Travelogue

Almost backThe lighting was so beautiful over the lake in the morning that we lingered for quite a while sipping coffee, eating our granola bars, and taking photographs. Plus, this was our last night on the trail, so we wanted to savor it before our trek back to civilization. Oh, and I almost forgot - it was our 33rd wedding anniversary as well! Herb is such a romantic!

Today our hike back out would be our longest of the trip - 9 miles, although most of it would be downhill. The first 2 miles back to the main Canyon Creek Trail were the hardest as the trail was quite rocky and required careful foot placement to avoid twisting an ankle. After that it was pretty much smooth sailing through familiar terrain.

I Made It !!!Since it was Friday, we did pass quite a few parties hiking in for the weekend. However, I think the threat of smoke was still keeping the crowds away.

The hike out was uneventful and we were getting so used to carrying a load on our backs that I barely even thought about it anymore. However, I was still quite happy to see the car, and even happier at the thought of having lunch in Weaverville on our drive back - a possible trip highlight!

Weaverville did not disappoint. It is a very cute town with quite a few eating establishments to cater to very hungry hikers at the end of their trips. We ate at the highly recommended Mamma Llama's Eatery and Cafe.

It had been a great trip - beautiful location, reasonable number of hiking miles per day, and just the right number of nights - A little short on the wine though.

Travelogue

Finding our way between Upper and Lower Canyon Creek LakesOnce again, we decided to take the “high road” over Lower Canyon Creek Lake to get back to the main trail. However, this time we wound up going too high and couldn’t find a way to work our way back down to the Canyon Creek Trail. Every way forward seemed to include a sharp drop-off. Eventually, we gave up moving forward and retraced our steps back from whence we came until we found a cairn we must have missed, which marked a way to get back down to the main trail.

After hiking about 3 ½ miles (should have been more like 3 without our mishap), we came to the junction for Boulder Creek Lakes, which said 1 ½ miles, but turned out to be closer to 2. I thought this was going to just be a quick, easy hike in, but it turned out to be a lot steeper and rougher than I anticipated. Plus, it was really hot out and most of the trail was exposed to the sun. Needless to say, I got a bit cranky.

A well-need rest on Boulder Creek LakeWe weren’t too far along before we ran into a couple, about our age (suck it Irish guy from yesterday!) on their way out. The woman looked exhausted and overheated and none too happy. They said they left Boulder Creek Lake early because of the smoke. Since the skies had cleared out yesterday after similar warnings to retreat, we decided to take our chances and forge on. The couple said that there was only one person at the lake and that he was planning to head out as well. If the skies cleared, this could actually work out to our benefit, as the lake is usually crowded with campers.

As we continued up the steep, rocky trail, the smoke did get worse and so did my mood. I started questioning Herb about the wisdom of this. What if we got caught in a forest fire? He gave his usual lecture about me worrying too much and we forged on.

Our campsite at Boulder Creek LakesJust as I was in full whine mode, complaining about the smoke and the heat, we came across a lovely stream, where we refilled our Smartwater bottles and Herb wet his buff and put it over my head to cool me down and shut me up. It worked on both counts and before I knew it, we were at looking down at a lovely alpine lake set in a granite basin, with rugged peaks surrounding it. Morale was picking up.

We found a good campsite alongside the lake near some rocky shelves to sunbathe on, and even swim from if we weren’t such weenies. As foretold to us, there was only one guy on the other side of the lake who was packing up to go. He offered us his spot, but I was hot and tired and didn’t want to put my backpack back on. Our site was actually quite perfect.

During the afternoon, one other couple did hike in to the other side of the lake, jump in for a swim (showoffs), and then turn around and hike back out again, so it looked like we would actually have this incredible spot all to ourselves.

Lolo enjoying her morning coffee on Boulder Creek LakeWe spent the afternoon reading, fishing, and dipping our toes in the water. That evening we went for a stroll to the other side of the lake, reconfirming that we actually did have the best camping spot of all. A rockfall prevented us from continuing around the lake, so we retraced our way back to our home for the night.

Herb had had the foresight to fill up our found Platypus water bag and left it in the sun, so we actually had some warm water to take a quick rinse off.

Feeling refreshed and somewhat clean, we settled onto our rock shelf by the lake, got out our little supply of cheese and crackers, my lake-chilled wine, and Herb’s vodka and gatorade powder (yuch!) and just gazed at the incredible scenery before us.

