Inyo National Forest- Honeymoon Adventure Part 3
Saturday May 30th
We packed up our site around 7:30, ready to continue on our journey. Yosemite was great to us, especially on our second full day but the valley was growing increasingly crowded and thus less appealing to us. We were ready for solitude again. I think that everyone should see the sights in the valley of Yosemite, but once further up Tioga Pass, we knew we needed to return to Yosemite’s backcountry area.
The upper portion of Yosemite and the wilderness were much more our style. Back packers, climbers and day hikers were all that we saw.
We stopped at Olmsted Point and enjoyed the new views of Half Dome.
Continuing on, we came to Tenaya Lake and watched as climbers worked their way up the cliffs and rocks.
Next, we came to Tuolumne Meadows.
A portion of the John Muir Trail and Pacific Crest Trail intersect at this point. We stopped and walked a short distance on the John Muir Trail. I was ecstatic. I know that I will be back there to do the full trail one day.
We drove over Tioga Pass leaving Yosemite behind. At 11,526 ft up, Tioga Peak held astonishing views of the snowcapped peaks in the distance. The road snaked along the mountain with monstrous walls on your left and jagged cliffs on your right. Many smaller lakes filled the valleys below us.
We detoured and took a quick drive through Lee Vining and scoped out Mono Lake. We continued down towards June Lake along Rt 395. Coming to Rt 158, we left the main highway in exchange for a small dusty road nestled between mountains and enormous still bodies of water. We came to Grant Lake first and finally to Silver Lake. There was our campground, standing peacefully at the base of Carson Peak.
We set up our tent and marveled in the amazing view of the mountain right in front of us. I couldn’t help but keep asking Tom for reassurance, “So, isn’t this amazing?! Do you see what I am seeing!?”
Snow still capped the mountain and it sat dignified and enduring directly in front of our site.
I have always had a thing for mountains of all kinds, and I always thought that I loved the lush green mountain tops best. But by this point in the trip, that affection had steered right into the snow covered peaks in front of me. Nature is truly the best settler of scores.
This campground is exactly why we came on this road trip. The camp host told us that with the moon almost full, it reflects off of the snow covered mountain (are you serious?! This has to be a dream!). I knew I needed to have my tripod ready for that moment. I couldn’t help but feel immensely thankful for the view that surrounded us in every direction.
We had an early lunch at the Cafe at Silver Lake and came directly back to our site. I didn’t want to miss the changing face of Carson Peak as the afternoon wore on.
We spent most of the day doing nothing. Not the kind of nothing that feels wasteful or without purpose; the kind of nothing where your mind settles down, allowing you to feel everything around you. We sat quietly. We talked some but mostly we sat and enjoyed being surrounded by mountains.
Rarely do I ever sit still. Stillness is not usually peaceful to me. I had become so swept up in the insane pace of our daily lives that I had forgotten what relaxing felt like. I’d lost touch with how to relax.
This journey has taken me to a place that I was fully content to lay in our fly-less tent and stare off into the mountains. This was a place that I was able to forget about every other care in the world. I simply listened to the wind fanning delicately over each blade of grass, watched the birds soaring over the peaks in the near distance and I felt the warmth of the sun casting its afternoon light over me. The breeze whispered a reminder to hold on to this feeling; hold on to this moment like your life depended on it. I didn’t have to think about the next step or what else to do. I was quiet. I was living, and I was present.
As the sun began to sneak behind the foothills closest to us, we watched as all around us shadowed valleys formed in direct contrast to the sharp early evening light. The sun’s descent was quick. The snow turned a cool shade of blue that perfectly matched the chill in the air as evening fell. The moon had already become visible and with the last of the suns afterglow, a beautiful rainbow reflected off of the low lying clouds in the sky.
The moon was so full that it cast the whole campground in shimmery blue light.
The outline of the snow was the first sight that we could make out in the dark night but shortly after the rest of the mountain took shape as our eyes adjusted. We sat in awe as I clicked away on my camera, trying to catch the perfect amount of light through the lens.
Everyone should experience a trip like this with their significant other. It reminds you of what is truly important in life. The small moments are the most profound. It tests you and brings you back to using your basic instincts. You only have what will fit within the walls of your vehicle. By this point, we had devised a great system and we were heading into week two excited for the next adventures.
“I’d rather be in the mountains thinking of God, than in church thinking about the mountains” – John Muir
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