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sunday, july 29, 2007 . tm to nelson lake backpack . stanislaus n.f. car camp

Backpacking: Tuolumne Meadows to Nelson Lake, Yosemite, July 20th–23rd 2007

I had planned this 3 day trip since February and was going to go hell or high water (well almost) however I couldn't find anybody who was interested—the usual excuse being they don't want to take time off of work. But it's a 4+ hour drive from the bay area and to attempt to drive this and then hike for 5 to 6 hours, set up camp, sleep, tear down camp, hike back another 5 to 6 hours, and then drive home another 4+ hours seems like a ridiculous undertaking for just a Saturday and Sunday. Plus I wanted to add a pre-hike day to acclimatize (since this would be the highest elevation I've backpacked at before) which amounted to four days: Friday, Saturday, Sunday & Monday. I finally found a hiking buddy willing to take the time off, Toru, who I met during a Sierra Club backpacking trip to Glen Aulin/Waterwheel Falls last July.

Trip Stats:

approx 12 miles round trip

elevation gain/loss (one way): +1674' -769'

highest point: 10,200'

lowest point: 8,600' Tuolumne Meadows

destination elevation: Nelson Lake, 9,600'

View the Tuolumne Meadows to Nelson Lake Photo Album

Trip Report:

Friday: Left the Bay Area, arrived in Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite National Park. Picked up our wilderness permit and received the usual wilderness ranger lecture. We set up our camp in the TM backpacker's walk-in camp which was filling up fast, then I went for a photography walk and checked out the store and grill and bought some dinner at the store ("fancy" spicy ramen soup, beef jerky, and some fresh fruit). After dinner I headed over to the ranger campfire talk to learn about the history of Tuolumne Meadows. After that I hit the hay, but didn't get much sleep due to the noise that comes with a packed-full campground.

~Cont. from lower left~

Saturday: Packed up and hit the trail. At first I didn't think I was going to make it! I was super tired and out of breath. I don't know if this was elevation or lack of sleep or too heavy of a pack or all three, but Toru offered to carry my lid which saved me about 5 lbs. at least. We took it slow and eventually the trail flattened out and we hit Elizabeth Lake for a lunch break. The next part of the "trail" was straight up to the pass and semi-cross country with no official trail (I never fully appreciated switchbacks until this trip... you don't know what you have ’til it's gone!). We were following ducks and footprints that would disappear and reappear, but managed to stay on track and make it to the top. After that was some steep downhill past The Cockscomb along the Echo Creek watershed and then through a pretty valley meadow. The final bit was a slog over two small ridges of pines and granite teasing us before finally reaching Nelson Lake.
Sunday: This was a layover day. Toru caught a fat trout in the morning which he fried up and shared for a tasty breakfast. We explored some of the area around the lake and found a hidden cascade that could be heard but not seen and didn't drain into Nelson Lake. After that I went for a swim in the lake and had a quiet lunch on a large white rock to dry off and enjoy the scenery. In the afternoon I took more pictures and admired the many wildflowers that were still blooming. A few puffy white clouds visited from the east in the afternoon and I predicted a thundershower for either the next afternoon or the one after that. The mosquitoes got a little heavier this evening but workable. I also noticed that the pines were infested with these crazy little moths.
Monday: I woke up earlier today and the mosquitoes were again a little thicker this morning (but for the most part not bad at all!) More clouds had moved in and it was a little muggy and still. I figured my thunderstorm prediction correct and we decided we should get over the pass as early as possible. We packed up and hit the trail by 9am and started our ascent over the pass. The sky became more overcast which had the benefit of keeping the temperature down and we actually made decent time. Hiking this direction was much easier for me probably due to further acclimatization, an extra dose of caffeine, and the day of rest. We were in Tuolumne Meadows scarfing down a cheeseburger with fries before 2pm.

Steczo brothers annual group campout

The pines campground
stanislaus national forest

Car Camping: The Pines Group Camp,
Stanislaus National Forest,
July 14th & 15th 2007

View the Stanislaus N.F. Group Campout Photo Album

My coworker friend invited me to go on this group campout that some friends of her's have annually. They reserve a group camping spot, invite a bunch of people, and then cook dinner and breakfast for everyone! Very nice indeed!

We left after work Friday and arrived just before 11pm. We were promptly greeted by a shot of Jack Daniels at which point my liver and stomach screamed at me for accepting. We set up our tents hung out for a little while, then hit the hay.

Saturday we were supposed to go rafting, but because the water levels were so low this year, the rafting company was shut down for the season. The group split up into smaller clusters depending on what people wanted to see. Since Sarah and I had already seen the tourist sights of Yosemite Valley and because the temperature was nearing 100 degrees, we decided to pack a picnic and go for a swim in the Merced River in the valley. After lunch and a swim we restocked on ice at the Yosemite Store and decided there wasn't much else we wanted to see in the valley due to high tourist counts and high temperatures.

We headed out of the park and found a swimming hole not far from our camp that I had read about and Sarah had been to but couldn't remember where it was. It's called rainbow pool and has a pretty waterfall. However, it was really crowded, and some of the people there were the trashiest people imaginable. Trying to ignore the people we did some swimming and had a great time anyway.

This is the first time I had ever swam under a waterfall. My first attempt failed due to the strong current and traffic of a few other people trying to get behind the waterfall as well. After getting smacked and kicked in the face a couple of times, I took a break out of the water on the rocks. Eventually I made it and it was a really cool experience.

After the sun sank low we went back to camp and munched on dinner prepared by Mike and his many helpers: a tasty white bean stew with tortillas and cheese and later had dutch oven baked camp biscuits which were warm and tasty.

Sunday morning was hot hot hot. Packed our stuff ASAP, had breakfast and hit rainbow pool one more time to rinse off the dust and sweat.

Rant alert:
My one serious issue is how trashy people where at rainbow pool: I picked up a dirty diaper and a bag full of trash not belonging to us the day before and Sunday we spotted two more dirty diapers... PEOPLE PICK UP YOUR SHITTY DIAPERS!!!...there is a reason why I don't have kids...why should I have to pick up other peoples' crap, literally?!?! Do they think that if they leave the diapers there, they will decompose quickly in the next high water?? I say to them, "HELLO this stuff becomes drinking water eventually...ever heard of don pedro reservoir, you know the one you pee in when you water ski and the one you barf in when you've had too much to drink on the boat in the sun? yes that one... that one becomes drinking water...and now it has your shitty diapers floating in it too." Arggghhhh!

entering Yosemite national park for a daytrip picnic and a swim

yosemite national park

Sarah eating a nectarine

rainbow pool picnic area, stanislaus national forest.

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2006_07_02 . backpacking . waterwheel falls . yosemite national park . quicktime movie w/sound { 5MB file. please be patient while loading }