After spending most of the previous day in the car, we were ready to tackle a more serious hike today. I had made a list of potential candidates, and after great discussion among the three of us, we decided to try the trail up the Dana Fork out of Tuolumne Meadows.
We had never hiked this trail before, and soon discovered that we were in for a treat. It was relatively flat, taking nearly 4.5 miles to climb less than 600 feet. And it ran from forest to mountain meadow, usually within earshot and often with sight of a delightful babbling brook.
That's Mammoth Peak, at left.
And the Dana Fork of the Tuolumne River at right, both photos with my usual view of Estelle, far ahead of me on the trail.
The payoff, Spillway Lake, was set in a valley surrounded by mountains that ran from a deep red, to a dark gray, to a blindingly white granite. The sun was out. There were flowers in the meadow. What a treat. We ate lunch on a perfectly sited flat rock large enough for the three of us, noting as we did that there were a few rusty tin cans lying around, clearly left there some 50-plus years ago (perhaps well more than that) by earlier hikers.
And the hike back down gave us the usual chance to see the whole thing all over again from a different perspective. We loved this hike, and can't imagine why it took us so long to check it out. But now we know. Is there a bad trail in Yosemite? More on that tomorrow.
The naiads of Tenaya Lake, at right.
On the way back to Crane Flat we stopped at Tenaya Lake to cool off in its welcoming waters. Then it was an ice cream at the store for Estelle, quesadillas for dinner, and falling into our sleeping bags fully satisfied on all accounts.
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