Yosemite National Park

Oct. 13, 2023

I had planned several shorter hikes for today and started off in Yosemite Valley where there was thick low hanging smoke from controlled fires and tons of tourists. That made it an easy decision to only walk the path for Lower Yosemite Falls and leave the area by 8am. There was a small amount of water flowing over the granite cliff that creates the waterfall. Next stop was Lukens Lake where I saw two people on the trail and had the peaceful lake to myself interrupted only by an occasional fish jumping. The trail was easy but it was over 8000 ft elevation so I had to take it slower. There were plenty of people on the next path which was Tuolumne Grove. The trail follows the original road through Yosemite to several Giant Sequoia trees including an old tunnel tree (walk through the dead tree). My last stop of the day was an add on hike since I skipped several others earlier and it ended up being my favorite location in the park. Mariposa Grove is at the south entrance and a shuttle bus runs two miles from the parking lot to where the trails begin for the sequoia trees. There were huge beautiful trees everywhere in this location including a tunnel tree that is still alive. After walking the Grizzly loop, I hiked a side trail back to the parking lot instead of taking the packed shuttle. All hikes totaled just over 9 miles today.