DATE 8/2/2006
IDS 5515
Continued...
With my feet smarting badly from the previous day's beating, I needed to take
it easy today. A rest would probably have been better for them, but they'd have
had to compete with the boredom I would likely experience if I spent the day
sitting around with so much beautiful wilderness to explore. So I picked a
non-descript peak between Mono and Parker passes in the high country of
Yosemite south of Tioga Pass, one of the few named peaks in the area I had yet
to climb.
The hike out of the Mono Pass TH is through a very pretty alpine area. The
first hour is through woods on the edge of treeline which soon give way to the
open meadows where marmots and pikas are in abundance. At <4197>Mono Pass,
a short distance south of the trail are some old dilapidated
<4199>log cabins, more
than a hundred years old going back to the mining days of this area. Just
southeast of these rises
<4200>Mt. Lewis, and I used this to start the long climb up
the NW Ridge. There is a good deal of talus and false summits and in hindsight
it wasn't the easiest way to reach
<4204>the summit (my descent route was much
better), but it worked. After about three hours I had reached the 12,500-foot
summit of Mt. Lewis. I'd been wondering about the peak's name on the way up,
and in answer I found an
<4206>old monument to one W.B. Lewis, the Yosemite
superintendent from 1916 to 1927. An old pair of binoculars was also found
there, still in working order, but well-worn from many seasons up at the
summit.
The summit provided a fine view of
<4210>Mono Lake to the NE, June Lake and the
surrounding area to <4211>the SE; Parker, Koip, and Kuna peaks to
<4207>the southwest; Gibbs and Dana to <4209>the north.
On my return I found a low-angle drainage off to
the west that made for an easy descent back to the Parker Pass Trail.
Intercepting this I then returned back via <4212>Mono Pass.
There were many more
hikers out by this time, and like me they seemed to be out to enjoy the
plentiful <4213>wildflowers found throughout the area.
I got back to the car around
1p, a six and half hour effort - just enough to keep my feet from starting to
complain again. Off I went down the east side of Tioga Pass, heading for the
motels of Lee Vining and a fine meal at the Whoa Nellie...
Continued...