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Over the Fourth of July weekend, Karen and I escaped the triple-digit heat at home by heading to Yosemite for a long weekend of backpacking.

As our longest backpack together at four days, the route took us into the heart of the Sierras to the High Sierra Camp of Vogelsang. From there we explored further on an all day hike over Vogelsang pass to Merced Lake and the numerous small lakes along the 15 mile loop. On the third day we picked up camp and hiked over the ridge past Ireland Lake into the Lyell Canyon. There we pitched our tent along the Lyell Fork of the Tuolumne River. After a rejuvenating hot lunch, we hiked to the end of the canyon and over Donahue Pass, at 11,000 feet elevation.

We did not see the active and aggressive Lyell Canyon bear, but we did see plenty of marmot. We also saw a Sierra Grouse and plenty of deer. Also, amazingly, Karen ran into a classmate of hers from Dartmouth who was kind enough to invite us to dinner with her fellow Vogelsang staffers.

A thunder storm on Thursday afternoon was a first for Karen, introducing her to the typical, although not recently, weather of the high sierras during the summer. The storm was accompanied by a rather long hail storm. Luckily we had already pitched camp and were able to escape to the reasonable safety of the Vogelsang camp mess tent to play a little backgammon.

Hope you enjoy the photos.