It was a wet morning. All of my gear was soaked from condensation. Im feeling extra exhausted today too. From here it is 90 miles to Kennedy Meadows North so Im going to try and hike 20 miles today. We climbed 3.5 miles up our last major pass of the Sierra - Donahue Pass. It’s sort of like a mini version of Muir Pass. Large snowfields had to be crossed in order to get to the top. Everything from here for the next day is supposed to be downhill. We also have cell service up here. I facetimed Jessica and my dad. I also tried my brother but I got no answer.
The view of the southern slope on Donahue Pass
Ten Gallon posing for mom
Getting down off of the pass, we scrambled a couple rock cliffs that had cascading waterfalls coming down them too. We hit a couple glissade paths to cut some of the switchbacks down the mountain. When we got down it was a spectacular opening to a miles-long green grass meadow. It looks fake. The Lyell Fork river is aqua green and cuts through the meadow like a long snake. The water is so clear its hard to believe. Behind us are the towering snowy peaks we just descended from - Donahue Pass. Ten Gallon and GoPro jumped in for a swim. I rolled a smoke, journaled, and watched them freeze their asses off.
Lyell Fork is beautiful
We marched down through the valley to Tuolumne Meadows and saw hoards of section hikers and Yosemite tourists. We can’t camp within 4 miles of the area so we pushed towards a location along the Tuolumne River. It was really nice and calm. We set up our tents and quickly realized the mosquitos are on a whole new level of INSANE.
Tuolumne River
We decided to hike a little further. The rest of the gang showed up made a decision to stay and brave the mosquitos. We pushed on about 200 yards to a slightly better, more dry spot on the river but the bugs are ridiculous. Its hard to do anything but sit in your tent. Cooking dinner is even a pain in the ass. As I write this Im debating opening my tent to get my camera out of my bag and capture a photo of the sun setting over the river. The moon is massive. I have to get this photo. Damn mosquitos.
The outskirts of Yosemite Valley