TR-Wapama, Glacier Pt, Tuolumne River, Rainbow Falls.
Posted: Sat Jul 13, 2019 9:13 am
My daughter Kayley is not a hiker. However, after hearing about my trips, and seeing my pictures, she decided she wanted to take a Yosemite/Mammoth trip herself. Since she had done zero training, my thought was to drive her to overlooks, and take her on, flat, easy, scenic, short day hikes. But something happened. When we got to O'Shaughnessy Dam, and could see Wapama Falls still raging in the distance from the unusual mid July heavy snow melt, she said "Let's go see the falls!" Again, my thought was that we'd by turning around at the 1/2 mile mark. Still a fun hike through the tunnel with nice views of Kolana. I let her lead the way, and decide when she wanted to turn around. She made it past the fifth bridge. A moderate hike to the rest of us, to her it must have seemed like climbing Koip Peak. We got a nice surprise below Tueeulala Falls to give us an adrenaline rush for the hike out (see pic below). By the way, Wapama is now safe with the water only splashing onto the first bridge.
The next day she put in about the same amount of mileage through Mariposa Grove, Glacier Point, and some valley hikes. Being really tired the third day, the drive over Tioga Pass was going to be scenic enough without any hikes, but I talked her into a short hike out of the Dog Lake parking lot heading south on the PCT. It's 1.1 miles out to the footbridges on the Tuolumne River. That's one of my favorite serene spots in Yosemite, but always being on the way to Merced Lake, or Lake Ireland twice, I've never stopped for more than a minute. This time was perfectly lazy, especially since the river was still high, and the meadow lush.
The last day, since she was really tired and sore, the short, mostly flat hike out to The Devil's Postpile near Mammoth Lakes was going to be enough. We were lounging at Devils, when I noticed another, baby postpile in front of the main one nearer the river. There was a little use trail to the top with lovely, new views of both. We were resting, getting ready to head back to catch the next bus when it happened again. Kayley said, "Let's go to Rainbow Falls!" Knowing how hurting she was, I tried to talk her out of it, but down the trail we headed. Not only that, she hiked down to the base of the falls. With heavy snow still on The Minarets, Banner, and Ritter, the falls were humming, as were the many different angled rainbows.
When we were driving home, she talked of gearing up, and training for upper Yosemite Falls next summer. I was so proud, and amazed at her determination having done zero training for this trip. I've come to believe that I was wrong about my earlier statement. It seems that my daughter is a hiker.
The next day she put in about the same amount of mileage through Mariposa Grove, Glacier Point, and some valley hikes. Being really tired the third day, the drive over Tioga Pass was going to be scenic enough without any hikes, but I talked her into a short hike out of the Dog Lake parking lot heading south on the PCT. It's 1.1 miles out to the footbridges on the Tuolumne River. That's one of my favorite serene spots in Yosemite, but always being on the way to Merced Lake, or Lake Ireland twice, I've never stopped for more than a minute. This time was perfectly lazy, especially since the river was still high, and the meadow lush.
The last day, since she was really tired and sore, the short, mostly flat hike out to The Devil's Postpile near Mammoth Lakes was going to be enough. We were lounging at Devils, when I noticed another, baby postpile in front of the main one nearer the river. There was a little use trail to the top with lovely, new views of both. We were resting, getting ready to head back to catch the next bus when it happened again. Kayley said, "Let's go to Rainbow Falls!" Knowing how hurting she was, I tried to talk her out of it, but down the trail we headed. Not only that, she hiked down to the base of the falls. With heavy snow still on The Minarets, Banner, and Ritter, the falls were humming, as were the many different angled rainbows.
When we were driving home, she talked of gearing up, and training for upper Yosemite Falls next summer. I was so proud, and amazed at her determination having done zero training for this trip. I've come to believe that I was wrong about my earlier statement. It seems that my daughter is a hiker.