Before it go too dark, we made our dinner of Knorr’s rice and salmon and crawled into our cozy tent.

The lighting the next morning over the lake was breathtaking, and the full moon behind us had still not set adding to an already awesome scene. What a place to enjoy a morning coffee!

Travelogue

Looking out over Canyon CreekAfter some coffee and Nature Valley Oats ‘N Honey granola bars (we decided to forgo the oatmeal this morning), we reloaded our packs and we set off on the trail north towards Upper Canyon Creek.

From the junction, the trail began a moderate climb - nothing too tough, just pretty much a steady uphill. Conditions weren’t particularly great, as smoke had settled in overnight, leaving visibility pretty poor.

We eventually came to a spot where a tiny stream crossed the trail. It was tiny now, but our neighbors who had hiked this in July had faced a lot more challenging stream crossings than we would be dealing with in late September. We crossed this little stream three times as we followed a series of switchbacks up the canyon.

At about 5 miles from the trailhead (2 miles into our hike today), we came across the first of three waterfalls along the trail. While not as impressive as it would have been during the spring, the falls and pools were pretty and served as a good source of water. Herb and I had decided to carry two 1-liter Smartwater bottles each, which we would refill along the way as needed, using our Sawyer Squeeze water filter on top of the active shared bottle. Even at this time of year, we had no trouble finding places to refill.

Herb hiking up to Upper Canyon Creek LakeAt about 6 miles, we met a couple coming the other direction, saying that they had camped at Boulder Creek Lakes the night before, but the smoke was so bad that you couldn’t see a thing. This was certainly disappointing, but since we were all the way here, we decided to forge on to Upper Creek Canyon and just hope that the skies cleared. A little while further along the trail, we met another girl who said she was also hiking out because of the smoky conditions.

Continuing to moderately climb, we passed the junction for the spur trip to Boulder Creek Lakes (6.5 miles from the trailhead) and continued north to our planned destination at Upper Creek Canyon Lake. As we did so, the skies were becoming clearer, so hopefully we had made the right choice to continue on.

Approaching Upper Canyon Creek LakeShortly after the junction we came across another hiker, probably in his 40s, with a thick Irish brogue, moving along quite quickly with just a daypack on his back. I was envious of his light load. We spoke to him for awhile, sharing stories of trails and places we loved. At one point, he started to say something like, “I give you guys credit for still doing…” and then caught himself, realizing that he was basically calling us too old to do hikes like this.

After we left him, Herb and I had a good laugh, as we are still 28 in our minds, and continued dragging our feeble bodies onward.

Eventually, as we approached Lower Canyon Creek Lake, our so-easy-to-follow trail turned to granite slabs with cairns to guide us along the right path. We made our way down to the lake and even briefly considered camping on it, before deciding to go all the way to Upper Canyon Creek Lake. The west side of the lake had a path alongside it, but the east side was impassable with the Sawtooth Mountains looming above it.

We deliberated for awhile about whether to take the low road alongside the lake, or the high road up and over the granite slabs we had just come from. A hiker we had met earlier had advised us to take the high road, so that is what we did. The scenery along the way was phenomenal. It was a little confusing, but we eventually found ourselves at the stream that connected the two lakes, which we had to cross over to get to the east side of Upper Creek Canyon Lake. I can imagine that this is quite a difficult passage during the spring, but for us, it was an easy hop across rocks without even getting our feet wet.

View down on Lower and Upper Canyon Creek LakesThere didn’t seem to be many spots to camp - you are supposed to only camp on a spot that has already been leveled out for a tent - but we found a really nice option on the eastern shore of the lake, complete with small boulders to put our stuff on (rather than in the dirt) and a Platypus 4-liter water bag that someone left behind that would be perfect in providing us with a well-needed shower. There was even a “flutter” (I looked that one up) of Monarch butterflies by the water to greet us. It was quite lovely.

We set about the business of setting up camp. Herb put the tent up, inflated the mattresses, etc., while I tried to construct a little dam out of rocks at the edge of the lake where I could place my green tea bottle full of wine to chill it down. Everyone has their priorities.

It was quite surprisingly warm (near 80), so we spent the afternoon reading and fishing before getting down to the nightly shores of showering (so good!) and making dinner.

