Kelly and Ty and I loved our backpacking trip from Tuolumne Meadows to Glen Aulin. This was my third trip to the Glen Aulin high sierra camp, and it never gets old (well, except for that time that it rained the whole time). First of all, since the trail is along the river most of the way, it's a beautiful hike. It's also short - only 5.6 miles. And downhill on the way in. And best of all - there's a composting toilet right there in the backpackers' campground. Jackie and Julie would love it. It was especially fun to hang out and catch up with my friend Kelly - an old Stanford teammate and former roommate (we lived and snowboarded in CO together). Here, Kelly is hydrating in front of our nice little campsite.
Kelly's husband Ty is also very funny and cool. And incredibly brave: he was the first to take the plunge into the freezing cold Tuolumne River. Kelly and I jumped in, too, but only for about 2 minutes. The river was refreshing but the best part of the day was drying off on the warm rocks after our swim. On the middle day of our trip, we took a break from the rigors of backpacking and went for a day hike into the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne.
It was gorgeous, and we saw almost no other people all day. We did see lots of deer and a marmot and even some ducks, but despite all the warnings, no bears.
Our hike out yesterday was pretty uneventful. The highlight of the day was the discovery that the Tuolumne Meadows Grill sold ice cream. Yum.
Meanwhile, Talbot classes started today, and Calvary starts up next week. And I'm already looking forward to my next trip to Yosemite. Any takers?
