Like most men, I have five or six "lines" that I, all too often, insert into a conversation fully expecting to be lauded for my insightful wisdom and/or my witty humor. Of course, I expect this response each and every time I drop one no matter how many times a person might have heard it.
One of my favorites is to call Yosemite Valley the Jesus Christ of wild places; it gave its life so that other wild places might live (Oh, c'mon. It's kind of cute). Large crowds swarm Yosemite Valley easing the pressure on other mountain cathedrals.
So, the flip side of a crowded Yosemite Valley is the peace and quiet we can find nearly anywhere else. Venture just 100 yards from any Sierra roadside turnout and you will likely be alone. Last week, I wrote about a trip to the Yosemite high country. On the drive across Yosemite Park to Tuolumne Meadows, I decided to visit three lovely spots, close to the road, that few people ever see.
Twenty years ago, I was introduced to these nooks on a Yosemite Association photo seminar conducted by Howard Weamer, a gifted large format photographer -- www.weamerphotography.com -- and mountaineer who lives in Yosemite. Over two days, he took us to a number of close-by, but secret, sites from Yosemite Valley to the east side of the Sierras. The first was Lukens Lake.
Don't be in a hurry driving from Crane Flat to Tuolumne Meadows. If you are, there's a Winnebago or somebody's grandmother in a Buick driving 35 miles per hour waiting for you. That's OK. It's a beautiful drive. Fifteen miles from Crane Flat, look for the small Lukens Lake sign just before a small turnout and parking area. Across the road, the trail follows an easy stretch to the beautiful subalpine lake. But the real attraction is the wet meadow just above it. In early and mid-July, this huge boggy meadow is choked with hundreds of thousands of shooting stars. It's a 20-minute walk to a once in a lifetime sight.
Another half hour along the road is Olmstead Point, one of the most popular turnouts on the road to Tuolumne Meadows. Sightseers walk along the sidewalk looking down Tenaya Canyon toward Cloud's Rest and Half Dome, then hop back in the car and go. Few people take the time to turn around and explore the bare granite knob across the street.
Weamer could conduct his whole seminar without leaving this spot. The trunks of old massive sierra junipers wrap around bare granite blocks in the way of their expanding girth. Wind-sculpted Jeffrey pines appear tended by some bonsai master gardener. Impressive gardens of brilliant red mountain pride penstemon grow from every granite crack. The views of Tenaya Lake and Tenaya Peak are spectacular. This is a great spot to linger. There is something around every corner.
Further along, as you first see Tuolumne Meadows, the road descends to a small turnout just as you reach meadow level. Directly across a little spur of meadow is Pothole Dome, a great example of what geologists call a roche moutonnee. Twenty thousand years ago, a 2,000-foot sheet of ice sheared the upstream side of this dome into a gentle streamlined slope while plucking chucks of granite from the steep downstream side, giving Pothole Dome its distinctive shape.
Come here at sunset with a folding chair and a toddy. Mount Dana and Mount Gibbs mark the Sierra crest beyond the mile long meadow -- the best sunset ever or your money back.
Ron Erskine Ron Erskine is an outdoors columnist for the Times. Reach him at ronfoxtail@msn.com.
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