Our campsite on Upper Canyon Creek LakeSpeaking of dinner, let me describe a bit our menu selection. Rather than going with freeze-dried backpacking food, such as Mountain House, which is expensive and not that great, we bought Knorr’s Rice and Idahoan powdered potatoes and used one of those as a base to add pouches of either salmon, tuna, or lemon chicken. It was actually quite tasty, and I think better and cheaper than the freeze-dried options. Oh, and of course, my chilled Chardonnay.

It did get cold during the night, but not too bad - probably in the 40s. Probably the chilliest time is in the morning when all the surrounding granite has had a chance to cool down.

After our standard breakfast fare of coffee and Nature Valley Oat ‘N Honey bars, we hit the trail again, with the intention of camping at Boulder Creek Lakes.

Travelogue

Into the WoodsAs I mentioned in the overview, our trip itinerary was a 3-night backpack along the Canyon Creeks Trail, with a side trip to Boulder Creeks Lake, about a 22-mile adventure.

The drive from our home to the trailhead for the Canyon Creeks Hike was about 5 hours from our home. Getting there was very well spelled out in the guide books. Before getting to the trailhead, we stopped at the Weaverville Ranger Station to pick up a wilderness permit at the self-serve kiosk right outside the building. Herb had already obtained the required campfire permit online. We also signed a registration book where we listed our planned itinerary.

From the town of Weaverville, which is about 45 miles west of Redding, we continued straight on Highway 299 for 8 miles to the tiny town of Junction City, where we turned right onto Canyon Creek Road, and continued another 13.8 miles to a large parking lot at the end of the road, right next to the Ripstein Campground.

We arrived at the trailhead around 4:00 pm, just enough time to do our 3-mile hike into an area called the Sinks, where we planned to camp for the night. Our neighbors, as well as the guide books, had described this as a good place to stop on a first night.

Our campsite at the SinksWe did the final checking of gear, loaded our packs on our backs, and set off on the trail for Canyon Creek. After a short distance, we came to a junction, Bear Creek to the right and Canyon Creek to the left.

The trail was pretty nondescript - no big views, just a peaceful forest of dogwood, maple, oak, and Douglas fir. We knew we were supposed to come to the Sinks at about the 3-mile point, so when we saw a spur trail off to the left at 2.9 miles, we took it. During the spring, there is supposed to be a little island nestled between two arms of a creek, but now everything was bone dry. We followed a dry creek bed until we found a spot flat enough to camp for the night.

I wasn’t particularly impressed, but Herb said that it was probably quite nice in the spring when water was flowing. We set up the tent and made dinner before it got dark.

Travelogue

Home Sweet Home!

Travelogue

Secret Cove on Lake TahoeSince we were in no particular rush to get home, we decided to squeeze another day into our mini-vacation and spend the night in South Lake Tahoe. Usually we stay at Camp Richardson, but last year we discovered another alternative called Campground by the Lake. It has the advantage of being located right across the street from the lake, but I do still like Camp Richardson for its proximity to the Tallac Historic Site. It’s nice to have two good choices in South Lake Tahoe.

That afternoon we drove up to Secret Cove, one of a series of secluded, pristine beaches along Highway 28 on the remote Nevada eastern shore of the lake. It is one of Herb’s favorite beaches, which means a lot coming from a beach aficionado, so we come back to it every time we are in the area.

Along this section of the lake, the highway is way above the lake, so we had to hike down a fairly long, steep path to the beach, lugging our beach chairs and cooler.

We were quite surprised when we got our first sighting of the beach - or what was left of it. The lake was so high, which I guess is good news, that there was barely and beach left. The boulders that we had tucked ourselves behind in previous years were now in the water. We managed to find a bit of unoccupied sand and spent the afternoon reading and cooling off in the lovely clear water.

When we got back to Campground by the Lake that evening, we walked across the street to the beach to watch another beautiful sunset over Lake Tahoe.

Travelogue

Day 1 - Hiking to Elizabeth Lake and Unicorn Peak

View of Lembert Dome from Tuolumne MeadowsWe had arrived in Tuolumne Meadows last evening, too late to do much of anything but a quick walk out into the Meadow just to absorb the peace and beauty of this incredible place before turning in for the night.

Today we had the whole day to ourselves before the arrival of our guests for the weekend, so we decided to spend it hiking, which is pretty much what one does in Tuolumne Meadows. We had hiked most of its trails in previous visits, so Herb suggested one that we do a new one, the hike up to Elizabeth Lake.

