- Today’s Miles: 11.4
- Ascent: 1,035 ft
- Descent: 279 ft
- Total Miles on Trip: 25.9
Kevin and I both wake-up a little after 5 A.M. My sleeping bag is a little wet from the condensation that built-up in the tent during the night. I make a mental note to lay it out today during lunch. Will it actually happen? I give it a 50/50 chance.
The crisp morning air feels amazing against my mosquito bites. Speaking of- could it be? It’s mosquito free! In fact, by the time we leave camp at 7 A.M., I’m feeling so good that I ditch my pants and long-sleeved hoodie. I slather Picaridin Insect Lotion on my exposed arms and legs. I feel somewhat gutsy with all this exposed skin and am looking forward to seeing how today goes.
Kevin and I make good time yet again hiking the 4.5 miles to Cathedral Lake junction by 9:00 A.M. Our hike there is beautiful terrain with meadows and rolling trail. Cathedral Lake is .7 mile miles off from the JMT but we both want to check it out. We walk down the junction and after a little looking, we find Cathedral Lake. The backdrop to the lake is an extremely steep granite slab that gives me the feeling of being in a granite dome.
We layout in the sun and for the first time on the trip, we are near water with no mosquitos. This fact right here is cause for celebration. I feel the water with my toes and it doesn’t feel TOO cold. “I think I might try to swim to the other side,” I tell Kevin.
“You sure?” Kevins asks me. He points to the packed snow still on the granite walls that lead down to the lake. I venture in and by the time my hips are submerged, I’ve abandoned the idea of any type of swimming. A good head dunk will do.
We hang out at the lake for another hour or so before calling it quits and heading back to the JMT. It’s 10:30 A.M. and we only have another 5.5. miles to our intended camping spot for the night, backpackers’ campground in Tuolumne Meadows. Kevin tells me how normally there is a little store and grill open at Tuolumne. We get excited about this but a mile or so later a backpacker crushes our hopes when he tells the grill is currently closed. The cheeseburger that never was.
We arrive at Tuolumne Meadows backpackers campground laughably early- it’s 1:30 P.M. Kevin and I discuss what to do. Ideally, we’d hike another two miles or so and camp. However, camping within four miles of Tuolumne Meadows is prohibited. So we’d have to hike another four miles from our current spot. We both feel pretty good and say we are open to the idea. We end up deciding to check out the backpackers’ campground and then make our decision if we want to do another four today.
Following signage, we stroll into the campground and it looks pretty dang nice. I mean it has picnic tables and bathrooms. Also, there are only two other visible backpackers in the large campsite. I comment on the picnic tables, hoping Kevin is with me on staying the night here.
“Ya, sounds good to me. My knee is kind of bothering me anyways,” Kevin tells me.
We drop our stuff and I take my sleeping bag out to let it dry. I’m happy with our decision to do a short day today, 11 miles, and stop here. My body has been holding up well so far but my feet are sore. Also, Kevin tells me tomorrow we start to climb Donohue Pass. I think this will probably be the last of us ending hiking for the day at 2 P.M., although it has been sweet while its lasted.
