Just got home after a few days in Yosemite with Yum and my dad. We camped at White Wolf–I don’t remember ever camping here so early in the summer–and it was wonderful.
Dad cooked all the meals, as usual–no complaints from me. I was happy to help clean up afterwards.
Yum and I spent Sunday afternoon fishing in Tuolumne Meadows. I fly fished for a few hours and Yum used worms. We didn’t catch a single fish, let alone SEE any fish. The water level is very high and very fast–not good for fly fishing. It’s still too early in the season. The temperature needs to rise and the water levels need to fall.
Sunday night we went to the ranger campfire program, where they talked about bats again. That night we slept outside, under the stars. Yum was asleep before her head hit the pillow. I tried to stay awake–I love how bright and how many stars are visible at 8,000 feet–but I soon fell asleep too.
Monday we walked down to Yosemite Creek and spent a few hours fishing and enjoying the scenery. We absolutely LOVE the high Sierra granite. There’s nothing like it (that I’ve seen) in all the world. I haven’t been down to Yosemite Creek in about 10 years, but it was everything that I remember. Yum kept saying over and over again how beautiful it was. The water level was just high enough for some good fishing. Yum caught 6-7 fish and I caught only one. We threw them all back.
The hike back up the trail was tougher than I remembered. The 89 degree temperatures didn’t help this old man. So I had to, uh, stop and rest a few times on the walk back up!
Back at the car we went straight to Lake Tenaya, where I spent a looooooong time soaking in the crystal clear and cold water. It was shocking at first how cold the water was, but man… was it worth it. I cooled down and relaxed–enjoying the breathtaking scenery. We spent an hour at the end of the lake opposite the sandy beach (where everyone goes) and enjoyed some time all to ourselves. After a bite to eat and quick nap we drove east.
Past Tuolumne Meadows and over Tioga Pass we drove. We stopped just outside YNP at a creek along the road for some more fishing. Again, Yum put me to shame by catching manymuchmore trout than I did. We kept a few for supper. It started to rain. Crazy! It’s almost July and it’s raining really hard. It rained all the way to Olmsted Point. When we got back to our campsite we found out it hadn’t rained at all there. Sierra weather is sooo unpredictable.
Last night we opted to sleep in our tent. I’m sure we both snored, having just had a very active day, and slept soundly and peacefully. This morning after a quick breakfast we broke camp and drove home.
And the drive home was only 115 miles, done in 2.5 hours. We love living this close to Yosemite.
(No pictures this time, I was having to much fun to take out my camera!)