Strateegery

Bob has had it with sketchy weather. Imagining that the rain may persist for days, he contemplates his options for where and when to hike over the next few weeks. I am open to anything, although I would prefer to press on to Mammoth Lakes from here in Tuolumne Meadows. Bob said, “Let’s see how the skies look in the morning.”

Last night everything in the tent was kind of damp. Temperatures dropped into the thirties and the inside of the tent was covered with condensation. I slept off and on, and then it was morning, and time to get moving.

The only thing holding us back is our fear, so we do what we do, we hike. The skies are OK.

Near Sighted

The forecast is for possible afternoon thunderstorms. In our path is Donohue Pass. A 11,000 ft pass at the end of the Tuolumne Valley. We could try to make it over the pass today, but we would be at risk for being on the pass during a storm. There is really no good camping beyond the pass for six miles, so the best choice for us is to hike to the last good camping before the pass. That means we will hike only 9 miles today. We pack up our soaked tents and hit the trail.

Early Trail

The trail generally follows the Lyell Fork River up the valley. The river is wide near camp.

I like the way the trail feels under my feet. My legs feel strong. They want to be chewing this tread.

A New Friend

Near the first trail junction, we meet a woman we met yesterday at the post office. She is hiking the John Muir Trail (JMT). It’s a big step for her because she has not done any long distance hiking. Nor has she done such an endeavor by herself.

She has a lot of questions. She also has a lot of anxieties. But she is not unusual in this regard. Anyway, she asks if she can sort of tag along with Bob and me. We have no objections. We tell her what we intend to do for the day. She is down with it. Her name is Meggie.

The Trail

The trail goes up the right side of the valley, sometimes just within the trees, sometimes in the open. The river meanders all over the valley, sometimes near us and other times not.

I have a feeling there are probably fish in that river. Every time the river bends toward me, I wander over and peer into the water. Nothing.

It’s pleasant hiking. The clouds are bright and fluffy. I settle into a pace and soon a song with the same meter crawls into my head. For miles I will play this song over and over, improvising it as nauseum.

Settling

About a mile before camp, I find a nice spot for drying out. All three of us spread our soaking wet tents and ground covers onto a flat expanse of granite. The drying is rapid. Within 10 minutes, everything is dry. We pack up and look for a camping spot.

We are in camp before lunch! It’s so strange to be eating my tuna wrap (the only and eternal lunch item) in camp.

Afterward I walk out into the wide meadow. The grass is course and brown. There are horse paths here. I follow one toward the river. I want to find a big fish. The rodents have made these half-pipe trail just below the grass tops. I expect it helps them stay hidden from predators. The furrows stretch from burrow to burrow.

I am close to where the climb towards the pass begins. There is lots of snow above 11,000 feet. You can see it plastering the mountain face.

The view back is also nice. I follow the river through the meadow for about a quarter mile. Some of its pools are 6 feet deep. The largest trout are in these. They are about 9 inches long. It’s nice to have some free time for exploring.

Meggie is out here in the valley too. She is doing something over by another river bend. When I am sure it is not something like bathing I go over there. She was wading in the river. She rightly called it an ice bath. When she tells me she is from Minnesota, it makes sense.

OK I know Meggie is a weird name. It could be Maggie but her Minnesotan accent is strong. So I am going to call her what she says.

Bob lived in Minnesota for a while so he has some things in common with Meggie. It’s nice to sit in camp and listen to them chat as I write this post. We hear thunder occasionally, so I think we made the right move stopping short today. As evidence of that, the day closes with at least twelve tents in this camp. Here is ours.

September 3, 2025

Miles hiked today: 9

Word I haven’t heard used in a conversation in years before today: Walleye