Adventures in the Outdoors and Such
The Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne was unbelievable. This was a long discussed backpacking trip for 3 friends who hadn’t really seen each other for over 20 years. None of us had visited Yosemite and we were finally able to make it happen! We got to experience many amazing waterfalls, classic Yosemite views, and saw so few other people. We almost always had this impressive trail to ourselves, and I feel lucky to have had this initial Yosemite experience.
I picked up my friends in Las Vegas and we headed to Mammoth Lakes to stay for the night. We stayed with an old friend from Crested Butte, it was great to catch up and chill in this cool place.
Sunday morning we got up early and headed into Yosemite National Park to start our adventure. We picked up our permit at the wilderness center and strolled to the YARTS bus pick up spot for the ride to the starting trailhead and camp for the night. The White Wolf Campground was nice, and wasn’t too crowded considering it’s summertime in Yosemite.
Day 1: The next morning we loaded up the packs and headed into the backcountry for a 4 day trip. The first day we descended almost 4000ft to the bottom of the canyon. While the miles of steep downhill were a bit rough on the knees, we were super stoked to have the packs on and start our hike.
The hike starts out in the forest as you leave the trailhead and climbs a bit to the edge of the canyon and then it’s time to descend!
This was the only day we experienced any smoke issues from the wildfires, fortunately it didn’t seem to effect our breathing. After a final cruise along the river we made it to Pate Valley and found a nice campsite. We had easy river access and a quick swim in the river to cool us off and rinse off the dirt was most excellent.
The Day 2 hike starts to follow the Tuolumne River, so we started to see small waterfalls and pools. After a bit we got to the good size climb up the Muir Gorge. We got really lucky with the weather, as we started this tough climb we got great cloud cover and little bit of rain to keep things cool. We saw 0 people all day on the trail.
That night’s campsite was almost certainly the best one I’ve ever had, with a waterfall and great swimming hole. After a quick set up in the rain and a little tent time while it down-poured, we dried out and went for a swim!
We got to relax on some big granite above camp to watch the sunset and then again to stare at the stars for a bit!
Day 3 was the day of so many waterfalls! There was more climbing than I thought, but it was totally worth it. Around almost every bend of the trail is a waterfall, pool or beautiful river view. We couldn’t help but stop to take so many pictures!
Waterwheel and Le Conte Falls were huge and it was so cool to be able to walk out into the rock right next to the rushing waters! We definitely spent a good amount of time with the packs off exploring these amazing features.
The afternoon of day three we finally started to see a few other people as we approached Glen Aulin, it was an almost weird experience after 2 1/2 days of seeing no one. We found a nice sheltered campsite and relaxed for our last night on the trail.
Day 4 was a great day of hiking. The climbs weren’t as tough, both White Cascade and Tuolumne Falls were awesome (and we had a great swim).
The last few miles are a great ending, as you walk into Tuolumne Meadows with it’s iconic granite domes and peaks. We stopped by the Parson’s Memorial Lodge, talked with a couple other backpackers and headed to the Tuolumne store for some ice cream!
After hiking out we headed to Independence for some me food, and hit up the Onion Valley campground for the night.
After a nice night in the tents at 9,200′ we headed towards Vegas so my friends could fly out the next day. After stops at the Möbius Arch, Star Wars Canyon, and Badwater Basin we cruised to our hotel. We relaxed for a bit in our rooms, went out for an excellent dinner, played a little gambling, and then crashed out!
Everything on the trip worked out so well, great friends, awesome scenery and hiking, and pretty much perfect weather. We only dealt with smoke from the wildfires on the first day, after that it was clear skies. I’ve never seen so many waterfalls, Yosemite is an amazing place and I feel so lucky to have such great long term friends.
After 3 years of trying and the pandemic interrupting my efforts I finally got a Mt Whitney permit! I ended up getting an overnight permit the day they released the unclaimed lottery slots, and planned for 3 nights in the Whitney Zone. That way if I dealt with weather or acclimation issues I would have some extra time.
I headed out on Sunday, July 19th, and made my way to Las Vegas to break-up the drive. Stopped to check out Hoover Dam for a bit. Depressing to see how low the water level is, but it’s always an impressive structure to see!
I stayed at the El Cortez Hotel just off Fremont Street. I was just looking for a cheap room and it did the job! Strolled around the Fremont Street Experience to do some Vegas people watching, always entertaining!
I wanted to have a nice meal before living out of my backpack for the rest of the week, and luckily wandered in to Carson’s Kitchen just a block away from my hotel. It was exactly what I wanted- Deviled Eggs with Pancetta and Caviar.
