Day 66 – Saying Goodbye, Leaving Tuolumne

Miles: 942.5 – 957.3

Trail Miles: 14.8

Miles Hiked: 14.8

Today was mine and HH’s last day together until September. I took my time packing up. I wanted to linger and stretch out our remaining time.

After a late breakfast at Toomey’s, our favorite restaurant in Mammoth, we drove up to Yosemite. It was a beautiful day and the scenery matched it perfectly. That section of 395 and the road up to Tioga Pass, the east entrance to Yosemite is gorgeous.

We said our goodbyes next to Lembert Dome. It was crawling with tourists and hikers on a Tuesday afternoon, but we were in our own world as we parted.

Lembert Dome, me & HH

A thru hiker, Breezy, happened to walk by mid- goodbye. When I caught up to him minutes later, he something about what a sweet moment it was.

Breezy and I hiked together for about an hour. He grew up in Winston-Salem, not far from where I live. I haven’t met too many North Carolinians out here.

Yosemite near Tuolumne Meadows

We ran into two Park Rangers. They checked our permits and Bear canisters. They were nice and professional and we chatted with them a bit. As we did Scooch came up the trail. It was good to see her. I hadn’t seen her since Saturday.

Scooch has gotten a late start as well and planned to hike 15 miles. It was a bit more than I had planned, but I felt good and tagged along. She needs to get to Canada quite a bit earlier than me and has an ambitious plan. lf she puts her mind to it, I have no doubt she’ll succeed.

Yosemite NP

As we hiked the 6 miles from Tuolumne to Glen Aulin, I was reminded of why Yosemite is a National Park. It is truly stunning. Yosemite Valley gets the most attention with the iconic images: Half Dome, El Capitan, Bridalveil Falls. Yet there’s so much more to the Park. The trail followed the Tuolumne River as it cascaded over unending granite waterfalls. Once again my photos don’t do it justice.

Tuolumne River

I’ve never hiked north of Glen Aulin. Today was the first time I’ve seen that portion of the park. I was surprised as it changed to an alpine pine forest, something similar to what I imagine Washington state is like. It was another beautiful facet of Yosemite.

Within the hour before I got to camp, I had two mishaps. I tripped going around a downed tree and fell into it. I landed on my trekking pole and banged up my left rib cage a little. Shortly thereafter, we had to Ford two creeks. Some tape I’d put on my instep to prevent a hot spot mostly cane off in the water. I went to pull it all the way off and a bit of skin came off too. It’s tender to walk on and made for a slow last mile. Hopefully a good night’s sleep will help with both.

When I arrived at camp, Scooch was already starting a campfire. The mosquitoes were thick, so it was a perfect remedy. We cooked dinner and chatted. It was a nice end to a roller coaster day.