June 19th, 2022 by Jon
We woke up with frost on our tent and my first thought this morning was, “Well, at least I got to sleep in”. We got ready slowly, and by the time we got up, Biscuit was securing her pack and getting ready to roll. She said she woke up kinda early, so she decided to get up. We said see ya later and she took off. We made breakfast and got ready to go as well, hitting the trail by 7:30. It was still pretty cold, but I don’t think it was quite as cold as it was the night before. Missile was packing up when Singsong and I headed out.
We hiked gently uphill for a little while across rocks. We could hear the sound of a rushing creek in the valley below, off to our right, and looked up at a mountain to our left. There were pine trees around all the rocks we were climbing over, but it took 15 minutes before we finally hiked into them. When we did, the trail was fairly mellow, and we enjoyed some good conversation since we were just cruising through dark pine trees that were penetrated by a few rays of light where the foliage wasn’t as thick. We continued that way for a while, alternating between rocky outcroppings uphill and mostly flat forest.
Eventually, we came to a massive meadow at the bottom of a small hill that we climbed over. We walked right through it for about a mile, enjoying the mountains all around us. The trail itself was somewhat muddy, and where there was shade, there was frost. Missile caught up to us here and we spent the rest of the morning hiking with him. When we got to the other side of the meadow, we entered a thicker forest and climbed gently within it for a few miles. Eventually, we climbed down to a large creek, and Biscuit was leaning against a tree on the other side! We walked upstream and found a good log to cross, but Singsong didn’t love it so she went to try her luck with some rocks and unfortunately slipped and got both her feet wet. Ah, well, it happens to all of us.
We sat on the other side and decided to keep hiking because another big creek lay 0.2 miles ahead. When we got there, we looked up and downstream but couldn’t find anything to cross over, so we resigned ourselves to taking off our shoes and crossing in the water. At one point, it got knee deep, but otherwise wasn’t too bad. The worst part is that the water is ice cold, and the river rocks can get pretty slippery. Thankfully, we made it across without issue, and we spent some time getting our feet nice and dry before putting them back on. From that point, we had 3.5 uphill miles to Miller Lake, which everyone said was a great lunch spot. We agreed to meet there, and all took off at different places.
The trail was steep at first, then gave way to rolling hills, before coming to another creek about a mile later. We hiked along it, going upstream before finally reaching the point where the trail crossed the stream. We crossed over a small limb to get halfway across and then hopped across some boulders for the rest of it. I put in some music then because the rest of the climb looked very steep on the elevation profile. And then something crazy happened. I caught up to Biscuit. I haven’t talked about it much lately but Biscuit is stupid fast. Even more so than before. I basically never keep up with her anymore. I really only caught her because she was messing with her music a bit, but then I found some weird mystery energy that I think was fueled by the prospect of food, so I blasted the rest of the way up the hill. The switchbacks were super small and incredibly steep. We climbed through pine forest, past a few snow patches, and then entered a small V-shaped notch in the granite where it was like walking through a slot canyon about 20 feet wide.
The trail led down into a valley, with beautiful trees and a grassy meadow off to our left. We stayed in the trees and eventually climbed up, over, and down a small ridge to reach a lake basin. We walked along a dry creekbed and then came to a stunning, clear-blue lake with peaks poking above the trees that surrounded it. There was a huge grassy beach right by the trail by the lake, and there were a couple of groups of hikers, all spread out, eating. I grabbed our own spot, and shortly afterward, everyone else arrived. We stayed for about an hour, enjoying it when the ice-cold wind stopped blowing and it felt warm. Today was very much a day where the weather could not make up its mind. Hot and cold, back and forth, all day long.
After nearly falling asleep at the lake, we finally decided to pack up and leave, although it was one of our best lunch spots on the trail so far, I think. It helped that Singsong packed out an avocado from the store, and we had cheese, jerky, and avocado wraps that were absolutely heavenly and completely worth the extra weight. When we left our perfect lunch spot, Missile and Biscuit went out ahead, and Singsong and I took our time. We climbed down a long series of switchbacks into the next valley and it took us a really long time to reach the bottom. When we finally did, we walked through yet another jaw-droppingly beautiful meadow with a creek that ran through it, babbling just so. Yosemite is beautiful in every direction you look, to the point where you almost get numb to it.
When we got to the end of the meadow, we started the long, steep climb up to Benson Pass. The first part was essentially climbing stairs that were cut into the rock, and they were very, very steep. The next section was a bit longer and flatter as we climbed along Wilson Creek, which flowed through the small valley we had climbed into above the meadow below. When we got to the top of that, we saw Biscuit and Missile, and they said they would get over the pass and then look for a place to camp somewhere shortly afterward. We filled water there before making the final steep push up a dry sandy trail with mostly rocks and a few smaller trees. We saw plenty of snow, but thankfully none on the trail. When we finally made it to the top, we had amazing views of the valleys on either side of the pass.
We began our descent through another narrow slot canyon, with the trail on one side and a creek running down lower on the other, all smashed between huge rocks. It was kinda cool, but also a bit claustrophobic. Eventually, after a half mile or so, the trail totally opened up to a stunning little grassy plateau with perfect rocks spread all around. We walked across it, then down steep switchbacks for a while before reaching a small creek that ran along a flatter part of the trail. We turned a corner, and suddenly we heard our names being called from some rocks off to the side of the trail. It was Biscuit and Missile. They found really great flat spots tucked away in some trees about 300 feet off trail. The park encourages hikers to get off the trail to camp as much as they can in order to preserve a wilderness experience for those who keep hiking. That way, they don’t just see tents right next to the trail. We camped a few hundred feet below the fire line, so we had another small fire after dinner that became a highlight of the evening for sure. We’re feeling good about our progress and have less than 50 miles to go to Northern Kennedy Meadows. We think we will get there midday or early afternoon on Wednesday, which sounds perfect!
We know Rune, Wilco, and Bouge are behind us because we talked to a hiker this afternoon who camped with them last night. They are planning to do shorter mileage, but I think they will get to Kennedy Meadows the same day as us, just later in the day. Tomorrow, just like today, we have tons of steep ups and downs to do. This section has been harder than we anticipated, but enjoyable nonetheless.
