Chilnualna Falls

Being that my trip was delayed, I decided not to drive the 8 hour detour back to Mount Whitney for a chance to TRY and get a summit permit. I'll have to make that trip next year. Instead, I decided to go on to Yosemite National Park. What a wonderful and adventurous week. I stayed in the southern portion of the park on this trip and completed the Chilnualna Falls trail. In the 5 days I was there (4 nights) I hiked nearly 50 miles starting at 4,000' and topping out at 9,700'.

The first day was extremely painful but oh so beautiful. The Chilnualna Falls overlook Wawona from 6,500' and the view of the park is astonishing. I stopped briefly to relax and have a bite to eat but didn't spend long. My mistake... Crescent Lake, though beautiful, had far more mosquitoes than anywhere yet. I did not do much exploring because of this. Perhaps, the winter is a more enjoyable time to spend at this spot. Onward...

By the second evening, I was able to make it all the way to the Chain Lakes. I spent some time talking with an off-duty park ranger who was fishing (no luck catching anything) before settling for the evening to watch the sunset. The following morning I took a day hike up to the top lake and up to the ridge between it and Breeze Lake. It provided astounding views. I was very tempted to continue vertically and summit Gale Peak (10,700') but did not bring my windbreaker. I should have because I was told the view to the east is wondrous. I would love to get a group of friends to go up to this area for a long weekend. It's isolated, quiet, and beautiful. On my way back to camp, I came across a group of boy scouts (15 or so). I ended up stopping and socializing for about an hour. I definitely received my social fix for the week! We all exchanged some cool stories about our travels that provided me with even further trip ideas :) When I got back to camp I spent even more leisure time around the lake, mostly swimming. I finally motivated myself to depart and around 2pm hit the trail to my next night's camp spot. 13 miles to Buena Vista Lake.

BVL was the best spot I have camped on my trip. I only expect it to get better, but the view of the ridge above was awesome as the moon traversed its peaks that night. I was also able to find a campsite near the center of the lake as it wrapped around the point like a horseshoe. For the first time, the area was mosquito free!!! I took my time the following morning and spent some time swimming. The water was much colder than Chain Lakes, which I thought was odd. Other than that, I didn't spend too much time around the area since I slept in a bit to catch up on some sleep. It was Thursday and I needed to make it back to Chilnualna Falls for an easy Friday morning hike out before heading to San Francisco. I ended up making really great time so I stopped for lunch around mile 6 and spent an hour in the water and sitting around doing nothing.

Made it to Chilnualna Falls! I found a great spot between the two forks of the merging rivers (creeks maybe!). I got to the Falls so early I was able to explore a little bit. Check out the hidden pool I found!! I did some more swimming, dove off the cliffs for a bit, and even had time to catch some sun. Once the sun went down it was really cold. The wind was very chilly so I started up a fire and did a little reading. I must admit... I wanted the morning to come. After a week and a half on the trails without a warm shower, I was really looking forward to one in SF. In my defense though, Sarah said I didn't smell that bad!!

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Ríos Peligrosos!

But really, never crossed one that was a problem. It was a great 5 days. Because of a late start on Wednesday, I didn't get to the park until 3:30ish. The ranger at the Foothills Wilderness Office provided incorrect information. She wouldn't provide me with a high elevation back-country permit because they are supposed to be provided by the other offices. Little did she know, she could have called them to see what was available. Anyway, I didn't want to make a stink of it, so I took the permit she offered. Started off the trek relatively easy at 3,500'. Trailhead started at the South Fork campground. Hiked in about 2 miles and camped the first night. Luckily, I stopped just before sunset to set up camp. Why was I lucky? Because my headlamp died about 20 minutes after I crawled into my sleeping bag. Rule #1: Don't forget spare batteries in the car. I had my Bic lighter as backup! On my way out the following morning, I stumbled across a rattlesnake (See if you can spot him in the picture). Don't worry everyone!! I made it back to my car safely: no snake bites, no bear maulings, no poison ivy, and no ticks feeding!

Day 2 took me to higher elevations. Specifically, the Lakes Trail. It's a 6.5mi hike up to Pear Lake that peeks at about 9200'. There are two ways to make it up: The Hump and The Watchtower. I highly recommend Watchtower. The Hump is just an uphill battle to get there (my hike in). The Watchtower, however, is a spectacular hike that follows the Tokopah Valley (my hike out). Anyway, I made it to Heather Lake before the weather turned and it started to downpour. There was even a bit of small hail! I ended up camping at Emerald Lake to stay dry. On day 3, I made a day hike up to Pear Lake for a swim. The water was lovely! A bit chilly, but refreshing. I made it back to camp just in time because it started to downpour again. I ended up spending the rest of the afternoon playing cards, reading, and napping in my tent. It was very early in my trip to be bored. Alas, I made it through and actually had a really great time. I took the alone time to do some philosophy reading. Came up with some pretty interesting understandings of recent life events. Very fulfilling!

Day 3 was the roughest. I hiked out from Emerald Lake (5 miles) to meet Ryan and Ashley. We had lunch and then started off to Jenny Lake in the Jenny Lake Wilderness. It was 8.5 miles with a 3,000' elevation change. 1000' of it was in mile 7, very tasking, but we made it!! In total, it took about 6.5 hours to make it. Jenny Lake is beautiful and I recommend the hike to others. It may be a bit easier to come from the North instead of the South. On the way, we passed several meadows that opened in the middle of the forest. If anyone has any information on why this occurs, I would love to know. Why don't the trees just overwhelm the area? Anyway, we had some serious grub that night. I actually brought cous-cous! A little bland, but hit the spot. I wish we had more time at the lake to explore, but just seeing the sunset and sunrise were pretty darn good.

Anyway, we're all out of the park now. Ryan and Ashley on their way back to work. Me, well, I'm on my way to Yosemite NP. Starting to get jealous yet?

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