Cocoa-Espresso NY Strip, and Glazed Donut Bread Pudding (not pictured because I couldn’t wait to eat it), all amazing!
The next morning I woke up about 5am, grabbed some breakfast and hit the road! My plan was to drive through Death Valley National Park and hit up Badwater, the lowest point in North America, before heading to Mt Whitney, the highest point in the lower 48!
While it is a very different National Park, Death Valley is very beautiful in it’s own way and super cool to drive through.
When I got to Lone Pine I headed down the Whitney Portal Road, but made a stop in the Alabama Hills National Scenic Area. There’s a cool, short loop hike that takes you past some natural rock arches, like Mobius Arch below. Usually you can see Mt Whitney through the arch, but the incoming weather scuttled that view! The area has been used to film many movies from The Lone Ranger (1938) to Iron Man (2008) and many more!
After that it was time to make the drive up to the Portal and move in to my campsite for the night.
When I first booked a campsite no spots were open at the Whitney Portal Campground, so I had booked a spot at the Lone Pine Campground at the bottom of the road. I randomly checked a few weeks out and a spot had opened at the Portal campground and I snagged it! This ended up being a great development. The Whitney Portal campground is at 8000 ft and in the beautiful trees, so much better than down in the hot desert!
After getting the tent up I went for a quick hike up the first part of the Mt Whitney trail, just to get the legs moving and to help get used to the altitude. It was nice to hike in such beautiful weather, a big change from Arizona. Spent the evening chillin’ in the campsite enjoying being outdoors!
My plan was to hit the trail before 9am. I got up, made myself some breakfast, did a final organizing of the backpack and drove up to the trailhead. Both the hiker lot and overflow parking were full so I had to park on the side of the road, fortunately there’s a large shoulder and it was easy to find a decent spot.
Weighed my pack at the trailhead scale, 42 lbs, a little on the heavy side but I wanted to have enough food and warm clothes to comfortably stay up high for 4 days if necessary. After that I shouldered the pack and headed down the trail.
The trail starts uphill pretty quickly, makes sense as you’ve got a lot of elevation to gain! After about a mile you enter the John Muir Wilderness, this part of the hike is pretty relaxing overall, just cruising through the forest with some amazing views. The first real milestone is Lone Pine Lake, a cool mountain lake on a rocky shelf about 3 miles in. The trail seems to flatten out a little bit as you head towards Outpost Camp, a popular lower camp inside the Whitney Zone. As you pass Outpost the trail climbs steeply towards Mirror Lake, another amazing lake that’s worth a quick stop!
A little ways after you pass Mirror Lake you head above tree line. Most of the rest of the hike is on rocks, and you really start to feel like you’re high in the mountains. The section from Trailside Meadow to Trail Camp felt like the most difficult of the entire hike to me. Maybe I knew I was getting close and was ready to take off the full pack, but I was very glad to have that section behind me.
Once you reach Consultation Lake it’s just a short bit up to Trail Camp. I thought about hanging out at the lake, but wanted to go ahead and get a campsite at Trail Camp before the good spots were taken.
I’m happy I was able to make the hike in one push without taking off the pack, I really wanted to be fit for this hike. Arrived at Trail Camp about 12:30ish, found a great little spot, nice and flat and a little sandy for some cushion. Got all set up, got the solar panel going to start charging stuff, had a snack and start hanging out, for about 8 hours…
This is the time it would have been nice to have somebody else along, I met and talked to a few of my tent neighbors and looked around at the beautiful views, but it was a long evening just hanging around.
I had planned to start hiking by 3am, but it was a cold night at 12,000 ft for this Arizonian. When my alarm went off about 2:30 I decided to be warm for a bit longer and not hike quite as much in the dark, very glad I made this decision!
Cooked up a little oatmeal with peanut butter, threw a few things in my backpack, turned on the headlamp and headed for the summit, a hike I had been waiting a long time to start!
Trail Camp sits right at the bottom of the 99 Switchbacks so you’re into the business quickly. Overall the switchbacks aren’t steep, there’s just a lot of them and they seem to go on for a long time. Pretty much just put my head down and cranked them out. It was great to get to Trail Crest, it’s an amazing view and a major milestone for the hike. It was cold and windy there so I just kept moving after taking a few pics.
There’s a sign that says it’s 1.9 miles to the summit, as many have said it’s the longest 2 miles I’ve ever hiked. It took me 1 hour 49 minutes to cover that distance, and I was feeling great and moving at a decent pace the whole time. There are some really cool sections around the JMT junction and a little past that, but after a while you’re just walking through a huge field of rocks, As you continue to head up it seems like you’ll never get there, and then you come over a small ridge of rock and the summit hut is right in front of you! A little navigating through the big rocks and you’re on the summit!
