My fifth backpacking trip of the year was an overnight through the Ten Lakes area in Yosemite. I’ve wanted to check this area out for years.
My yoga teacher and friend, Lizzy, met me at White Wolf campground the afternoon before our trip. After dropping off a car at May Lake trailhead, we went for a stroll to stretch our legs from our long respective drives. I was telling her about my silly quirk of getting distracted by wild food (like berries and pine nuts) on hikes and completely giving up on hiking for the day to forage. And then I look around and we’re surrounded by ripe blueberries! So we laughed and stopped to eat berries.
The next day we packed up and drove to the Ten Lakes trailhead. We had a beautiful hike up to a great overlook of the Grand Canyon of the Tuolomne, Ten Lakes Basin, and the big mountains beyond. There was smoke from a fire, but we still had some great views.
Then we hiked down to the lakes and chose one to swim in. As we were hanging out and drying, a little harmless snake went for a swim right by us. It was so cute!
Then we hiked down to the South Fork of Cathedral Creek. The creek was pretty dry where we were, so we found a campsite close to a little pool of water and camped there. It turns out that there was more water upstream, but it was a fine campsite. And we were entertained by some grouse in the meadow near us.
The next day, we hiked upstream, up some switchbacks out of the basin and onward to May Lake. There were more great views of big mountains and closer granite domes and cliffs. We joked and laughed a lot, which made the time fly by.
After we left May Lake, which was only about a mile from Lizzy’s car, I realized my tent had slipped out of my lower pack straps! I ran back to the place we rested at May Lake, but it wasn’t there. I remember adjusting the straps holding the tent once in the morning, but I really had no idea when it fell off. So, we finished our hike and Lizzy gave me a ride back to my car and we drove back to our homes in opposite directions. It was a really fun and beautiful trip.
The next day, I drove back and ran most of the way we had covered the previous day- scouring the trail for the tent and looking below the trail, in case it rolled downhill. I talked to every backpacker I saw and asked at the ranger station and filed a Lost and Found Ticket. It didn’t turn up, so as our friend Jeff said, somebody got a really nice tent.
It was a major bummer because it was our lightest tent and light gear isn’t cheap. I won’t be strapping a slippery tent to the outside of my pack again, that’s for sure! However, as backpackers know, lighter gear really makes a positive difference on a trip. In the few years since we purchased our tent, the weight of that model has decreased, so Jon is pretty pleased about that.