After an incredible night’s sleep, we awoke in Lyell Canyon ready for a more mellow day of hiking. We began by walking through the lush river valley, stopping often to admire the wildlife and scenery. Eager to see what the trail had in store for us, I took the lead and nearly walked into a deer casually grazing feet from the trail. One of us was startled, and it wasn’t the deer!
The trail became more forested, and we knew Tuolumne couldn’t be far when we started battling mosquitos. We rationed a bit of bug spray and walked alongside the wild, rushing river, crossing streams on logs and stones. As the trail began to climb, we left the bugs behind and got our first glimpse of Cathedral Peak. This breathtaking formation remained in view the remainder of the day, and we are eager to return to climb it.
We began to take more steps on snow than dirt – it was hard to believe that Donohue pass was only yesterday! Lunch had barely passed and we were nearing Upper Cathedral Lake, our intended campsite for the night. Unwilling to wait for the view from the pass, we decided to press on and cover a few more miles.
The view from Cathedral pass was incredible! Mountains beyond mountains dusted with snow with a perfect blue sky backdrop. How lucky are we? Every direction was breathtaking, and leaving our viewpoint was only made bearable by the promise of another day of great views. (Okay, and warm dinner too!)
After crossing a swift river on a tall snowbridge, we found a perfect spot to camp and settled in for the night, treating ourselves to soup, breakfast tacos, and pudding!
https://awhite4777.pythonanywhere.com/SierraMapperAlpha/default/mapper/n066/n030