Herb sort of lured me into this hike before I knew what I was getting into. He billed it as a 5-mile round trip hike, right from our campsite, to a lovely alpine lake - and oh, we could continue on for a bit towards Unicorn Peak if we felt like it.

Lolo attacks the ravineWe packed up a lunch and set off through the campground to campsite B49, next to which is the trailhead to Elizabeth Lake. The trail started off with a moderate climb through a forest of lodgepole pine and mountain hemlock before joining up and running alongside Unicorn Creek.

The views got better and better as we climbed out of the woods, with the imposing Mount Conness and Ragged Peak behind us and Unicorn and Cathedral Peaks laid out before us.

After about 2 ½ miles we reached the shores of Elizabeth Lake (elevation 9,580 feet) and followed the path along the northeast shore of the lake. Before continuing on and up to Unicorn Peak, we stopped for a picnic lunch on the banks of the lake, all the while staring up at this unique rock formation, wondering just how the heck we were going to get up there, as there is no designated trail. We also took note of a cliff below it to hopefully ensure that we would not come down that way and find ourselves at the brink of it.

Lolo loving the talus fieldAfter much deliberation, we decided to scramble up the rocky ravine to the left of it, hoping to find a navigable trail to the right once we got on top. It was a long, tough slog up a rocky 1,300 feet to a height of 10,752 feet, made even more difficult by the fact that we were not acclimated to high elevation yet, having driven from near sea level the day before.

On top of the ravine at last, we thought it would be quite obvious as to how to get to the base of Unicorn Peak. However, Unicorn Peak turned out be not as unique as we thought, and we at first mistook another rock formation, the Cockscomb, for our real goal. After pulling out a map and orienting ourselves based on recognizable features, such as Cathedral Peak and Budd Lake, we were able to get back on track and found Unicorn Peak’s saddle.

That was the good news. The bad news was that we had to make our way across a vast talus field, along which we had to use our trekking poles to test the stability of each rock before we trusted stepping on it. It was probably only about 300 yards, but it felt like it took forever.

Herb enjoying the view of Elizabeth LakeFinally, we managed to get near the base of Unicorn Peak, which was our goal for today. Getting to the summit is quite technical. The South Summit is the only one that doesn’t require climbing gear to get to the top, but it still requires doing class 3 – 4 scrambling to get to the top. Perhaps we would save that for another day.

However, the fun wasn’t over yet as we had to decide how to best make our way back down to Elizabeth Lake when there was no obvious trail. Plus, we wanted to avoid winding up at the top of that cliff we had noticed from our lunch spot on the lake. There was no way we wanted to work our way back to the ravine that we had climbed up, so we just kept heading down, taking the path of least resistance, and keeping the lake in our sights. There was quite a bit of bushwhacking involved along the way. Some cairns would certainly have been nice.

Finally we made it back down to the lake and continued on back to the campground. It was probably the hardest 8-mile hike we have ever done. I would take 5 miles on a trail over 300 yards on talus any day.

Day 2 - Hiking to Dog Lake and Hanging out in the Meadow

Dog LakeBeth and Richard (Erin’s parents) arrived at our campsite bright and early Friday morning, ready for a full day together before the kids arrived later tonight. What a different feeling from last year, when we were meeting them for the first time, with 8 hours to spend alone together before Tommy and Erin’s arrival - which could have been awkward if we hadn’t been so compatible. I guess it says a lot for Tommy and Erin’s judgment of their parents that we would get along just fine and be great friends before they even arrived. They were right.

Once their tent was set up and all food stored in the bear box, we decided to go on a hike to Dog Lake, one of the easier to reach alpine lakes in Yosemite.

View of Unicorn Peak from the MeadowWe parked at the Dog Lake parking area just west of the Tuolumne Meadows Lodge. From there, we crossed Tioga Pass Road and followed the trail, which rose pretty steeply for the first mile as it wound its way through a lodgepole pine forest. I felt bad because I had told Beth that the trail was pretty flat and easy - Oops.

At the ¾ mile point we came to the junction for Lembert Dome, which is really a worthwhile hike with great views of Tuolumne Meadows and the surrounding peaks from its summit. It does, however, require a bit of scrambling up a steep slabby section towards the top, so we figured it would be better to save this for another day when our guests were more acclimated to the altitude.

So, instead we continued on for another mile to the shores of pretty Dog Lake with views of Mount Dana and Mount Gibbs in the distance. Although there is a path that circles the lake, we satisfied ourselves with a picnic lunch on its shoreline.

