Yosemite- Young Lakes

The Quick and Dirty:
Location - Yosemite National Park, Young Lakes 
Distance - 24 miles one way
Terrain Type - flat to gentle slopes, northern Sierra Nevada region
Difficulty - Moderate Strenuous  
Best Time - Summer and Fall
Special Conditions -  US national park, entrance fee required upon arrival, backpacking permit also required.

Duration- 4 days

Louis and I spent labor day weekend backpacking at Young Lakes at Yosemite National Park with a few friends. We left Friday morning and drove up to Yosemite National Park's Eastern entrance off the Tioga Road into the Tuolumne Meadows. It took approximately 6 hours to drive up to the national park from Southern California. Lodging is $5 a night for backpackers at Tuolumne Meadows backpackers campsite. We planned to meet the rest of our camping party at the campsite on the first day but never found the campground. Instead, we drove all 20 miles east on Tioga Road to Porcupine campground and setup camp there for the night. We did manage to find our friends some time later at the backpacker's campsite and convinced them to move over to the Porcupine campground since it was close to our starting point the next day:) Porcupine was fine for a car camping campground. We were stuck next to some very loud neighbors and did not sleep very well that night, which reminded us why we enjoy backpacking so much more. 

This was our plan for the weekend. We were not able to obtain a backpacking permit from Dog Lake so we opted for the longer hike starting at Murphy Creek and ending at Dog Lake on Monday. 

First day, at our lunch spot. The weather was about 75, still too cold to swim in the water. 

I brought up the topic of us always wearing the same clothes during backpacking trips to Louis. We are considering wearing something different on our next backpacking trip. 

We found a campsite 1.5 miles away from the Glen Aulin junction and stay here for the first night. 

Really beautiful waterfall next to the High Sierras Glen Aulin campground on our hike the second day. It was a minor detour on our way to Young Lakes

Day two at one of our peaks.

Even the beautiful view could not cheer Edwin up. Ammar is giving Edwin a pep talk about backpacking.

We arrived at Young Lakes and camped at the lower lake. After everyone went into the lake for a dip, we napped and ventured up to the upper lakes. Next time, I think I'd prefer to camp at the upper lakes. 

Alpana, Lisa and I discussing where we are going to eat once we leave the next day. Dinner plans at Tasty Garden in Alhambra for the next day was decided shortly after the photo was taken.

Sun setting, kind of reminded me of Columbine Lake at Mineral Kings. 

Enjoying dinner by the lake

 Day 3, hiking back to Dog Lake's parking lot.  

Last photo of the group (with Ammar as the photographer) before saying goodbye to Yosemite.

Backpacking Salmon Creek Trail, Big Sur

We spent the last weekend of August driving up to the southern tip Big Sur and backpacking Salmon Creek Trail. Louis, Chis and I took off Friday morning from Mission Viejo. Salmon Creek Trail is a part of the Los Padres National Forest, no permit is required for overnight camping, however, a fire permit is required if we wanted to use a stove or start a camp fire. We realized 10 minute into our trip that neither of us had a fire permit and decided to make a little detour to Angeles National Forest ranger station to pick up a fire permit and have lunch. 

The drive took about five hours from San Gabriel valley. As always, Highway 1 is scenic and beautiful. The Salmon Creek Trail head is approximately 20 miles north of the Hearst Castle turn off or 3 miles north of the Ragged Inn. The parking lot for the trail is easy to spot it is after a big bend on Hwy 1 shortly after passing the Inn.

Hairpin right before Salmon Creek trail parking lot. 

 Our goal was to hike to Estrella camp the first night and do a day hike to Coast Ridge Road on  Saturday.

 Dakota and Estrella Camp

 It was a crowded weekend, we managed to find one last campsite near the creek in Estrella, and the creek was running! I was a little worried about the availability of water at the creek since it's been such a dry year.

Overlooking the Pacific ocean, it was an overcast day. 

 Poison oak was everywhere on the trail. It completely covered the trail at parts between Estrella and Coast Ridge highway.

 Dakota helping Louis filter water from the creek.

My friends from Norcal met up with us on Saturday morning. Dakota and Bubo became immediate friends. 

Louis was attached by a nest of yellow jackets on our way into Estrella. This is how we prepared for them on our way out.