From LYV toward Cloud's Rest
After a good night's sleep. we wake up to a visitor about 30 feet away. Maybe the deer doesn't understand that the sign only applies to humans...
After a breakfast of hot oatmeal and lots of fresh coffee, we set out toward Cloud's Rest. The plan was to follow the John Muir Trail northward and then cut left on the Forsythe Trail and approach the ridge from the northern end. This way avoids the brutally steep steps at the Pinnacles, and instead winds its way through tall forests with numerous great views along the way.
The whole day we trekked, meeting Alex and Mark from Rhode Island whowere doing the John Muir Trail, and had come in from Tenaya Lakes/Sunrise. They had some troubles route-finding in the upper reaches because of deep snow over large sections of the trail.
Just a bit up the trail we meet Brandon and Christie from San Jacinto. It's their first time to backcountry Yosemite.
Mount Clark through the trees in mid evening.
When you make good time over a long day, the time comes to start looking for a campsite, and this means a campsite with enough space to pitch a semi-level tent, and not have to clip slings to tress to keep from rolling downhill during the night. We had climbed to 9200 feet at this point, and there weren't a lot of choices. Luckily, for campsite number 2 we found a great one a hundred yards off the trail with great views and lots of character. That night we had a good bonfire, and enjoyed a tent full of stars.
