Sep 02 Pics

Yosemite Peaks Trail Tales

Trip Catalog

This was the year to expand our exploration of the Yosemite Wilderness with visits to Upper Twin, Peninsula, Otter and Tilden Lakes. This was the year to bag a couple of new peaks along the way. This was the year to nab some more pictures for the web site. And finally this was the year to make it up Tower Peak. However, as is with the best laid plans of mice and men, we only reached some of our goals, met challenges along the way and learned a valuable lesson.

We were off with a helpful start from Kennedy Meadows arriving at Maxwell Lake in a short 6 hours. We camped at a quiet site and enjoyed an alpine glow sunset with a delicious meal. The next day we were off to Upper Twin Lake. A mere 3 miles, but about a 1k drop and 1k rise was enough to get us huffing and puffing for the first hard steps of our journey. We made it in a reasonable time and were treated to a beautiful lake and surroundings. As the two Twin lakes sit on the edge of the one metamorphic formation within Emigrant Wilderness, the terrain is varied and draws you in. Our two days were spent exploring the lake and running up to Michie and Kendrick Peaks. We had vast vistas of the back side of Emigrant all the way into Yosemite, where a few fires were taking their toll. Smoke rising from the canyon below us, which would be in our direct path in just 2 days was a bit unsettling, but a back country ranger put our minds at ease when he told us that it was smoldering and under control. That was to be the least of our worries just 48 hours later.


Upper Twin Lake	Upper Twin Camp Site	Michie Peak Geo and Mark	Kendrick Peak Geo and Mark

Day 4 was moving time and we strapped on our packs and headed cross country to Peninsula Lake, about 4 miles away with some rough terrain to tackle. We made our way slowly and surely and ended up at our destination. The lake was a vision of Emigrant-Yosemite back country splendor, with a granite cirque, a hanging valley and a towering dome. We made camp quickly and scrambled around to drink in the beauty. This was to be a one day stay and a quick move to Otter Lake the following day. We rested up and headed out early in the morning. The day started warm, and we poked our way around the eastern shore of Peninsula to gain access to Upper Peninsula Lake and the granite cirque that lay ahead of our Otter Lake goal. As is customary when the three of us hike together, we each have our own vision of the best route and attempt to convince the others why. George and I wished to follow a route that would take us close to the back of Haystack Peak so we could bag it, and then take the easy hike down to Otter. George Sr however, wanted to take the quickest way so he could fish Otter Lake, as all that climbing nonsense was not for him. So we went our separate ways and planned to meet at Otter, which was just over the ridge. We were all working off the same map and the plan sounded sane enough. Unfortunately it was not.

What comes next is a good lesson for anyone who goes into the backcountry and what to plan for when your partners are taking a separate route to the next destination. Hope this will help someone to plan better then we did.