded by towering mountains and we met two older (older than us) women who were a part of WOW (Women Out in the Wild).   One of them offered to take our picture ... We've finally gotten into the spirit of having folks take our picture together (I think that Paul was getting tired of always being my subject ;-)

On to Winnemucca Lake ... A truly picturesque alpine lake under the watchful gaze of Round Top Mountain.  Although the wildflower season was a bit past the prime, numerous wild flowers were still blooming along seeps.  We ran into an older man (way older than us) with wild flowers embroidered on his hiking shirt.  He said that an old friend, a woman who reached 100 years old before she died, embroidered the shirt for him and he only wears it when he hikes in the Sierra Nevadas to keep it from fading and to remember her.

Next step was a rather steep section up higher in elevation to Round Top Lake nestled under the Three Sisters Mountains.  Even more unusual, colorful, alpine wild flowers were found along the trail ... This part of the trail was more exposed (above the tree line) and left us with a quick visit and then the return to Carson Pass.

And, the data returns (GPS was in service) ..

And a plaque commemorating Kit Carson's work to discover (for the non-native Americans) the Carson Pass through the high Sierra Nevadas ...

Finished the evening with dinner at the Kit Carson Lodge ... Our first "dining out" since we embarked on this trip ... Nice to walk to the lodge from our campsite and the lodge overlooks the lake ... Great ambience.  Unfortunately the restaurant only had a limited dinner menu because of the Monday evening (chef's night off) ... Not the best menu, but definitely a charming ambience and a change of pace from our own cooking (and kitchen cleaning ;-).  Life is definitely good ...

Glacier Point - Sentinel Dome - Yosemite National Park - 8/13/16

Glacier Point - Sentinel Dome - Yosemite National Park - 8/13/16

Temperatures still mounting; heat wave continuing ... We went off again in search of cooler temperatures (and the fantasy that we could avoid the crowding by heading to Glacier Point).  Instead, we were diverted to parking at Badger Pass (the snowboarding park along Glacier Point Road) to join a line to board a shuttle to ride out to Glacier Point ... Sigh!

But, the views from Glacier Point into the glacier scoured valleys and water falls tumbling off of the granite domes were worth the modest inconvenience ... We found a quiet and shaded place to have lunch and sat in awe of the vistas far into the high Sierras.

We also found that we both had 4G LTE mobile phone service and made a few telephone calls that had been delayed by the poor coverage for both Verizon and AT&T.  We're planning on meeting up later in this trip with some new found Palo Alto, California friends from our Italian Dolomite adventure and our California/Tucson hiking buddy, Kathy ... Now in her home in Lafayette, California ... We needed to make contact ... And what a place to make a call!

Then we hiked from Glacier Point to Sentinel Dome and beyond to the shuttle bus pick-up at the trailhead to Sentinel Dome.  Somehow we missed the fact that we would be hiking uphill to base of Sentinel Dome and then up to the summit ... Silly us ... Another exercise in steep ascents.  Paul made it to the top of Sentinel Dome ... I stopped about .1 mile from the top, sat in the shade of a pine tree and simply dropped my jaw at the stunning scenery that stretched out below me.  Paul brought back the panoramic shots of the dome vistas.

A measure of the severe drought conditions was the fact that the Yosemite Falls (upper and lower) from Yosemite Creek Creek were dry ... There were no Yosemite Falls.

A shuttle ride back to Fritz and we headed down to the Yosemite valley ... Fortunately we were exiting the park ... Vehicles entering the heart of the valley (where the hotels/restaurants/and Visitor's Center are located) had a two hour delay to travel 1 1/2 miles due to the crowding (and no guarantee that they'd be able to find parking if they even got into the heart of the valley).  (Note to self:  Really, no more summer vacations in iconic national parks!)

This guy was not bothered by the crowds ...

And, the GPS doesn't show the steep elevation ascent from Glacier Point to Sentinel Dome ...

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

Nevada Falls - Yosemite National Park - 8/11/16

Nevada Falls - Yosemite National Park - 8/11/16

We drove into Yosemite National Park early to get a parking spot ... Our national parks are clearly being loved to death.  Picked up a sandwich from Dunegan's Deli ... Off to a crowded park shuttle to get to Happy Isles bridge to begin our day's hike to Nevada Falls from the valley floor.

