September 13, 2016
0.9 miles. Tuolumne Ranger Station to the Backpacker section of Tuolumne Meadows campground.
I seem to have woken up with a cold. I didn't sleep well and I have a bit of a headache. I took my time getting out of the hotel doing various things.
After checking out, I went to Safeway and got some cold medicine and some food for the trip home. I filled up the tank and stopped at Subway where I got a foot long BMT.
I drove mostly straight through to get to Tuolumne Meadows. I pulled over at some historical marker where I ate lunch. Along the way I stopped for a virtual cache of Mona Lake. I also stopped for an earth cache at Tioga Pass. It was lightly snowing there.
At the Wilderness Center, I got a one night permit. Tomorrow I hike up Rafferty Creek and camp somewhere by Vogelsang. The next day I hike out via Lyell Canyon along the JMT/PCT. It should be a good hike; I'm looking forward to it.
After getting the permit, I got my pack all ready and put food and smellables from my stuff in a food storage box. Next, I walked to the Tuolumne Meadows Backpacker campground and set up camp.
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| Tuolumne Meadows Camp |
I went and listened to the campfire program, The mountains are calling and I must go. It was pretty good but I was getting a bit cold near the end. After it was over I warmed up for a few minutes by the fire instead of heading back to camp.
On the way back to camp, I ended up stopping and sharing a campfire with several people. I was given a PBR too. Yes! The campfire was at a German couple's campsite, Pascal and Kiera. There was also a Spanish couple there that were touring around. There were two PCT sobos there too, Siesta and Chopper. They both started with Solar Body, whom I met on my TRT hike several days before at Dicks Pass. A bit later, another PCT sobo hiked in and joined us. His trail name was Abandoned. It was really nice to be able to socialize after so much lone time and it really boosted my spirits.
September 14, 2016
17.4 miles. Tuolumne Meadows campground to Rafferty Creek trail to Vogelsang High Sierra Camp to Vogelsang Pass, back to the High Sierra Camp then to Evelyn Lake Trail to the JMT at Lyell Canyon.
Total miles: 18.3.
It was cold last night. I wore most all of my clothes to bed, including my gloves.
I was slow getting up since I didn't have a big day planned. It ended up being a lot more than anticipated but I'm happy with that since I'll have less to hike tomorrow and I'm ready to get home.
I started up the Rafferty Creek trail. There was no views and I was questioning why I was doing this. I was tempted to turn back and head home. I felt weak and sluggish too, probably from my cold.
Once I made it out of the forest the views opened up and things got much better for me. When I made it to the Sierra High Camp, I decided to go to Vogelsang Pass. It took me about an hour and a half to go out and back but it was worth it, the views were excellent!
I was going to camp at Evelyn Lake, but when I got there I decided it was too open and exposed for that altitude so I continued to Lyell Canyon instead. It was around four miles farther but I had plenty of time. It was also about 1600' lower too. It won't get nearly as cold where I'm camped now too.
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| Rafferty Creek Trail |
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| Looking Back Along Rafferty Creek Trail |
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| Looking Down Towards Boothe Lake |
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| Mule Train Above Vogelsang High Sierra Camp |
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| SE View From Vogelsang Pass |
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| Southern View From Vogelsang Pass |
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| SW View From Vogelsang Pass |
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| Vogelsang Lake |
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| Vogelsang Lake |
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| Evelyn Lake Trail |
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| Evelyn Lake |
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| Looking Over Lyell Canyon |
September 15, 2016
6.3 miles. Lyell Canyon, along the JMT to Tuolumne Ranger Station.
Total miles: 24.6.
I cowboy camped last night and there was a bit of frost on things this morning. I slept okay but had to get up four times to pee. What's with that? It seems when it's colder I have to get up more.
It was an easy walk out to the Wilderness Center where my truck was parked. I worked on two earth caches and I saw two does and two fawns. That was pretty cool. I finally managed to get a picture of the ubiquitous chipmunks, they're everywhere but they are shy and skittish.
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| Lyell Canyon |
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| Lyell Canyon |
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| Tuolumne River |
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| Find the Chipmunk |
After I got back to my truck, I went to the visitor center, then to the Tuolumne Grill. Lunch wasn't quite ready so I went to Soda Springs for another earth cache, then back to the grill for a burger and fries.
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| Soda Springs |
From there, I would head to Death Valley today, then home tomorrow. I'm looking forward to getting home.
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