I’ve been itching to go backpacking for some time now as it’s been nearly 3 years since my last trip. The last few years have just been really busy. While Judy had gone backpacking twice last year during her short hiatus from work, she nevertheless looked forward to this trip as well.

Brian helped suggest a route that started in Tuolumne Meadows, goes past Cathedral Lake, and through the Sunrise High Sierra Camp (HSC). There, we had the option of either camping at the HSC or continuing on and camping at or near one of the three Sunrise Lakes. We opted to find a more secluded campsite by the Sunrise Lakes, and were able to find a great one.

After a very cold night where the temps dropped down to 18F or so (thank you Feathered Friends!), we continued on up to Cloud’s Rest where we were greeted with a fantastic view that gave us our first glimpse of the famous Half Dome. Continuing on and descending the other side of Cloud’s Rest, we eventually ended up at the fork to Half Dome. We found a nice campsite near the fork. Leaving our gear at camp the next morning allowed us to climb Half Dome carrying a much lighter pack.

Going up Half Dome was a great experience, especially climbing the cables during the final section of the ascent. The view from the top was magnificent and we were able to capture some really great pics and vids - check out especially the ones of me sitting on the edge of the granite outcropping, feet dangling over nothing but air.

We returned to our camp after Half Dome, packed up the rest of our gear, and hopped back on the John Muir Trail. Making our descent back into the valley, we passed Nevada Falls and Vernal Falls on our way back to Yosemite Village. While the first day and night were pretty cold, the weather was fantastic the last two days - clear and sunny but not too hot. Perhaps most importantly, there was not a single mosquito in sight!

All in all, it was a really great and memorable trip. Our only regret is that we should have planned the shuttle better - we should have parked in Yosemite Village and taken the shuttle to Tuolumne Meadows to start our route instead of driving out and parking at Tuolumne and having to take the shuttle back to Tuolumne at the end of our trip. This would have saved us one trip down the 120. Oh well. If you’re thinking of doing this route, you can learn from our mistake.

Here’s a PDF showing our trail route (large - shows all of Yosemite, cropped - zoomed in on our route), and here are the pics and vids. Enjoy!

Posted by Roger at 10:30 pm.