Six Trailblazers spent five memorable days camping in the Upper Pines Campground in Yosemite Valley. With the campground as our base camp, we hiked to the top of Yosemite Falls, the Mirror Lake loop up into Snow Creek Canyon, and got very wet hiking up to Vernal and Nevada Falls via the Mist Trail. We all took the trails to the Tuolumne and Merced groves of Giant Sequoias and then continued on a few miles outside the Park, heading towards the town of Foresta. Some of us also traveled the John Muir Trail to the Panorama Trail and then on to Illouette Falls and finally to Glacier Point, then the Inspiration Point trail to Stanford Point, where the trip abruptly ended when the snow obliterated the path. Those of us that stayed until the very end had a relaxing day riding our bicycles around the Valley floor.

The waterfalls were at full capacity. The snowfall from last winter was 180% of normal, so many of the trails were still closed. The Tioga Pass Road was closed four miles past Crane Flat on Highway 120, and no opening date was announced. So, we could not get to Tuolumne Meadows. Half Dome Trail was scheduled to open two weeks later, when the cables were to be installed. Many of the meadows in the Valley floor were still flooded. The Merced River level was so high it came right up to the bottom of Sentinel Bridge. Temperatures were high at the beginning of the trip, reaching 90 degrees on the second day. As is always the case, when it was time to go home, daytime highs were in the low seventies and it was cold enough to see your breath in the early morning hours.

Highlights of the trip were the sightings of over two dozen Mule deer, a Red-Headed Skink, two Mountain King Snakes, and a California Black Bear. The Sierra wildflowers were in bloom everywhere, adding some very bright colors to the Park. We saw several flowers we have yet to identify.