Tuolumne is beautiful right now!

[QITNL]

I returned Monday from three nights up the Cathedral Lakes trailhead. I booked the permit back in January, little did I know how drop-dead gorgeous it would be right now. Lots of snow, if you dig that sort of thing. Water everywhere, you can camp anywhere - I spent my first night at Lower Cathedral Lake, second under Tresidder Peak, third under Matthes Crest. Just made it up as I wandered around.

Here are a few shots so you can see what I'm talking about. Perhaps useful for those who are looking for snow reports. Higher-res versions and more photos can be found here:

http://www.qitnl.com/v/062510/

I'll be adding more to the album. One thing I couldn't capture was the full moon which rose each night. Stunning.

Lower Cathedral Lake:


Lower Cathedral Lake:


Tresidder Peak:


Cathedral Peak, Conness in background:


Tresidder Peak, Columbia Finger:


Looking SE from Tresidder:


Campsite under Matthes Crest:


Cockscomb:


Sunset over Tuolumne Peak:

[Diesel]

Nice pics. looking up at all the snow in the mountains this past weekend have really made me anxious to get higher up there and have a closer look.

[bill-e-g]

Gorgeous. Thx for posting

Love the reflections

[ricardosanx]

Great pics! Heading up next week... Thanx

[centurycyclist]

Amazing pics!!!! post more! I am ready to pack and get in the car!

[oakroscoe]

Great pictures, thanks for taking the time to post them. The full moon on saturday night was spectacular!

[sierranomad]

Really nice images! Thanks for going to the trouble of posting them.

I especially like the 2nd LCL and the Cockscomb.

[bill-e-g]

Looked at them all ...

Very cool shot of Budd.

Echo and Lower Cath were still frozen over two weekends ago:

http://picasaweb.google.com/yosemite.chick.on/Matthes

[LVRAY]

Looks like conditions are changing rapidly. We were at Cathedral Lakes on Friday, July 2, and there is far less snow now. While there is still plenty of snow in the pass and some around the lake, neither was frozen but there is plenty of wet ground and mud!

Upper Cathedral Lake viewed from just below Cathedral Pass:


Upper Cathedral Lake at lake level:


Lower Cathedral Lake (from the ridge between the 2 lakes):

[Bart.T]

Those are great pix -both the original and the second set. Really helpful for me as we will be in the park in 2 weeks.