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| Lauryn more than half way to May Lake |
Glen Aulin to May Lake Trail Description (from the The High Sierra Camps Website):
Starting Elevation: 7800 ft. (2378 m)
Ending Elevation: 9270 ft. (2825 m)
2220' gain and 740' loss
Approximate Mileage: 8.5 miles (13.7 km)
From the junction by the
bridge across the Tuolumne River the trail ascends to McGee Lake and continues
through a lodgepole forest, crossing Cathedral Creek with views towards Falls
Ridge. As the High Sierra Camp trail climbs higher towards May Lake, it
offers more views of the Sierra Crest with Mt. Conness & Mt. Dana being the
most prominent. After a gentle descent to Raisin Lake, the trail climbs
steeply again the last half mile to May Lake. As you ascend, you gain
amazing panoramas of Southern Yosemite while Mt. Hoffman dominates the view
behind May Lake.
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| The Loop Trail in Orange |
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| The steel bridge over the Tuolumne River at Glen Aulin |
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| David and Lauryn cross Cathedral Creek (which begins at Cathedral Peak's north cirque) |
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| Our mosquito-pestered lunch at the Murphy Creek Trail Junction |
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| Out of the woods (and mosquitoes) we switchback up to Raisin Lake Pass |
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| View south to Lake Tenaya and our next day's climb up behind Tenaya Peak to Sunrise HSC |
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| Approaching Raisin Lake |
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| Enjoying Raisin Lake |
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| David & Lauryn with giant western white pine |
After a steep climb up from Raisin Lake, we walk through a blue lupine-lined trail to May Lake, set up our tents and get in the dinner line.
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| The chow line |
May Lake High Sierra Camp Description (from the HSC
website):
Towering above May Lake, Mt. Hoffman is the geographic center of Yosemite
National Park and an excellent, though strenuous, hike for May Lake visitors.
Located on a quiet, high mountain lake, perfect for relaxing and fishing, the
camp is a fantastic blend of hospitality and high country scenery. The ridge
just behind camp has a grand view of the southern end of Yosemite and is a
popular sunset spot for hikers and photographers.
In 1863 Charles F. Hoffman, a topographer, climbed a 10,850 ft. peak with
William Brewer and J.D. Whitney of the historic Whitney Survey. Two years
later the mountain was named for him. Hoffman then named the lake
underneath the peak for his fiancée, Lucy Mayotta Browne. May Lake High
Sierra Camp was constructed in 1938. The site was chosen by Mary Curry
Tresidder to replace the old Tenaya Lake camp. Boats were hauled in for
guest use, but were later discontinued by request of the National Park
Service. From the small ridge behind camp, guests were able to watch the
Firefall at Glacier Point in the distance. The hike up Mt. Hoffman has
challenged many generations.
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| The conch shell trumpet announces dinner |
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| Come on in |
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| The kitchen tent is removed each September |
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| A peek into the stone kitchen |
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| May Lake kitchen |
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| Lauryn capturing alpenglow on Half Dome |
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| Cathedral Peak's alpenglow shadow cast on Unicorn Peak |
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| Aplenglow from Mt Dana to Echo Peaks |
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| The Propylaea and Parthenon on the Acropolis in Athens (internet image) |
Having just returned from Athens, I was curious about the relationship of the Acropolis to Cathedral Peak. The magnificent Propylaea entrance and the nearby portico of the Parthenon face due west and lie at 37° 58' 17" N (north of the equator). Cathedral Peak is 37° 51' 23" N, making it only eight miles south of the Acropolis' latitude. Allowing for this, I estimate that someone standing on the rocky outcrop just above May Lake HSC (where I took these photos of Cathedral Peak) could accurately imagine the Parthenon's eight-columned west portico looming just behind Cathedral Peak...that is just about 9,500 miles behind it.
This seemingly trivial fact brings me great joy because I can now relate two very special, yet far removed, places not only geographically but temporally. With my imagination I can compress both space and time to experience in one moment two remote places at different times. I can imagine the sun rising through the white marble columns of the Parthenon just as the sun breaks through the white granite colonnaded spires of Cathedral Peak. Or the moon. Or the reflected alpenglow.
I just realized that I don't even need to be at May Lake to experience this. Right now as I type this in the mid-afternoon in my office in Elk Grove, California, I have just imagined being at the ridge above May Lake last summer as the sun rises simultaneously through the column-spires of the Parthenon and my chosen Holy Mountain. Imagination truly gives us the winged feet of Mercury to teleport ourselves anywhere at any time.
One of the joys of travel is to make a formerly foreign place part of your very being, to let it into your heart and give it a place in your personal landscape. Just last month, as soon as I had climbed through the Propylaea gate onto the Acropolis and got my bearings I realized that this magnificent ancient icon faced our home in California. I realized I could imagine the Acropolis looming over my eastern horizon and taking on a rosy hue as the sun set over the Pacific. I now had a geographic as well as an emotional fix on the formerly empty space of the Acropolis. John, a long-time Yosemite hiking friend, told me on the deck of the Jade as we sailed through the Aegean that he was topside the evening before as we pulled away from Athen's port of Piraeus. He saw through his telephoto lens from eight miles away the soft afternoon light reflecting off the white Pentelic marble of the west portico of the Parthenon. This helped him place the Acropolis in the topography of his mind.
Walking the 49 miles of Yosemite's High Sierra Loop did exactly the same thing for me. What was once an empty spot on a map has become a pilgrim's path populated with irreplaceable memories of people, topography, weather, water, plants and animals. I have added more richly illustrated pages to my forty-five year old
Book of Yosemite Adventures. My roots in the Range of Light are set deeper and my heart grows more full and open to life. This is why we need to preserve wilderness and cultural treasures and it is why we need to create a space and time for adventure.
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| Full moon rising over Cathedral Cirque |
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| Quiet end to a full mountain day |
This was a one-night stop for us so we headed off with our packs after breakfast the next morning, which will be covered in the next post: Trail Segment 3: May Lake to Sunrise.
Happy Trails to You! Bob Hare
