I started at the Tuolumne Meadows permit office and ran/hiked a nice 34 mile loop, passing Vogelsang and Lake Merced High Sierra Camps, then turned right at the Junction for Sunrise HSC, passing Cathedral peak, Mathes Crest and the cathedral lakes on the JMT. I stayed on the JMT for the short stretch through the meadows to Lembert Dome and back to the Permit office. Total distance 34.1 miles, elevation 6000' up and down, time 10 hours 50 minutes, average 3.1 mph. Trail conditions were overall very good. There was quite a bit of snow going past Vogelsang and I did lose the trail for a while but found it again near the pass. The section between lake Merced and the sunrise junction had LOTS of downed trees which made for slower going, climbing over and/or around them. This section could really use some trail work, hopefully NPS has the budget for it this year.
Bugs were out but mostly not an issue as long as I kept moving. They did attack in force at some of the water sources especially at lower elevation. I forgot the bug spray but it was really only a big deal at my last fillup near the sunrise junction, where I really got attacked. One of the pictures shows a dead one on my nose that I didn't notice till I looked at the pictures. :)
here are a few pictures i took with my phone along the way…