I spent about 30 minutes on the summit, got the required summit sign pic. I had cell service, so I was able to call my wife, which was nice! After a bit of taking pics, checking out the hut, it was time to head down. The hike down is pretty easy, just a lot of down.
As I descended I started to run into a lot of the day hikers on their way up. Some people looked great, but there were definitely people who looked like they were struggling pretty badly with a long way to go just to get to the summit, and some who just had no business being there. I hope that they all made wise decisions that day, because as we all know the top is only half way.
I had my GoPro on for the cool section along the JMT junction, but somehow lost all the footage due to operator error!!!
I made it back to Trail Camp about 12:30. Originally I had planned on staying at there again that night, but the prospects of another long afternoon/evening of just hanging out and another cold nights sleep didn’t seem that great. So I packed up camp and hiked on out! The hike out is really cool as well, you kind of get a different perspective than going up. The last mile or so I was ready to be done, a little over 16 miles for the day made the Whitney Portal a welcome sight. Grabbed a burger in Lone Pine, and found a dispersed campsite out in the Alabama Hills. Slept good!
The next day I packed up my campsite and headed back through Death Valley on my way to Zion National Park to continue the adventures!!
I was ready Saturday morning right at 7am when they release the Mt Whitney permits that weren’t purchased by lottery winners, and I scored an overnight permit! I’ve got a July 20th entry date, and because of last summers issues with altitude I’m going to take my time up the mountain. This should give me a good chance to acclimate, so I can enjoy the upper sections of the mountain! I got a campsite at the Lone Pine Campground the night before, probably do the quick Mobius Arch hike and then crash out to get ready for a big couple of days!
So here’s the plan:
July 19th: Drive to Lone Pine Campground
July 20th: Hike to Outpost Camp for the night
July 21st: Hike to Trail Camp or Constellation Lake for the night
July 22nd: Up early for the summit attempt and back to Trail Camp. Depending what time I get back to camp I’ll either sleep there or start to hike out. I think I’ll probably want to chill out after summit day, and enjoy being high in the mountains one more night!
July 23rd: Hike out
So that’s the plan. I’m kicking it into gear to get fit as possible, hoping to get in a few other big hikes to get ready!
Any tips from people who have done the hike are always appreciated!
We’re getting into the heat of the summer here in Phoenix. While we all know it’s coming, the first few weeks of it being hot all the time are hard to get used to. Fortunately, I’ve been doing a pretty good job of keeping up with the training. The serious Ironman training is still about a month away, right now I’m concentrating on building a solid base and regaining cycling speed. While it has been some work, lately I’ve been feeling much stronger on the bike and seen my average speeds creep back up to an acceptable level.
A few weekends ago we took an nice trip to a mineral water spa in Desert Hot Springs, Ca. This trip also coincided nicely with Amy’s birthday! We stayed at the Aqua Soleil Spa, it was a nice, small, relaxed place! We drove over Friday morning and pretty much just chilled in the pool for a few days. After almost a month of 6 days a week training the rest did me right. Amy got a nice, deep tissue massage and we enjoyed just being out of town together!
The part of Desert Hot Springs where we stayed seemed to be a little ghetto. I had wanted to go out to a nice dinner, but except for Capri Italian Steakhouse everything was cheap Mexican food. So, Capri it was. Overall it wasn’t bad, just not what I was hoping for. Anytime I see a $17 8 oz filet that comes with a salad and side, I’m skeptical. As proximity was very important to us, we did eat there both nights. My steak was correctly cooked both times, but they seem to marinate the steaks in what I’m guessing is a Worcestershire Sauce based marinate. I’d rather just taste the beef with a dash of salt and pepper. As is our norm, we enjoyed our dinners at the bar and the bartender took good care of us. One downside, no Port! I love to finish off dinner with a nice glass of tawny, but so many places we’ve been to lately don’t have one. I don’t understand why a place will not have at least one bottle, even once opened it is good for years and I can’t be the only one asking for it!
View from our hotel balcony:
I can’t wait for July to get here, work wise it’s going to be a relatively easy month for me! The restaurant will be closed July 1st-8th to install new booths and get a fresh coat of paint and I’m taking my vacation the 22nd-29th. While I had hoped to go to RAGBRAI for vacation this year, it just wasn’t in the cards. Instead, I’m going head up to Flagstaff for four days of high altitude swimming, biking, and running. Camping out and training in the cool mountain air will be a nice change from the oppressive heat we deal with here during the summer, should be fun!
That’s what’s been going on with us, now I’m ready for another hot weekend on the bike!
Going Down The Trail 