Tochi's Hut

Yosemite National Park can be divided into three major attractions.  The first and most popular is a narrow stretch known as Yosemite Valley - site of Half Dome and jaw dropping granite cliffs and waterfalls.  The second is the northern section consisting of high alpine meadows.  The third is the giant sequoias groves in the south. 

We had 3.5 days to spend in Yosemite.  Two days were definitely to conquer the Valley and Half Dome, which leaves a day free to visit one of the other two sections of the Park.  While trying to book a campsite, I noticed that Cathedral Lakes is the second most popular campground destination.  A set of beautiful lakes at 9000ft from the famous Tuolumne Meadows in the high country.  It was as good a place to visit as any. :)

After we took care of our permit situation, we decided to get some food.  RC had overhead that they serve a breakfast buffet at Curry Village.  Curry Village is essentially at the end of Yosemite Valley and has been a campground serving visitors of the park for over 100 years!  It’s pretty distinctive as the campground is lined with cabins each serving real mattress beds.  It’s quite luxurious way to camp.  lol. 

The buffet breakfast was rather pricey, and we didn’t eat that much (more tired than hungry).  But this totally reminded me of breakfast after my first all-nighter at Cornell.  RC and I debated whether to take a nap first or head up towards Cathedral Lake immediately.  Decided that we should head up to the meadows first and maybe take a nap by Cathedral Lake.  I’m a big fan of taking much needed naps at scenic places. :)

The drive up to and along Tioga Road to reach the meadows was very breathtaking.  We stopped several times to take in the vistas.  Beautiful skies, unparalleled sceneries.  Splendid opportunities to take Naturescape and Skyscape candidates!

Photo on the left is a look back into the entrance of Yosemite Valley from Old Oak Flat Road.  You can see the Merced River flowing through the valley, and if you follow the river back in, you’ll end up at at the village and Half Dome.  We just came from there!

On our way to Tuolumne Meadows, we stopped at probably the nicest in-the-middle-of-nowhere petro station I have ever visited.  Surrounded by lush trees at the corner of Old Oak Flat Road and Tioga Road, you would never have guessed there’s a gas station tucked in this little place. 

As we neared Porcupine Flats, we got spectacular views of the backside of El Capitan/North Dome range of granite. 

Here’s a view of the Cathedral Lakes section from Olmsted Point.  You can see Tenaya Lake and Tresidder Peak in the distance.

Olmstead Point was also where we caught our first glimpse of the backside of Half Dome.  Using our uber 18-200, we were just able to make out the little ants making their way up. 

Initially thought we had a lot of time.  However, after following some slow RV’s on a single lane mountain road, we managed to only get into Touloumne Meadows Visitor Center at 2pm.  Someone needed to double stamp their passports there.  Our target was to get back to the valley by 6:30pm, so we can catch the sunset at Half Dome, which meant, we had to leave the meadows around 5pm.  We had under 3 hours do check out Cathedral Lake.

RC had asked me the difficulty of this trail.  From the map, it wasn’t that far – 3 to 4 miles one way.  The dotted line skirted along the base of Cathedral Peak.  There cannot be that much incline, so I told RC that it should be pretty flat.  Boy, was I wrong.

Near the trailhead, there was a sign that showed 3.4 miles to Lower Cathedral Lake and an amusing quote by John Muir, after making the first recorded ascent to Cathedral Peak. 

This I may say is the first time I have been to church in California.

The hike wasn’t that bad.  Just starts of with an uphill climb for the first mile.  I’m not sure if it was the lack of sleep, but I was tired out pretty early on.  So was RC.  The sad thing is that the trail was pretty plain… just trees and rocks.  No real pretty sights except for the Peak, which you can only see every now and then.  Around 3:40pm, we finally made our way to the lake.

RC might tell you differently, but I thought the Cathedral Lake was uber nice.  To the east and south, you have a rim of mountains standing guard as if the edge of a bowl.  To the west, you have a granite shoreline that is polished by glaciers of the past leading right up to the picturesque (and super blue) lake.  A bunch of people were just laying on the rock sunbathing and even Mr. RC found himself a nice shaded spot under a tall dead tree for some respite.

After I took enough pictures, we realized we were behind schedule and might not be able to make it back to the car by 5pm.  And what better way for us to get off our butts than hearing thunder in the far distance?  There was a 20% chance of thunderstorms in the area today.

We raced through the same trail back towards our car.  RC set off on the last mile at a breakneck pace, and we made it back to the car at 4:58pm!  We were both dead by then.  This was suppose to be a warmup hike for tomorrow.  Ended up hiking about 7 miles on not so nice terrain.  On any other day, this would qualify as a pretty good day hike. lol.

We made it back to the valley with plenty of time to spare.  Got down to a meadows below Half Dome and waited till the sun to set.  Sunset is often one of the most spectacular times to visit the hallmark of Yosemite, as the strong rays really bring out astounding colours on the granite face.  On this day, the light showers earlier in the evening blessed us with a rainbow. :)

As if we could get even luckier, a family of deers dropped by to have dinner in the meadows.  Boy, they are not afraid of people being 10-20 ft away.  All you can hear were the clicking sounds of half a dozen cameras, especially when a deer raises his head. :D

Finished off the night with dinner at Curry village.  We just barely missed the buffet dinner, which closed at 8pm, so we got some food (with really slow service) from the bar, while watching the Olympics with a bunch of Jamaicans cheering as Bolt raced in the 100m semis.  Retired at the backpackers campgrounds for the night.

I would have loved to spend more time in the Tuolumne Meadows, and this probably was not the best time of year to go.  I think May/June would be perfect, as you’d be able to see more flora in those alpine plains.