This snowshoe trip was more strenuous than I had expected. Uncle Ben Vassantachart and I went up to Angelus Oaks and parked by the restaurant. We followed the trail up to the helipad and spent some time exploring. After getting to that plateau, we decided to come straight down the mountain, cross country style. Some parts were steep, but in the fresh soft snow, we managed to make it down without any problems.
This evening, I returned from a long trip away from home. It’s nice to be back.
On Tuesday, I hiked up the trail above June Lake and Gull Lake. Yost Meadow was beautiful. That afternoon, the rest of the group joined me. There was Uncle Ben, Andrew, Lynette, Wing, and Gabriel. I gave devotion on Romans 1.
The next day, we set off for Yosemite via Rafferty Creek. The hike to Emeric Lake was beautiful. We paced it well and had no problems, since the climb up to Tuolumne Pass was very gradual. Emeric Lake was very nice. We had a meaningful devotion, where Uncle Ben shared a message with us—about metaphors drawn from the trip itself.
The next day took us to Florence Creek Junction. The boys caught five fish but did not end up eating them.
On Friday, we worked our way up to Vogelsang Pass. This stretch was quite strenuous, but we made good time. Our campsite was on a ledge just past Vogelsang Lake. Our amphitheater-like view of the entire canyon was spectacular, both for sunset and sunrise.
We spent the next day traversing high country to get across the Evelyn Lake basin and down into Lyell Canyon. Dew settled on everything, and I ended up packing up most things while they were still wet.
The hike out was nearly six miles, but it was almost completely flat along Lyell Canyon. We saw a coyote this morning.
I’m glad to have made it home safely with only one small blister above my right heel, at the Achilles insertion.
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