Hiking Yosemite's Iconic Clouds Rest

Come with me on a smokey overcast day as we hike up to Yosemite's iconic Clouds Rest.

 

15 miles round trip. 

 

 

About 1 1/2 miles away.

The start of the rock slabs foot path.

Still climbing up...

The first view of "The Ditch".

Looking back towards Tuolumne Meadows.

Almost there...

Ta-da!

20 Lakes Basin Hike

I hiked into the 20 Lakes Basin in Northern Yosemite for a little fishing. Caught a few dinks in the high lakes before the wind started, then headed back down and around Saddlebag Lake. 

 

I stopped at a nice looking spot on the Norteast corner of Saddlebag and probably hooked about 30 trout and landed around 25ish (not positive on the fish totals...I wasn't counting at the time). The biggest was the last of the day at about 18 inches. I was using a variety of Spoon lures and the action was non-stop for about 3 hours. Fishing barbless hooks and all fish caught were released alive. 

 

No photos of Saddlebag. I need to start clipping my GoPro to me when fishing so I can get more pictures. My main concern is always getting the fish back in the water ASAP, so I rarely bother with pictures. I usually have a nice mirror-less camera with me, but it's not near the water.

 

 

Mount Conness distant left, North Peak right center.

 

Hummingbird lake.

Mount Dana Hike

From the trailhead start at the Tioga Pass entrance station in Dana Meadows, I hiked the Mount Dana Trail to the summit and back. On top there are great views overlooking Mono lake, Saddlebag Lake area/Northern Yosemite, and the peaks of Tuolumne Meadows.

A little less than 5 miles round trip, with about 3,127 feet of elevation gain. It seemed harder than it did 30 years ago (and 25lbs. lighter). :)

 

I took off with a 8-18mm wide angle lens on my camera from the day before, but had wanted a standard zoom. It was fine, but the long distance photos aren't what I wanted.