Yosemite Trip 2012-Day 2

Britt and I woke up around 6am, got dressed, had a quick breakfast, got everything into our backpacks that we would need for the hike, and were out of the motel by 7am. We enjoyed the beautiful scenery along US-395 as we drove north to the Tioga Pass Road. There was no one at the entrance gate to Yosemite, so we continued on without having to pay the entrance fee (yet). At the eastern end of Tuolumne Meadows we turned right onto a dirt road, passed the Dog Lake Trailhead/Day-Use parking area and parked the car near a gate where the road turns sharply to the right to continue towards the stables (where the creek from Dog Lake meets the Tuolumne River). All of our extra food, drinks, and "scented" items were placed in a bear locker. We stretched a little and hoisted our packs onto our backs. We were ready to hit the trail on our longest day hike to date.The hike starts by walking west along a dirt road towards the official Glen Aulin Trailhead near the Soda Springs. This was a scenic little walk and an easy start to our hike. We met the official trail and were off into the woods to the northwest. Delaney Creek presented the first water crossing necessary and afterwards the trail started to break out of the trees and offer views of the surroundings. These views were especially great when the trail crossed over exposed granite surfaces and we could see peaks such as Unicorn Peak, Cockscomb, Echo Peaks, Cathedral Peak, and Fairview Dome to name a few. After a little more than an hour of hiking and just after crossing Dingley Creek, we came to the big bend in the river, which offered incredible views of the peaks over the river (above). We stopped here for a few minutes before continuing on.Past the big bend in the river, the trail alternated between being in trees and on exposed granite surfaces. At each break in the trees we were met with great views. The river during this first section looked pretty calm and content. At about 4 miles we crossed over the first footbridge over the Tuolumne River. Here, the river transitioned into an energetic, cascading torrent. From the footbridge we had a great view looking down the river towards Glen Aulin and the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne.As we climbed down towards Glen Aulin we passed by Tuolumne Falls. We stopped and took a few pictures here before continuing. I was leading the way and decided to head off-trail to get another perspective on Tuolumne Falls. Britt didn't notice this and continued on, despite me yelling her name. After I took a few pictures I returned to the trail and couldn't see Britt anywhere. I started walking down the trail while calling out for her. I reached the McGee Lake Trail junction and still hadn't found her. I decided that I would continue down to the footbridge at Glen Aulin and if I didn't find her there, then I would backtrack. Luckily, this is exactly where she was waiting for me and I didn't have to climb back up towards Tuolumne Falls. She hadn't heard me telling her I was off-trail and she continued down thinking I was ahead of her. We were both relieved that nothing had happened to either one of us and we stopped for a little while to check out the White Cascade, which was Britt's favorite waterfall during this hike (above-left).Continuing on the hike, we entered the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne with Glen Aulin Cascade at the head. Here the river is generally calm and slow moving with a few exceptions. As we made our way further downstream we noticed Mattie Falls coming down the northern walls. Unfortunately, this also meant that the trail was flooded and we had an interesting time making our way through it. In the first flooded section we were able to walk along numerous fallen logs. At the second flooded section I took off my shoes and walked through it while Britt negotiated her way along rocks and logs. After clearing the flooded sections we were rewarded with California Falls. Below this the river turns back to a fast, cascading torrent as it makes its way down towards Hetch Hetchy. Below California Falls are only a few small sections of calm water and the views of the canyon are outstanding (above-right).We reached Le Conte Falls well after noon and picked out a spot adjacent to the falls to sit down, eat, and rehydrate. Waterwheel Falls is only about 0.4 miles further downstream but over 300 feet down in elevation. We only took a couple of pictures near the top of this one, including a close-up of the large waterwheel, and then climbed back up to the lunch spot. Le Conte Falls was my favorite of the waterfalls we saw on this hike because there was a nice side-trail that led down to the side of the river where there were two large waterwheels (above-left).After resting for a little while at Le Conte Falls we started the climb back out of the canyon. It was about a 750' climb back up to Glen Aulin with most of that coming between Le Conte Falls and California Falls. We took a short break on the footbridge below White Cascade before continuing our climb. Once we made it back up to the first footbridge it was pretty easy sailing as far as elevation change goes. However, we had already hiked just under 13 miles and we still had about 4 miles to go. On a side-note, we saw the first people all day on this trail when we climbed back up to the first footbridge. The only other people we saw the whole day were a couple of rangers at the trailhead in the morning and a couple of tourists at the trailhead at the end of our hike. When we were about 3 miles from our car we really started to tire as our legs were turning to rubber. It was a happy sight to see the Soda Springs at the official trailhead and our efforts were rewarded again with a pair of deer posing in the open below the surrounding mountain peaks (above-right). We were now only about a half mile away from our car and we were feeling better. Back at the car, we appeased our backs by taking off our packs and stretched our aching legs. We retrieved the rest of our food and scented items from the bear locker and were off towards Yosemite Valley. As we came around a bend on the Big Oak Flat Road, we were greeted by El Capitan, Half Dome, and the Cathedral Rocks (below). Driving east through the valley, we were again awed by the scale of everything around us. We drove past the Cathedral Rocks and Bridalveil Falls, Ribbon Falls and El Capitan (aka "Big Damn Rock"), Yosemite Falls, and Sentinel Falls. At Curry Village we checked to see how late the pizza place was open and were happy to learn that it was open until 10pm. We quickly set up our tent and sleeping bags at our site in the North Pines Campground before heading back to Curry Village. There we ordered our usual-half pepperoni and onions, half Hawaiian-and a couple of Mammoth IPAs. We sat in the dark at 9pm and enjoyed every bite. With our stomachs satisfied we showered and headed back to our campsite, read for a little while, and finally turned off our lights to let our bodies recover. All in all, it was an amazing day and in the morning we would wake up in one of the most beautiful and awe-inspiring places in the world.