A couple of decades ago, we took Sander on a hike to Vernal Falls (below Nevada Falls) formed by the Merced River flowing down from the high Sierra Mountains.  This time we followed the Mist Trail (leads to Vernal Falls) to the John Muir Trail to the top of Nevada Falls ... 5.4 miles RT,1,900 foot elevation gain.

An amazingly beautiful hike ... One step in front of another ... Searching for my "inner John Muir" ... He was one tough Scotsman!

Pack horses unwilling to give me a ride down the hill ... (Bringing down supplies/garbage from the high Sierra camp huts).

And, of course, I had to see the movie at the Visitor's Center ... It felt so good to sit in a cool, dark theater for a half hour before the ride home.

Amazing crowds in Yosemite Valley ... Truly stunning crowds ... Crowded shuttle buses (think of sardines ... Or the Japanese subways where there are professional "pushers" to stuff more people into the subway cars) ... Crowded sidewalks (think Times Square) ... Traffic jams on the bike trails ... A department of traffic management regulating the inflow and outflow of traffic from the parking lots ... (Note to self:  No more national parks in the summer!).

Yet, for all of the crowding, it was all well managed ... All of the staff in the park took their time to answer questions, worked to reduce the lines, smiled and greeted the polyglot streams of visitors ... And kept the whole machinery moving along ...  I doubt that I would have lasted a day if I worked here.

Hard to imagine that some people can express distrust and dismay in the government when these hard-working federal employees manage to make these experiences possible for the world to enjoy.  I would like to see a media campaign with the faces of these NPS Rangers making Yosemite accessible to the world with patience, knowledge and good humor.  Cheers to all of them!

Stony Creek Campground to KOA West Yosemite/Mariposa - 8/10/16

Stony Creek Campground to KOA West Yosemite/Mariposa - 8/10/16

We left Stony Creek Campground this morning ... It was 37 degrees when we left.  Paul turned on the seat warmer in Fritz just to warm himself as we drove.  We definitely found the "cool" in a summer vacation.

We checked into KOA West Yosemite/Mariposa ... About 22 miles from the Arch Rock entrance to Yosemite National Park (west entrance).  We are trying out KOA campgrounds to get a sense of their utility as a campground option when the campgrounds in national parks are not available ... This is particularly important since most of the national park campgrounds do not have electrical, water and/or sewer connections.  We can "dry camp" (run off of our own battery power and our water storage and black/gray water storage tanks) for four to five days (max), but then we need to connect to recharge, refill and evacuate.  KOA seems to have a fairly standardized "product" with predictable services ... But a bit crowded, a bit further away than we'd prefer and a bit structured.

However, we are in the midst of a veritable United Nations of fellow campers ... With almost all of the campers in this KOA campground being international visitors renting an RV for their summer American vacation to the iconic national parks/world heritage sites in the western United States.  It is a fascinating melange of languages, customs, and different ways to camp (a German father and teenage son having quite a conflict on how to connect the water hose ... When I returned later, the cable television was connected, but not the water.   An Asian family gathered around four charcoal briquettes in a grill trying to cook dinner ... Finally the grandmother collected twigs to build a fire in a grill ... Ignoring all of the fire restriction signs.  Another German father and sons trying to decipher the difference between the washers and the dryers in the laundry room ... Not wanting to return to the family camper without having washed their clothes.  An Italian family passionately discussing something that was a complete mystery to me ... I think that it might have been the appropriate way to back up the RV.  And everyone using so much lighter fluid to get their charcoal grills going for an "American dinner" that the air reeks of lighter fluid ... Even adding more lighter fluid to already raging fires.).  I'd love to have an "app" that takes a sample of the spoken language and gives back the language being spoken.  We can guess the major European language groups, but there is quite an array of visitors to our country taking on the challenges of navigating our highways, byways, national parks, rental RVs and campgrounds ... We have challenges at times and we are a part of this culture ... I can only salute the many visitors who are dedicated to exploring our lands ...