I've had this footage from this 2022 backpacking trip just sitting around for a long time; better to just export it as-is before it is lost to time.
My second backpacking trip ever, and my first one solo. A quick and easy trip to get warmed back up into backpacking.
Dates: May 15-17, 2025
Three days and two nights on this classic Yosemite loop around the Hetch Hetchy Valley. I originally didn't intend to have any plans until later into the summer, but I was invited to go on this trip by a coworker. I was originally hesitant on going due to a foot injury I was still recovering from (post-tibial tendonitis from some overuse over a month before), but it was feeling much better, so I chose to go. We went clockwise starting from the dam, with the first night at Lake Vernon and the second night at Rancheria Falls. The weather forecast was partly cloudy with a chance of rain on the last day, perfect weather for the trip. Mid-May was a great time for the trip: before all the mosquitos spawn, before the heat coming later in the summer (flashback to my trip last year in July where it was cooking), and just after most of the snow had melted.
Day 1: O'Shaughnessy Dam to Lake Vernon (10.5 miles, 3,280 ft elevation gain)
After driving from the Bay Area in the early morning, we started our hike around 10AM after meeting up with the others at the Oak Flat entrance and driving to the O'Shaughnessy Dam. We had a steady climb out of the valley; not too hot and not too exposed. Past the junction for Miguel Meadows we ran into a few small snow patches and muddy bits of trail but otherwise the trail was dry.
We got to Lake Vernon around 4:30PM and found a nice flat area next to the north side of the lake to set up camp.
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| Sierra newt in Lake Vernon. I saw at least six all nearby. |
The water in Lake Vernon was freezing: colder than I think any other alpine lake I had been in before. I could only keep my feet in there for 20 seconds before it got rather painful. It was a nice ice bath for my feet though, keeping them ready for the next day.
