JMT Day 2 - Tuolumne Meadows to Lyle Canyon

Saturday, July 1st

                I can hear the birds chirping this morning just before dawn breaks which would soon become part of the morning routine.  It‘s a bit chilly, maybe in the low 40’s, but not so cold that you don’t warm up a bit just moving around.  I start a fire and heat up some water for coffee and breakfast.  We end up spending about two hours this morning eating and organizing our packs to begin the hike.  We pack carefully because once we leave this camp there really is no turning around.  At the same time, we don’t need to stress out to much because in three days we will be arriving in Red’s Meadow where there is a small store at which we can resupply and buy small things we may be lacking.  We break camp at around 8:30, park the car by the Lembert Dome parking lot and start the hike at 9:00am.

All loaded up like a couple of mules

              The first 7 miles of the hike take us up a very mild climb southward along the Lyle Fork.  We pass through several meadows and forested areas and I keep waiting to get close to the water to stop and try our luck at some more fishing.  After about 4 miles the trail comes close enough to the water to take a look. 

Lyle Fork

Our fishing spot

 The water is still flowing well here, probably about 3 or so feet deep and I can see the outline of some fish, probably about 12 inches long,  along the far bank about 30 feet away.  We promptly stop and I hook up the fly rod with the same hook I had on last night that worked so well.  I try casting out to those waiting fish several times, but the wind is blowing the wrong way and I see that a fly rod is just not going to do it here.  Luckily I also have a spinning rod with me which is much easier to cast.  I tie on a silver lure to this rod my first cast goes right over some bushes on our side of the creek.  An helps me and together we untangle the line and lure and I cast again.  This time my aim is dead on and I get the lure out exactly where I want it.   And two seconds later, bam, we got a fish.  It feels like a good size fish as I pull it in.  It turns out to be to a 15 inch German Brown trout.  A non-native species to these parts but it sure tasted good for lunch later on.  It feels good to have so much success fishing so early on.  It’s going to be a good trip.

!5 inch German Brown Trout

That's Donahue Pass we are headed towards - still about 6 miles away.

                We cooked that fish over a fire about four more miles down the trail.  We could have stopped at that point for the night, but it was only about 5:00PM so we decided to go on a little further up the canyon to put in some “bonus miles.”  And it was up the canyon now as we start to hit the first steep rise of the trail.  We were at about 10,000 feet now and feeling the weight of our heavy packs after a full day of trudging already.  We kept at it for another hour or so till we came to the first good clearing where we could make a camp site.  We’re both tired and we crash for the night about 2 miles from the summit of our first mountain pass.

View from our campsite.  About 2 miles from the pass now and at about 10,000 feet.