We left our camp on Rush Creek and started up Donahue Pass.
The guides and the trail description speak of the pass as though it will be our hardest test. It was over 11,000 feet high, but several of our other passes were just under 11,000 feet and a couple of hundred feet doesn’t make that much difference. In addition, we were already above 10,000 feet when we started this ascent, so it was really a pleasant walk. In less than two hours were in the high, high country.
and a few minutes later there was no more up. We had reached the summit of the pass
and it was all down hill from her. Down below you see Lyell Meadows, the Yosemite “high” country leading out to Tuolumne Meadows.
We plunged over the crest
went past Mt Lyell and its glaciers
The trip down to the bottom of Lyell Canyon
was very steep and I thought that it was more tiring than the trip up to Donahue Pass. It certainly took a lot longer, but eventually we reached the canyon floor and the end of down. A scant twelve miles from the end of the trail.
We set up camp in the valley, swatted our last mosquito
and by noon the nest day we were hiking along the Tuolumne River
and crossing the bridge to the land of cold beer, no more hiking boots, and an air conditioned van we could lay back in and enjoy the ride.
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