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Published: October 10th 2006
Lembert Dome - 5
No words to describe this ritual. This is at the top of Lembert Dome. I picked these up along the way to stack at the top. Well, what can I say, it's Yosemite. I don't know if I could praise Yosemite any greater than what has already been said by thousands before me. And, I'm not sure any one thing about it that is so extraordinary to deserve such praise, but with everything it has combined, it is special and I think worthy of the praise.
Like many of my recent adventures (due to weekend excursion limits because of this silly thing called work... I guess I'm a bandwagon type of guy... you know, everyone seems to be doing it 😊 this was a day trip.
Anyway, this trip really began on Saturday when I took off on the 3.5 hour trip from San Francisco to the Yosemite Bug (http://www.yosemitebug.com/). Earlier in the day, I had called and reserved a bed in the dorm; Yosemite Bug is also a member of Hostelling International (a good thing to look for when choosing a hostel... believe me).
I arrived at the hostel around 5 PM and got situated in the room. Then I did some laundry... yeah... have to do it some time. After that I picked up my journal, my Lonely Planet book "Yosemite National
Park", and had dinner at the cafe while listening to a very talented muscian sing while playing the guitar.
The food at the cafe... well, you might think it would be average at a rustic resort with cabins and a hostel. Nope. I had salmon, a glass of Guinness, and homemade carrot cake. The salmon beat, at half the price, almost every restaurant I've eaten salmon at. Also, the carrot cake was real carrot cake (not the easy-bake box stuff) that they bake fresh daily.
On top of the great food and music, the fire place was going and the place was packed out.
Somewhere in between I took about a half hour to walk up to the top of the hill and take in the full moon night. As I walked to the top, a shooting star burned brightly across the sky. The air was cool, clean, and crisp (unlike San Francisco, which still seems to have a lot of pollution despite being on the coast). I laid on the ground, watched the stars, and listened to bugs and various other animals-- my feelings mixing with serenity and fear at every odd sound and shadow. I
Tuolumne Grove - 2
A giant sequoia. :) pondered how difficult it would be to go absolutely looney in such an inspiring place... again unlike most big cities where going crazy seems the easy thing to do and everyone just has this thick emotional shell while trying to survive such an unnatural man-made steel, concrete, and overcrowded place.
Sooo... the next morning I got up early, ate breakfast at the cafe and purchased a sack lunch (great roast beef), and got great recommendations on how to tackle the day from a guy at the front desk. He gave me two options... one was the path of the typical tourist (Mariposa Grove, Yosemite Valley, Tunnel View, Sentinel Dome, etc.) and a second less popular one mainly focused on the high-country... a quick tour around Yosemite Valley, then on to Tuolumne Grove (Sequoia trees), lunch at Tenaya Lake, stopping by Olmstead Point, and then hiking up to Dog Lake and Lembert Dome after passing by Tuolumne Meadows. He said only about 20% of the people go up to see the high-country... sounded good to me.
As I drove to Yosemite, I passed a part of Hwy 140 that was closed due to a rockslide (I was re-routed) and
I really understood then that rock slides are serious business... the whole road was covered for maybe 30 yards. Anything that would have been under it would have been crushed. Somehow seeing nature work is always more awe-inspiring than anything in photos and on television or studied in a geology class.
Driving into Yosemite Valley, the first thing that stood out was El Capitan... one of the world's largest granite monoliths (Merriam-Webster: monolith - 1 : a single great stone often in the form of an obelisk or column), which has a huge sheer face that is well known in the climbing world. The road around Yosemite Valley follows the clear Merced River. The whole valley was packed with campers and the parking lots were overflowing (and this was around 8:30 AM).
I stopped at Yosemite Village to find a warmer top for the high-country and got a fleece top. I still went with shorts for the day because I think hiking in jeans takes more energy and limits my range of motion.
