Day 72
Start: Tuolumne River
Finish: Return Creek
Daily Mileage: 22.6
PCT Mile: 957.2
A leisurely 6:30 start to the day since it should be a leisurely day. For the first 15 miles of trail today, we were headed down the Tuolumne River. The slope was flat to downhill with only the smallest of uphills along the way. And we were below the snowline, so it was looking to be quite the opposite of the struggles of yesterday.
The river had almost continuous meadow down along it for quite a while. The trail peaked out to the meadow from time to time, and it is just the most beautiful thing. The river which was a raging torrent just serenely winding slowly back and forth across the meadow with mountains as the backdrop. The meadows are a completely natural part of the landscape, and are not manmade.
I just cruised right along the trail. About halfway to a road, I realized that I was travelling at 3mph. That is my normal hiking speed, but something that hasn’t happened since the easy trail of the desert. The terrain and snow in the Sierra are just too rough for it. From that point on, I made it my goal to average 3mph from camp to the road, over 9 miles.
I made great time while still stopping to take pictures and slight side trips to see the sights better. There were also some creative stream crossings to keep my feet dry. As I was approaching the road, I was a few minutes behind, so I put on some extra speed for the last mile when there was no scenery besides the pavement next to the trail and just barely made it to beat 3mph. Small victories. I still saved plenty of time for the sights along the way.
I meant to take a break to wait for Cookie Monster to catch up, but there were loads of mosquitoes at the road. I waited 45 minutes walking in circles in a trailhead parking lot while snacking to keep them at bay. I haven’t been carrying bug spray since there haven’t been mosquitoes yet. Though I don’t use it generally unless I have to since it isn’t that effective.
Cookie Monster showed up and we continued on down the river. We had yet another 6 miles of downstream travel. We were now in Yosemite National Park, and the famous rounded domes of rock carved by glaciers past peaked out every so often for a great change in scenery. There was lots of smooth rounded rock scoured by 2,000 feet of ice for many years, and its effect was apparent everywhere you looked.
Halfway through the day I did have to ford a stream and finally get my feet wet. Shortly thereafter I also had to step on some snow patches. Two things I had been trying to avoid out of the novelty of traveling a trail without their presence.
The Tuolumne River got more violent as we travelled downstream with many rapids and cascades. After dropping down a steeper section of trail, the river began to roar and I came to a waterfall which was a raging wall of whitewater. It seemed like a good place for a break. When I sat down, I could even feel the earth slightly shaking from the pounding of the water. I had followed this river down from its source yesterday where I first crossed it completely unseen, buried under the snow. I have traced many rivers from or to their sources on this trip, but this was perhaps the most scenic and fantastic. Besides the easy hiking, it was an excellent stretch of trail.
Shortly after the waterfall, we crossed the Tuolumne River for the last time and headed up another creek. Along the river there had been frequent views of the surrounding mountains and domes, but it was more socked in on the creek, mostly traveling through forest. It was getting warm out, so I just put my head down and pounded it out.
There was a meadow section in the middle of the ascent, but it couldn’t nearly compare to what I had experienced earlier in the day.
The day finished out in forest. The trail dove down a northerly facing slope where I had the first real stretches of snow for the day. I was hoping I would have a day where I mostly avoided the snow, but it wasn’t too bad.
Cookie Monster and I had planned to camp on the other side of the crossings of McCabe and Return Creeks. I got to the first crossing which was moving pretty good, and I read the trail comments for the two crossings. At this time of day, Return Creek could be waist deep and moving well. I waited for Cookie Monster, and proposed that we just camp on this side of the creeks and cross them first thing in the morning. Then we wouldn’t have wet gear to deal with tonight, and the creeks should be lower in the morning due to snowmelt slowing overnight. He agreed, and we set up just short of our goal. However, we did manage almost 23 miles for the day while still allowing time to enjoy the fantastic scenery.
Today was a great day that more than made up for the struggles of yesterday. Not every day on trail is good, and both of us hated yesterday, but the trail has its good and bad days. One bad day can never define a trip or cause you to make a rash decision, because there is always something better around the corner as long as you have the patience.
