Hiking Without A Trail

On our last full day, we went on another hike, this time without a trail. We actually started on a trail, on the west side of Tenaya Lake, and had to cross the stream. You can see that there is a nice rock path through the water, but this year the trail is still underwater. But who needs a trail!




Ralph had us follow the stream instead of staying on the trail. He knew of a great place where the stream turns into a waterfall and we hoped to hike down to the pools at the bottom. We quickly appreciated the no trail part as we got see some signs of wildlife. First, a marmot. He was very curious about the pack of people hiking on the other side of the river. One of our group was very good at making kissing noises that marmots seem to enjoy.







And we found evidence of bears. The one that clawed this tree was either very tall or he liked to climb. We think the latter. There are claw marks a couple of feet above the top of the boys' hands.








And we found actual snakes! We haven't identified this one yet but we think he is a plain old garter snake. On the way in, we saw him on top of the water of a small pond. On the way back, we found him (or a twin) near a rock on the forest floor. Good lesson in animal habitats!



Today's hike was fairly easy, lots of forest and rocks but all fairly flat until the very end. And then we started to hike down. If we hadn't hiked Fairview Dome, this might have scared us a little. But by now we were feeling like pros. We knew where to walk and when to crab walk (maybe once or twice).








But lots of the down was just gradual over huge expanses of granite. The landscape was so huge that we couldn't help but feel small.






Our reward, a great water fall at the other end.
















Our surprise, a lot of people enjoying the water at the other end. Who knew! There must have been about 20 people enjoying the stream by using it as a huge waterslide. Most used mats and just flew down mountainside.








Ryan tried it once with Ralph. He said no to any further trips. Maybe next year with Dad, he told me. And better to go single rather than two at a time. The trick, not to control anything, but just let the water take you where it will. Connor and I didn't give this a try.


But Connor did enjoy swimming with Ryan at the bottom of the river. The water felt wonderful after a hot hike.


We also enjoyed exploring the huge holes left by the river. Connor thought they looked like extra large solution pockets, which is probably what they started out as. He learned a lot about time and geology.


So we all learned lots on this day. Ralph learned about a new sport at Yosemite and decided that he enjoyed it. The boys learned about risky behavior (some of the sliders were drinking beer and doing some pretty risky things). We all learned about animal habitats and some more about the geology of the area. And, as always, we learned to be flexible. We didn't expect the trail to be underwater nor did we expect to swim or waterslide at the end of the hike.

This wasn't the end of the day, but it is the end of this day's blog. To find out about our evening and the drive home, tune in later.