Adventures by Alan and MelanieĀ
The Eastern Sierra Nevada is perhaps the most beautiful and inspiring mountain range in the whole world. The views from US-395 anywhere between Lone Pine and Mammoth Lakes are second to none. When deciding where to go for a week-long adventure in September, this was an easy choice.
Continue reading “Sierra week part 1: Eastern Sierras”
After a few final days in Buenos Aires, we said goodbye to Argentina and flew back to the States. April was a wonderful month full of reunions, and a great reminder that we have the best friends.
On August 12th, 2017, we agreed to be adventure buddies for life! Wedding day was awesome. Surrounded by friends and family, we said “I do” among the trees near Twin Lakes, and giddily arrived at The Mill (a ski lodge transformed into our reception spot) to celebrate. We ate, drank, and danced under the stars – thrilled to be spending forever together, and also a bit shocked that we managed to pull the wedding off! The days and weeks leading up to the wedding were tough – planning a wedding is no joke! But the hard work was completely worth it, and has helped us to appreciate what wonderful friends we have. Without their help, the wedding wouldn’t have been possible!
July 30th, 2017
From the moment I first saw a photo of the massive granite formation overlooking gorgeous glacial lakes, I have wanted to climb Temple Crag. Alan and I had already requested Monday off to take our engagement photos in the evening, so it was the perfect time to head into the eastern Sierras to conquer the climb over the weekend. We drove to Lone Pine on Friday night to camp under the Milky Way and wake up early to snag overnight permits.
Per the modified plan, this post should have been called “Hike to Little Yosemite Valley”. With a shorter distance to cover (or so we thought), we got a later start, following a footpath in the snow through a beautiful valley. At one point we stopped to listen to a symphony of frogs cheering us on as we hiked.
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!
Day 2 took us over Donohue pass and into the beautiful Lyell canyon
We woke up to gorgeous skies on the second day, and started off to tackle Donohue Pass, our most elevation gain in a single day of the entire hike. The trail (which was more of a series of 50 foot muddy segments split by large patches of snow) began by descending toward a rushing river. After admiring many waterfalls, we reached a water crossing where we encountered a group (pack? school?) of PCT hikers, who splashed right through the cold water rather than finding the dry log bridge.
A perfectly still and clear Thousand Island lake reflects Banner peak, and a thin sheet of ice remains on most of the lake. It’s an odd experience to see so much ice and snow in summer weather – it was at least 70Ā° while we were at the shore.
