The Final T.M. Camping Post

Well, another great, great trip. The weather was very cold, dipping below freezing at night. On the second night I had left my towel out to dry and was surprised to find it stiff in the morning...until I saw that the temperature was 33 degrees F.

There were 4 bears that came through camp and we saw two of them. Or perhaps there was some combination of less than 4 bears seen multiple times. The bears we saw were just passing through shortly after it was fully dark but not quite middle of the night pitch dark. We also heard someone calling "bear" to alert other campers and heard some ruckus because a bear had snatched some eggs mistakenly left out by a nearby campsite. I was fast asleep during this latter incident, but Donna heard it all.

We hiked to the top of Lembert Dome. Donna had gone ahead with the kids and was feeling fine until Kayla's hat blew off and she started to chase it risking a 1,000 foot tumble to the bottom of the cliff. Oops. I caught up with them at the base of the highest little knob (9300 feet) and wasn't going to go any further.

Apparently I'm now "saddle shy" after my broken wrist of a year ago because once I started scrambling up the granite parts I was scared! I kept picturing myself tripping and hitting the hard granite like a ton of bricks and breaking my arm or hand or wrist again. Still, I made it almost to the top and enjoyed the magnificent views and the howling wind.

We also had a great, but short hike at Saddleback Lake getting up to about 10,500 feet and viewing only 3 or so of the 20 lakes. Mt. Conness and North Peak were spectacular frames for the whole lake bowl. I would have loved to have seen Conness glacier, but from the map, it looks pretty inaccessible, at least to someone of my physical ability.

We also hiked across Tuolumne Meadows that same night. After our granite climbs earlier, it was a pleasure to walk on soft, level meadow soil. We hiked almost to the Parsons Memorial Lodge, stopping at the scenic bridge over the Tuolumne River to sit and view the peaceful evening river (me) and run around chasing each other and climbing rocks and screaming (the children) until it got a little chilly (me again) so we headed back to camp. Just before reaching camp, we saw a deer in the woods and watched him circle us warily before deciding we weren't a threat. He ambled quietly along, occasionally reaching down to sample a little grass while the girls put sticks on their heads to imitate his horns.

As we left Yosemite, we stopped for a short excursion to Pothole Dome (8771 feet). Donna and the kids tried to steep route and were forced back. I went up a more gradual slope and then found my way down the backside and along a little pond back to the meadow. Donna and kids eventually went up a more gradual route and also summited.

We were happy that the kids slept most of the way home. It's always satisfying to know that finally, after 3 days of lack of good sleep, poor food, and lots of physical activity we were just barely able to outlast the kids.

Happy camping to all!