JMT-

At home I have a photo of a Pika on the JMT. They are very cute. I have seen a weasel, also, very, very cute, but the photo I have is a blur. Anyone have a good photo of a weasel? I will try and add the Pika photo later.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pika

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weasel

Cloud's Rest:

Glen Aulin:

-edit: oops…didn't register in mind 'til after uploaded…my pics are not JMT. Will leave up for now if no complaints, will remove if anyone wants "pure" JMT. Must be past my bedtime!…yup it is.

I don't even remember where some of the above critter pix where taken exactly. The last bird shot was in Tuolumne Meadows Campground, the Marmot was at Olmstead point, right next to a bunch of tourists feeding it prunes, so not exactly JMT. You'll see a lot of them on the JMT, though, like this curious bugger, just north of Donohue Pass

I've been busy scanning my 1989 stash of slides – and after the first 150 I am finally getting to the JMT part of that summer. We hiked it almost "by the numbers" that summer, starting at Happy Isles, with just minor variations on the days before and after Reds Meadow. I'll try to keep the coming images in sequence.

So let's start with a few from Day 1 of the hike: We got our permit at Tuolumne Meadows Ranger station, headed down to the Valley in the Jeep of a camp site neighbor. Started at Happy Isles around noon, with Half Dome summit for the day's destination (yes, this was before overnight camping was outlawed up there…). The trail to the falls was a zoo at that time of day…

The first "fountain" on the JMT, at the bridge below Vernal Fall:

Mist trail – a place to escape from

This guy almost pushed me into the abyss with his boom box! Yes BOOM BOX.

But there's a reason why all these people are on this trail:

Mist Trail may be steeper than the regular JMT, but it's well worth it:

and a double rainbow on this one. I assume steep mid-summer afternoon light is what you want for the rainbows to show

Mist Trail gets gnarly when it heads up to the top of Vernal Fall

Top of Vernal Fall, looking back at Glacier Point

Nevada Fall, again from Mist Trail, just before meeting up with the regular JMT at the top of it

First view of our goal for the day

Shadows were getting long – this is around 7:00pm

Arriving at the base of "the cables"

How to do the cables safely – note the harness/carabiners. We mailed those home from Tuolumne Meadows two days later. Also nice to be totally alone on that part of the trail on June 27.

The view behind us towards Clouds Rest as we got higher

The trail is steep – no way I'd do this with a full pack without the harness hooked into the cables

Finally on top – the last glow on the peaks in the Yosemite High Country. Perfect timing

the valley below, looking towards Merced and the coastal range, with El Captian below on the right

Someone tell me what planet that is – more or less straight west rising just after sunset, June 27

and the night on the summit – we were not alone as the UFO-Flashlight track on my long exposure shows.

More from Day 2 in a few days…

Oh man … these photos are killing me (I passed on a JMT invite this year).

Regarding the planet … planets set in the west so if it really was rising then you had a UFO rather than a planet (unidentified by you). But a bright object low in the western sky right after sunset is almost always Venus. Could be Mars, Saturn or Jupiter but outer planets are nearest us (and brightest) when opposite the sun rather than "near" it.

that was definitely the view west, against the setting sun, and it is on several images, not just a hole in the slide :-)

First light on Half Dome

The top of Half Dome and the valley

Shadow on Glacier Point

The breakfast view to the south

Enjoying the view before the descent

Ultralight pants 1989 style

First break on the way down from Half Dome below the cables, drinking what's left of the water we hauled up the night before

Leaving this behind for good (haven't been back there in 20 years…)

There's water nearby when you find these things next to the trail

and there it was – fresh and cold…

Reaching the top of the climb before Sunrise High Sierra Camp

Ahead Cathedral Pass, which we left for the next day. Camp was made above Sunrise High Sierra Camp, where they had placed steel cables to hang your food back in the late 80s.

Sunrise High Sierra Camp – these places have not changed much in 20 years

We woke up to a very cold morning given the relatively low elevation – frost on Long Meadow below, and the smoke from the HSC breakfast tent was hanging low in the valley

Hiking in late June means bugs at lower elevations, and they sure were vicious once the sun began to warm up the hillside we camped on.

Time to hit the JMT highway and move – although all day we were faced with a serious skeeter issue, in spite of a thick application DEET. I think that expereince may be part of the reason why I never returned to this part of the JMT in all the hikes that followed.

Those trees on the right are now 20 years older – wonder if I’ll recognize this spot this summer when we will be passing through there again

Mount Lyell from Cathedral Pass – from here it’s all downhill to Tuolumne Meadows

more photos to follow once I scan them – I’m done with the first 230 of over 700 images from that summer. The whole gallery scanned so far can be seen here:

1989 Gallery

there’s also a 1990 gallery – smaller, but if you need a JMT fix, go here, too

1990 Gallery

Before you reach Tuolumne Meadows, you are treated with this view

In late June there can be quite a lot of snow even at this relatively low elevation

If you're not in a record breaking speed hiker mind set, you may even see some flowers

Or make some friends in the Tuolumne Meadows Campground, where we spent our third night in 1989

Just after leaving Tuolumne Meadows on June 30, 1989, we met this character in Lyell Canyon

Further up the canyon

Who needs a hiking pole?

Lots of snow towards Mt. Lyell

The trail at 10,600 feet, well below Donohue Pass

Those things were deep…

Donohue Pass, June 30, 1989

View towards Yosemite from our campsite south of Donohue Pass, July 1, 1989

Early season has some disadvantages… and check out the vintage GAZ stove ;-)

This log across Rush Creek has not changed much in 19 years:

1989:

2008 (from HD camera video), her kids crossing the same log

Banner Peak from Island Pass

Some of the 1000 islands below

Ruby Lake

Flowers on the trail down to Garnet Lake