David W. and I headed up to Tuolumne Mdw. the other day in hopes of getting a permit for Young Lakes with plans to go XC to Roosevelt and maybe bag Mt. Conness from the West side. A couple weeks prior the quota was full so we held out hope for a walk up but alas, no luck. Rather than plan-b something that either of us had already done, we decided to explore somewhere new and tried McCabe Lakes via Saddlebag Lake.
The weather was nice, 70’s/20’s, no bugs, clear skies, lots of stars and meteors.
The rock scramble over McCabe Pass was a good one. For those at Trinity Alps trip a couple years ago that did that scramble, think higher, steeper, and with more ledges and loose crap.
We stayed at Upper McCabe and day hiked to the middle and lower lakes. The scenery was great.
Followed it up with another nice evening with beers (Sierra Nevada Torpedo and Russian River Damnation), stars, and meteors.
We found our way out the next day via a different route than we came down, neither of which were the recommended routes to take, but there’s always more than one way. Good stuff to get the lungs and heart pumping. I’ve not been the most active this year and I could feel it a bit.
All in all a short but fine trip. I think my lungs finally caught up by the last day. I feel ready to get out there a bit more, but I don’t know if my schedule will permit, unfortunately. Here are a few photos…
We destroyed a fire ring and in the process found some old trash to pack out. Canned bacon anyone??
Full trip report here with more photos. The shelter pictured is an Ultamid 2. HMG sent me one to check out. I’m up to speed on the chatter about it and I’ll be posting some thoughts on it later this week.
