TR: Tuolumne Meadows loop into the Ansel Adams Wilderness

[jfr]

Overview: My wife and I went backpacking for nine days in a large loop, south from Yosemite National Park on the Mono/Parker Pass Trail into the Ansel Adams Wilderness. We then bushwacked off-trail west above Waugh Lake and were rewarded with some stunning views of the Minarets, Mount Banner, Ritter Peak, Mount Davis, Rodgers Peak, and Mounts Lyell and Maclure. We eventually hiked back north to Tuolumne Meadows via the Lyell Canyon Trail. Side trips included visits to Marie Lake, Thousand Island Lake, Ireland Creek, Evelyn Lake, Rafferty Creek and the Vogelsang area. It was a memorable and excellent experience!

These are what I consider to be the "best" photos from our trip. It wasn't easy to choose them, either.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/_jfr_/sets/72157624777155224/

If you like them and want to see more, check out the photo sets for each individual hiking day. http://www.flickr.com/photos/_jfr_/sets/

Our trip was from 8/4/10 through 8/13/10. Nine days of fun!

Boy did I take a lot of pictures! It took me over a week to sort through them all!

And going through the pictures is like re-living the trip, sort of like getting extra vacation for free...

[centurycyclist]

your pics are AMAZING!!!! are you hauling a mega-camera? great job!

[kathy]

G-R-E-A-T pictures! We were in the park at the same time as you two, but we didn't get into the back country for any overnights. We did, however, happen upon the same cool water spot on the Lyell Canyon trail that you did and really enjoyed your video (I got pictures, no video). What day were you there? Was it Sunday?

My hat's off to you!

Thanks for sharing.

[jfr]

your pics are AMAZING!!!! are you hauling a mega-camera? great job!

Thanks! I guess this proves that if you take enough pictures at least a few of them ought to turn out OK!

I took two cameras with me: An older Olympus E-300 digital SLR (8 megapixel) with a decently wide-angled lens for the still shots, and a Canon D-10 waterproof one for the videos (and some still shots on occasion). Getting a good wide-angle lens is key for shooting scenery, especially when the afternoon cumulus get up into the sky!

G-R-E-A-T pictures! We were in the park at the same time as you two, but we didn't get into the back country for any overnights. We did, however, happen upon the same cool water spot on the Lyell Canyon trail that you did and really enjoyed your video (I got pictures, no video). What day were you there? Was it Sunday?

We were camped in Lyell Canyon on Wednesday 8/11, and then hiked through the Tuolumne end on Friday 8/13 on our way out. Sorry we missed you! Next time you'll need to do the videos of the waterfalls and streams - that's one of the main reasons I hauled two cameras around for nine days!

[bill-e-g]

Nice.

That's my motto too (take lots o pictures!).
I find it's pretty hard to take too many.

I tried looking for more of Marie and didn't find any.
(Marie was one spot we camped at in early July)

Did you find the plane near Koip Peak?

If you want to compare some ... here's my trip from July 2nd.
http://picasaweb.google.com/yosemite.ch ... erDonahue#

[balzaccom]

Relly nice. Thanks for posting!

[jfr]

Nice.
I tried looking for more of Marie and didn't find any.
(Marie was one spot we camped at in early July)

Did you find the plane near Koip Peak?

If you want to compare some ... here's my trip from July 2nd.
http://picasaweb.google.com/yosemite.ch ... erDonahue#

I remember looking at your pics in July and getting worried that we would be camping on snow the whole trip, but nearly all of it melted in the intervening month. What a relief!

I noticed from your track that you bushwacked above the JMT along Davis Lakes. Here's a shot of Davis lakes, looking over the ridge which separates them from Marie Lakes:

As you can see, most of the snow is gone now. Here's the flickr page link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/_jfr_/4899671331/in/set-72157624617531513/

And, no, I didn't even know about the plane near Koip. Arghhh! I would have liked to check that out. It just shows that it pays to do your homework when going on a trip...

[bill-e-g]

I wouldn't call it bushwacking... more like walking on snow...
very easy cross country...



Ok, so I didn't miss any photos. There is only one of Lower Marie.
In your stitched photo... uh... those are not Davis Lakes.
Davis Lakes are MUCH bigger. You cannot see Davis or Rodgers Lakes
from that little knoll... at least assuredly from where you were standing.
What you got are two small tarns just east of Marie.
Very pretty nonetheless... just thought you might want to know.
If you look at photo #20 of mine you can correlate the two images.
(look for the red streak of rock)

In early July there was lots of snow around but we never camped
in the snow. Even at lower Marie Lake we found open ground.
(we camped very close to the outlet there if you look at #20 again)

Anyway, thanks for sharing! Great photos!