I then took off to Tuolumne Grove. After a mile hike (and 400 feet drop in elevation) I recognized the first giant sequoia... and
it was, well, gigantic (hence, giant). It turns out that they are the largest living organisms on the planet by volume... weighing in by as much as 6,100 tons. They aren't the tallest (that belongs to the redwoods) or the oldest living, but they are massive and can live for over 3,000 years... often enduring 200+ forest fires (which are critical to the continuance of the species as it clears out the underbrush and the tree canopy allowing their seeds to better germinate and receive sunlight. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_sequoia)
The sequoia's used to grow in many places around North America, but when the Sierra Nevada formed when an island arc collided with the West coast (about 150 million years ago) it created a rainshadow that wiped out a lot of the other sequoia groves (they used to grow in Nevada). (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_Nevada_%28US%29)
Next up I drove to Olmsted Point, which has an awesome view of Tenaya Canyon and the backside of Half Dome. I walked out on the granite rock and got a few good photos, took in the scenery, and then headed to Tenaya Lake for lunch.
Tenaya Lake is nestled in between a bunch of granite mountain terrain.
While I was there, a chilly wind was cruising across the lake. I took shelter behind a boulder while I ate before I noticed the ants. So, I then sat on a boulder to eat. After awhile I walked around the lake a bit and dipped my hand in the clear and chilly water. Very serene and peaceful. Very few people around (actually, for a lot of the day I found myself alone... hiking, alongside a lake, on top of a granite dome looking out at the surrounding mountainside, etc.). High-country 😊
Next up was a hike to Dog Lake and Lembert Dome. This is where my day got a little more adventurous. And, to the National Park System and my fellow Americans, my apologies... please don't fine me (more on that later).
The trailhead starts out at the base of Lembert Dome and wraps around it to Dog Lake and then either continuing on or cutting across to hike up Lembert Dome. After a mile or two of hiking, I arrived at Dog Lake (elevation of 9,200 feet). It was windy and pretty chilly. It had received a dusting of snow recently and some of it was
El Capitan - 1
From the road and this view particularly caught my eye. It is very difficult to capture how massive it is here in this photo... still around. It was beautiful like Tenaya Lake, but with more trees and other plant life.
I then took off to Lembert Dome. As I hiked along the edge of a big granite monolith (I thought it was Lembert Dome, and, if it was it was a smaller part). So, I was concerned that I was way off course. To correct this, well, I took off up the granite rock and eventually found myself on the wrong part of Lembert Dome. After a little more hiking through the forest I got to the right part, which is off trail, but with it being late in the day I was a little concerned about doubling back.
As far as Lembert Dome is concerned, imagine dozens of football fields of granite except at an angle... and with a cliff at one edge. The view from the top is tremendous. After looking around for awhile, stacking up three rocks, and taking a few photos, I began my descent.
For the descent, I looked towards where the parking lot should be, and took off. Sure, it looked a little risky and I wasn't sure if I could get off of the
monolith in that direction, but I sure hoped that I could. 😊 One of the things that I looked for was the trees... I could kind of tell how steep the drop was by how the trees were situated. I ended up getting to a point that looked, well, unmanageable except for a crevice going down to the ground. It had a manageable angle, so I used my limited rock climbing skills and climbed down.
Then, well, I had to walk through more unadulterated forest to get to the parking lot. I should be more careful and study the trail maps better. This particular area is classified as "wilderness" land and, therefore, should be left as unchanged as possible by human activity. Plus, a lot of plants in the high-country don't fare well with foot-traffic.
Turns out, even after all of that, I was still off-course and had to walk about 1/4 a mile down Hwy 120 to get back to the parking lot.
It was a great day. I hope to return one day for a longer stay... I think it would be great to camp with family and friends for a week while hiking, biking,
Yosemite Valley - 3
Merced River and a boulder climbing, and riding horses around it and taking it all in. It is a rejuvenating place. Oh, and maybe one crazy day I'll be skilled enough at rock-climbing to take on El Cap...
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non-member comment
BEAUTIFUL!!!!
It's a little higher than Pinnacle Mountain!