Last weekend Cary, Erik (my brother), and I went backpacking in Yosemite. We headed out via White Wolf campground on Friday afternoon (3pm) towards the 10 Lakes area. Since we had a late start and due to the high altitude we set up camp 2 miles shy of 10 Lakes near Half Moon Meadow. Once we found a place to camp we set up tents and ate dinner as fast as we could trying to avoid getting bitten by the infinite amount of mosquitoes. The next morning we got up packed up our camp and headed to 10 Lakes. After 2 hours we reached the top of the ridge just above the lakes. We decided to camp up high since photo ops would be better up top instead of in the deep valley with steep cliffs. Our campsite was awesome; it overlooked the grand canyon of Tuolumne and the 10 Lakes area. After setting up camp we packed up daypacks and hiked down to the lakes to spend the afternoon exploring. Once we were down there we photographed the lakes, waterfalls, streams, and mountains. Erik was also brave enough to jump in the lake, which was very cold. I had a great time using my new neutral density filter, which enabled me to shoot water blur in direct sunlight. After a few hours we headed back up to the top of the ridge to our camp and enjoyed dinner and shooting sunset. The next morning we got up around 5:30 to shoot sunrise and then packed up our camp. Heading back we exited the 10 lakes trail instead of hiking all the way back to the White Wolf campground. We left Erik’s car on Tioga road near the 10 Lakes trailhead so that we could shuttle back to my car at White Wolf. Sunday’s hike back from the 10 Lakes ridge to the car was mellow and mostly all down hill. It only took us about 2.5 hours to get down.
Start: Friday Aug 5th, 3pm @ White Wolf Campground
End: Sunday Aug 7th, 11:30 @ 10 Lakes Trailhead
Total Trip Mileage: 15 mi
Mileage to Camp 1: 6.5 mi
Camp 1 to Camp 2: 1.6 mi
Weather: 80’s during the day/ 50’s at night
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| Cary at the top of the ridge, above 10 Lakes |
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| Near one of the 10 Lakes |
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| Erik's sole came completely off! |
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| Camp 2 |
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| Cary and Erik rocking the mosquito nets |
View 10 lakes yosemite 8-5-11 in a larger map
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