John Muir Trail, Day Four

That lovely Lyell river that was so lovely to wade through in late afternoon after a long day hike, was a very different proposition the next morning when we woke up. The temperature had dropped down to the 38f/3c overnight, so wading through a icy mountain river first thing in the morning, with icy dew covered grass was a more bracing start to the day than we had signed up for!

Here we are after crossing the river, looking a little chilly!

But as alway Yosemite quickly paid us off, with an amazing view of an eight pointer deer going for an early morning drink by the river.

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We thought we were on easy street now, we were descending into Yosemite Valley, so the air was getting more and more oxygen rich, and half way through our hike, we were carrying half as much food and our bags were about 8lbs lighter. But what we didn’t realize was how hot it was going to get. Our goal was to hike up to Lower Cathedral Lake, but the temperature quickly rose to about 95f/38c, so it was a hard slog. Here’s a photo of us taking a break, with only our hiking poles keeping us upright!

But Lower Cathedral Lake more than made up for the struggle to get there. It really was one of the most beautiful spots I’ve ever seen. Looming over it is Cathedral Mountain, with its amazing Cathedral like spires:

The mountain overlooked Lower Cathedral Lake, which was just about the most crystal clear lake we had ever come across, ringed by conifer trees and granite marble rocks as smooth as a kitchen counter

At at the opposite end of the lake, a waterfall, dry at this time of year, opened up to an amazing vista overlooking Tenaya Lake.

There was probably about 2-3 other groups camping around the lake that night, so we really felt we had the whole place to ourselves.