Day 3- Fishing and a Town Day

Thursday, June 19

"JMTers are just wannabe PCTers."

Beginning: Cathedral Lake (Mile 18)
Ending: Lyell Canyon (Mile 30)
Daily recorded distance: 13.3 miles
Total recorded distance: 38.1 miles
Daily recorded elevation gain: 876 feet
Total recorded elevation gain: 10,328 feet

    In the words of one hiker we met on the trail today's hike "restored our faith in our ability to walk." The legs were tired from the brutal climbs of the last two days, but today's trails were smooth with very little climbing. For the first four miles, there were not many big views, but we had a nice easy downhill through the forest until the trail broke out on Tuolumne Meadow. Highway 120, the only road that goes east and west through Yosemite, goes right through Tuolumne Meadows so there were lots of tourists visiting. Despite the blacktop and tourists, Tuolumne Meadow was a highlight because the Tuolumne River is one of the prime fly fishing destinations of the Sierras. Two men walking beside the highway were fascinated by the browns and brookies I was pulling out of the river. They also could not believer I would hike thirty miles only to fish right beside the highway. The weather was perfect; the fishing was a lot of fun; but finally it was time to move on.

    At the Tuolumne store and grill, we got our first taste of through hiker culture. Laden with caesar chicken wraps, drinks, and ice cream, Bryson and Casey looked like kids in a candy store. They were chatting it up with a group of PCTers seated around the front of the store. Up to this point we could possibly have felt kind of big about hiking over two hundred miles in a couple of weeks. To the day hikers from Yosemite Valley and backpackers doing short loops within Yosemite, hiking all the way to Mt. Whitney looked like a huge undertaking. Not so for these hikers. These trail-hardened PCTers had already hiked over nine hundred miles, seven hundred of which had been through dry, shadeless desert. They had plenty of harrowing tales to tell about crossing icy, snow-covered passes far to the south which we would also have to pass someday.

    At the Tuolumne wilderness center, some of us picked up our first resupply. Bryson, Shane, and I had decided to cache some food in the bear boxes so we could reduce the amount of weight we would have to carry out of the Valley. Casey, who had started with a full six day's worth of food, would have to wait a few more days before restocking his own portable pantry.

Lyell Canyon

    Lyell Canyon is a dream. I can't believer I had never heard of Lyell Canyon before this trip. It really is one of the most beautiful places you can find, and it's not even that hard to get to. The trail into the canyon starts at the Tuolumne Meadows Wilderness Center, which is right beside Highway 120. From there, a nearly flat four miles will get you far enough into the canyon to appreciate its splendor. Most of the hikers we saw were northbound PCTers intent on reaching the Tuolumne Grill before they ran out of hamburgers which I'm afraid were a terrible distraction from the beauty of the canyon. Besides through hikers, we saw three other groups. One was a family of five who had hiked in to fish for the day. Another was an old man with a tattered backpack and a walking stick. (He might have been the ghost of John Muir himself.) And the other was a solo fisherman camped four or five miles up the canyon. Really, I can't describe the meadows, forest, rivers, and peaks to you. If you only visit two places in Yosemite, drive through Yosemite Valley and then hike in Lyell Canyon.

    That evening, we found a nice campsite beside a small creek that feeds into the Tuolumne. Bryson, Casey, and I fished the creek and the main river, catching several brook trout and a few browns. One elusive giant of a trout evaded every fly and spinner that Bryson or I could throw at him. Someday, I will figure out how to catch him. It was here that we began experimenting with the best way to cook a trout while on the trail. I found that six to eight inch trout fried on a small backpacking stove with a little butter and Tony's seasoning make the perfect supper.

Tuolumne Meadows

Lyell Canyon