All in all, the hike is a moderate 3.5 miles (RT) with a 600-foot elevation gain.

Lovely Tuolumne MeadowsOne of the loveliest places to spend late afternoon / early evening in Tuolumne is wandering around the Meadow. So, we packed chairs and a cooler of wine and cheese, loaded up the car, and parked along the road where a wide trail ( 0.1 mile east of the Visitor Center) led out into the meadow.

In about a ½ mile the trail crosses a footbridge over the Tuolumne River and leads to a rocky beach along its shore - the perfect place to enjoy the lovely views of Cathedral Peak, Unicorn Peak, the Cockscomb, and Echo Peaks to the south and Lembert Dome to the north, enhanced greatly by the wine and cheese in our cooler.

I would have to say that I looked at Unicorn Peak a lot differently now that we had actually hiked up to it from our campsite. I was pretty proud of myself.

The kids didn’t arrive until close to midnight, but once a mother, always a mother, so I waited up for their arrival.

Day 3 - Hanging out at Tenaya Lake and Hiking up Pothole Dome

Lolo kayaking on Tenaya LakeIt is not difficult to see why Tenaya Lake is referred to as the “Jewel of the High Country.” With its glacial blue waters, surrounded by granite domes, it has to be one of the most beautiful lakes in the Sierras.

So, today we decided to spend the first part of our day, lounging on its sandy beaches, swimming in its chilly waters, and paddling in our kayaks around its shoreline.

Herb stores the kayaks on top of the motorhome when we travel, which requires quite a bit of heavy lifting to get them up there, but feels worth it when we find a lake like Tenaya. Although we have kayaked around Tenaya several times, it was nice to give our guests a chance to experience paddling around this beautiful lake.

Since we are not a group that just sits around well, afterwards we decided to take a hike to the top of Pothole Dome, a short hike that has a lot of bang for its buck. The parking lot for Pothole Dome is located about 1 ½ west of the Visitor Center.

View of Tuolumne Meadows from atop Pothole DomeThe trail begins along a meadow before reaching the base of the Dome. From that point on, there is no trail, but rather an easy scramble up whatever route you choose to the top. And, as its name implies, there actually are lots of potholes on Pothole Dome, formed by glaciers trapping flowing water, in which swirling rocks slowly drilled out a hole.

From the top, there are superb views of the Tuolumne River flowing through the meadow, as well as many of Tuolumne’s famous domes and peaks, such as Fairview Dome, Lembert Dome, Mount Dana, and Mount Gibbs. Not bad for a 1 ½ mile hike with only a 200-foot elevation gain.

That view of the river flowing through the meadow was just too tempting to resist, so that evening, we loaded up chairs, cameras, fishing rods, hors d’oeuvres, and wine and spent a lovely evening fishing, laughing, and watching the light change over its surrounding peaks.

Day 4 - Guests Departure and Hiking the John Muir Trail along the Lyell Fork

Lolo chillin' along the Lyell Fork of the Tuolumne RiverSunday - time for working folk to head back to the real world, while us retirees tried not to gloat about being able to linger around paradise for another day or two.

While Beth and Richard got an early start on their long drive back to the LA area, Tommy and Erin stayed for a while, mostly hoping to meet up with Ethan, one of his co-workers who was speed hiking the John Muir trail from Yosemite Valley to Mt. Whitney, hoping to do its 211 miles in 7 days, while hikers take 3 weeks.

Fortunately, there was just enough cell coverage in Tuolumne, for Tommy and Ethan to plan a brief meet up at the Tuolumne Meadows Store, before he had to forge on. He needed to get out of Yosemite National Park that day because he was traveling light and didn’t have a bear canister, which is required of all backpackers in the park.

View of Unicorn Peak from the MeadowWhen he arrived, he looked great - just like he was out for a Sunday stroll. We gave him a tuna sandwich and bought him an ice cream in the store, which he very much appreciated, although he confessed it did put an * on his totally unsupported through hike. Still, he said it was worth it.

We wished him well, and off he went.

Tommy and Erin left shortly afterwards, and Herb and I spent the rest of the day hiking from our campsite along the Lyell Fork of the Tuolumne River, on the Pacific Crest / John Muir Trail. An easy hike, as we were saving ourselves for the big hike to Clouds Rest tomorrow.

