Trip Report

Yosemite National Park has a reputation for being one of the most spectacular hiking destinations around so it wasn't difficult for me to find five other Obsidian's to join me for a five night six day backpacking adventure through some of Yosemite's river canyons and up it's granite monoliths. This year was very different from my past trips to Yosemite. Most of the services and campgrounds including the famous High Sierra Camps have been shuttered due to the pandemic plus a low snow pack have left the many creeks used for water sources now dry. Also recent lightning strikes in California had covered the area in a persistent layer of smoke.

We began our adventure with a 600 mile drive down to the town of Lee Vining where we spent the night in a motel. The next morning we drove another 20 miles into the park to the Tuolumne Meadows wilderness station to pick up the required bear canisters. We then began by hiking up Rafferty creek to Vogelsang High Sierra Camp for a refreshing swim in Fletcher Lake and to set up our first nights camp. The next morning we ascended the 10600 foot Vogelsang Pass then descended over 3400 feet to the Merced High Sierra camp for our second nights camp and for another great swim in the Merced River. On our third day we hiked down the beautiful Merced River Canyon to Little Yosemite Valley where we set up camp and again found a great swimming hole. On our fourth day we climbed 2600 feet to the top of Half Dome where we had incredible views of the valley and the Sierra range. Our fifth day was a real challenge as we climbed another 2700 feet to the summit of Clouds Rest with our full packs for more 360 degree views of Yosemite then descended to Sunrise Lakes where we made our final camp at another great swimming lake. On our final day we hiked about 13 miles through Sunrise Meadows and the Cathedral Lakes area to return to Tuolumne Meadows and our vehicle to complete a loop of over 50 miles through some of this countries most spectacular scenery.

The combination of the heat and smoke made this adventure more of a challenge than I expected but it was still a trip that I would highly recommend to anyone looking for a world class hike.