Y Meadow Dam Lake -- Emigrant Wilderness

August 19th to 21st, 2006

Emigrant wilderness is a national forest on the northern side of Yosemite. It has many of the charms of the national park, but few of the restrictions. People can take their dogs, for example, and generally do anything without a slew of permits. We left home at 6:15 on Saturday, and hit the trail at 10:30. The last ten miles to the trailhead was on a rough access road that made me think I should get some better shocks. Our goal was a 6 rigorous miles in, over three ridges, each of which was about a 500 foot slog in elevation. The abundant wild flowers, late in blooming because of the heavy snow pack this year, and several rests helped us to reach the lake at 3:00. On arriving Carlos collapsed and slept in an uncomfortable positiona on a slab of granite under the paltry shade cast by a stunted pine tree, while James and I resuscitated ourselves with a swim in the nippy waters of the lake. On Sunday we explored the lake shore, swam several times, and took a 3/4 mile stroll over to a nearby Granite Lake (found a patch of remaining snow on the way), where we tried to catch some trout, but it's just as well they didn't take the bait because we could see in the clear water as they swam by us, and our hooks, that they were too small to merit our attention. On the 2nd night we had the energy to stay up late to soak in the stars, a few shooting ones, and a couple satellites. I slept outside that night and caught some really good sized ones with fat trails that shot a fifth of the way across the sky. Each time I woke up during the night I noted how the milky way and constellations were moving in the sky. On Monday, after we polished off the remainder of the food, which included the kids eating things they had always refused to eat, and additionally, after James took a swim in what was still the chilly part of the day, we hiked out in only 3 hours and 15 minutes, including breaks. The kids and Angelica showed a lot grit, and we're already planning our next trip.

Wild flowers. A lot of fodder for Sierra Club calendars. It was really super.