Day 5 - Hiking to Clouds Rest

Lolo getting ready to hit the trail to Clouds RestThe hike to Clouds Rest has been on our bucket list for literally 10 years, but I have avoided it and made excuses for not doing it equally that long, not just for its strenuous 14 miles over rugged terrain at high elevation, but for its somewhat dicey ending, described in one book as “a promenade across a narrow and precipitously edged ridge composed of piled sheets of granite resembling huge stacks of pancakes or a line of toppled dominoes, with terrifying drop offs on either side.” My palms sweat just reading that.

However, I was braver now (having become a rock climber of sorts some 5 years now) and we were probably in the best hiking shape we have ever been. It was now or never.

We were up early and on the trail by 7:59 am - early for me, but necessary as the hiking time estimates were 8 to 11 hours. When we got to the trailhead at the southwest end of Tenaya Lake, there were a few cars already there, but we had no trouble finding a parking spot - probably because this was a weekday.

The first 2 ½ miles of the hike was a repeat for us, as it is the trail that also leads to Sunrise Lakes, which we had done two years ago. It starts off pleasantly enough, wandering through mini meadows and forests on fairly level ground for the first mile and a half. Don’t get lulled into complacency though, because at that point the trail gets rough and steep, climbing 1,000 feet in a 1-mile stretch.

Lolo approaches the Clouds Rest summitAt 2.3 miles we came to the junction for Sunrise Lake, but continued straight towards Clouds Rest, 4.7 miles more. This first section is really the toughest part of the hike.

From the trail junction, we began to descend for about a half mile to a lovely alpine meadow and a tree-ringed pond. I wasn’t particularly happy about the descent, as I knew that what goes down, must come up, and I much prefer my return to be all downhill. We continued along on fairly level ground through a lupine forest until about the 4.3-mile point, where we once again began to climb.

At 4.9 miles, we beared right at the T junction for Cloud’s Rest and got our first sighting of Clouds Rest, which we were sneaking up on from behind. As we climbed through a forest of western white pines, we began to get glimpses of some of Yosemite’s iconic rock formations.

At 6.8 miles, we came to the marker for the Clouds Rest Foot Trail to its summit. This was it. I must admit my body had a Pavlovian response to that sign - my palms began to sweat a bit and my heart quickened a few beats.

View from atop Clouds RestI took a deep breath and continued onto the narrow footpath, scrambling across rocks, with the steep drop-offs I had been promised on either side of me. I was comforted that the drop-offs were not straight down, but rather at a steep angle, giving one the feeling of more room, although the effect of falling would be the same. This went on for about 300 yards before emerging on the much wider, and safer, summit.

I would have to say that it wasn’t as bad as I had feared, and, although still a bit anxious, I was not totally dreading the fact that I had to cross it again on our way back.

The views at the summit were totally worth it. All of Yosemite was sprawled out before us - the ever popular Half Dome looming over Tenaya Canyon, North Dome, Mt. Hoffman, Yosemite Valley, the Clark Range, and all the Yosemite top hits. It was breathtaking.

We met a hiker from Arizona that was doing an impressive hiking “hat trick” over a three day period - Mt. Hoffman, Clouds Rest, and the Half Dome cable route. We have since become friends on facebook, enjoying each other’s adventures.

After eating lunch, we headed back out across the narrow section, and although I was less scared than before, it was still nice to finally place my foot on wider, solid ground. A guy less than half my age, who looked very hesitant to start his trek across, asked me how it was. “Not so bad,” I proudly responded. “Good,” he said, “because I don’t feel like dying today.” So, apparently I wasn’t the only one that had been dreading this.

Lolo escaping from the Clouds Rest summitThe way down was long, and not helped by my rolling my ankle a bit on a root on totally flat ground shortly after coming off the summit. How ironic that I had gotten through the tough parts and messed up on the easy stuff - probably because I had been so deliberate in my steps on the rocky, steep parts, but a bit too nonchalant afterwards. It hurt a bit, but I was able to continue - not sure what my choice would have been.

The way back seemed much longer than the way there, even though it was mostly downhill. I guess we were tired and there was no longer the anticipation of the summit to distract us.

When we got back to the car, I took my hiking boot off, and my ankle was fairly swollen and black and blue. Lucky for me, and Herb who would have had to carry me, that it wasn’t any worse. This was the end of our trip anyway, so at least I wouldn’t be missing out on any more hiking opportunities.

