Tuolomne Meadows

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As we traveled up highway 395 past Bishop, Yosemite appeared as an imposing fortress--rising straight up from the Owens Valley and the dry, flat eastern drainage. The next day, entering the park through Tioga Pass, all vehicles were dwarfed by the towering peaks of the Sierra Nevada range.
Our first hike took us to the heights of Lambert Dome (elev. 10,258 ft) and to the refreshing, lovely shores of Dog Lake. Although this hike is marked moderately strenuous, we found it relatively easy considering our lack of hiking before leaving Minnesota. We returned to our charming but bare-bones El Mono Motel in Lee Vining, where we breakfasted on homemade blackberry muffins and organic fresh-roasted coffee and the last of our fresh fruit from the Twin Cities. The following day, we hiked with Ranger Yen Yen Chen, three hikers from Germany and one from Buenos Ares, to Mono Lake Pass (elev. 10,599 ft) with side visits to failed silver and gold mining cabins and pits.

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