I got up earlier than I thought it was—6:25. Cold last night, in the 30’s. Had my quiet time.
Usual breakfast. Leisurely start. It is a clear, beautiful morning. It is about 9:15 before we got started.
A word about the weather, There has been a lot of overcast during our days of hiking. But except for a brief hail and sprinkle the first day, we have been dry, but cold. We have been fortunate.
The first part of the day is a climb up to the junction (N37.60378 W119.52220). Its about two miles and 600’. We do it in 2 hours. What a view! Saw the backside of Half Dome, Clark, Starr King, and many others. Nice place for lunch. But it started to get cold again.
Buena Vista Lake (N37.60002 W119.51752) is an “Oh Wow” lake. Maybe it is three days hiking; it may be it’s the 9,077’ elevation; or the cliff side of Buena Vista Peak, but this is one fine lake. Right now snow is very much part of its show. We just gawk as we pass by. Stopping only to take pictures.
On up to the top of the saddle (N37.59977 W119.50974). Its another ¾ mile and 300’ climb up to 9,350’. Towards the top, snow covers some of the trail. Steven and David come down and take our packs. We were just about at the top when they came to us. But it was nice gesture for them.
Because of the snow, they went a non-trail route—designated the Dead Chipmunk Trail. Some bones were found along the way. I went off and took a few shots of Buena Vista Lake.
Coming down the south face of the saddle, there was lots of snow until about the 9,000’ level. We were able to follow the trail from a distance or crossing it with snow on the trail. We did pretty well going down, that is until a large patch of snow hid a left turn made by the trail. It crossed the creek. But we kept looking on the west side of the creek. When we went low enough, we realized where the trail was. So across the creek we went, and found the trail pretty quickly.
While we were coming down, it started raining for about an hour. Can’t say we were soaked, but it chilled us with a cold rain. There was a couple sounds of thunder—a ways away.
We came into Royal Arches Lake (N37.57809 W119.50439) as the clouds were descending. Got even colder. David got his tarp out and we pulled the tents under it—of course at this point, it stopped raining.
Dinner was beef stroganoff. Pretty tasty. We are about half way through our fuel. We will see how this works out.
David and Steven start a fire. It felt really good. Perfect would be hot chocolate and cheesecake. Clouds are starting to rise.
We have company! Two people came in. Sort of unsociable folks. They even buried their fish guts close to our camp.
The fire is dying. Its getting cold, and still cloudy, but breaking up. Bed time is around 8:30.
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