I would have to say that I was proud and exhilarated by having finally faced my fears and experienced this truly incredible trail.

Another awesome Yosemite adventure had come to a close. Tomorrow we would head home, stopping for a night in South Lake Tahoe along the way.

Travelogue

Rainbow Bridge boat dockWe awoke early on our last morning on the lake with the intention of beating the crowds to Rainbow Bridge National Monument, Lake Powell’s most popular destination. We had purposely positioned ourselves in the San Juan Arm last night, so that it would be a quick run of just 8 miles down the lake to Forbidding Canyon (Buoy 49), at the end of which lies the trail to the bridge.

When we got to the end of the canyon, there was only one other boat tied up a dock, which could hold dozens, and large tour boats as well. So although not first to arrive, we were pretty close and thrilled to have the opportunity of experiencing this wonder in peace and solitude.

Herb approaching Rainbow BridgeThe trail from the dock to Rainbow Bridge is less than a mile, with current water levels. As we were hiking in, the people belonging to the solitary boat at the dock passed us, meaning that now we would truly have the Bridge to ourselves. How thrilling, considering it is visited by over 300,000 people a year.

We have seen a lot of arches and bridges in our travels, but this one was truly impressive. At 290 feet tall and 270 feet across, it is the largest natural bridge in the world. To give some idea as to how large that actually is, the U.S. Capitol building would fit neatly underneath it.

What makes this a “bridge” rather than an “arch” is that it was formed by water. In the case of Rainbow Bridge, it was formed by water flowing from the Navajo Mountains eroding the sandstone on its way down to the Colorado River. It is considered sacred by the Navajo as a symbol of deities responsible for creating clouds, rainbows, and rain - the essence of life in the desert.

Lolo and Rainbow Natural BridgeStanding in solitude beneath this awe-inspiring arch, it was understandable why the Navajo considered this place sacred. What a fitting way to conclude an amazing trip on this beautiful lake.

Our 50-mile cruise back to Wahweap was a bit rough, in that there was so much weekend boat traffic that the wakes were bouncing off the canyon walls churning up the water. Fortunately, we didn't have to wait too long to pull the boat at the Stateline boat ramp, as most people were putting in for the weekend.

From there, it was a long 900-mile drive back to Santa Rosa, where after a 2 1/2 year separation, our boat would finally be home.

Travelogue

Our campsite in the San Juan ArmWe made a bit of a tactical error today. Having gotten a bit frustrated yesterday trying to find a good campsite, and having to go back to the same one (although a good one it was), we decided to skip the morning hike and start our journey south early in the hopes of beating the Friday afternoon rush for a campsite.

We had bypassed the San Juan Arm on our journey up the lake, with the intention of exploring it on the way back, so we decided that today was the day.

Our trusty “Lake Powell and its 96 Canyons Boating and Exploring Map” (see Books to the right) indicated that just a short distance up the arm there is a small cove on the north shore of the mouth that has some good campsites.

View from the ridge above our campsiteIt was right - there were good campsites with good hiking opportunities, and there was no one there. So we took it. The problem was that it was already 105 degrees and it was only 10 am. What were we going to do for the next 9 hours until it got cool enough to get out of the water?

My approach was lying on our float under the bow of the boat where there was shade while reading my kindle. Herb, who claims to love desert heat, decided to go for an afternoon hike on the rocks above our campsite. Good luck, I thought.

I tried to keep a straight face when he returned in about a half hour holding the sole of his Chaco sandals, which had literally detached when the adhesive holding them on melted.

Now, I had promised Herb I would uncomplainingly camp on the boat for 7 nights so that he could get Lake Powell out of his system and bring the boat back to California, so I was saying nothing. I could huddle in the shade under the bow for two more days if necessary. After the false alarm about our son last weekend, I could handle anything.

Floating in the San Juan ArmSo, when Herb suggested that maybe it made sense to pull the boat tomorrow and leave on a high note rather than push it towards a death march, I said, “Ok, if that’s what you want.”

Feeling like a Precog in “Minority Report,” I eventually extracted myself from the water and joined Herb for an evening hike. We clambered up to the top of a ridge from which we could see the San Juan Arm on one side and the main Colorado River channel on the other. The scenery was probably the best yet of all our campsites, which is saying a lot. Our boat looked so cute down below.

That night as we were making dinner and watching the sunset, I was a little sad that this was our last night. If only all day could be like early mornings and evenings, this would truly be Paradise.