I spent a week hiking in the eastern Sierra during the end of July. The first day we hiked in the Bishop area. After that we moved to camp at Tuolumne Meadows and hiked within Yosemite National Park.
Click here to see the photos.
Here are the hikes we did:
- North Lake trailhead to Piute Pass – 10 miles, 2,200 foot elevation gain to 11,400 feet
- Lembert Dome – This was a short loop hike to the top of the dome, about 5 miles and 1000 foot gain
- Lake of the Domes – We took the fisherman’s trail from Tioga Road to Lake of the Domes. We hiked up Mariuolumne Dome and walked through the sparse forest to Lower Cathedral Lake. (The name “Mariuolumne” comes from a combination of Mariposa and Tuolumne.) The distance was about 6 miles round trip with ab out 1,600 feet elevation gain.
- Lake of the Dome repeat – We went back to Lake of the Domes area, but followed a different route with some friends that joined us. We started at Pywiack Dome and followed the spillway to the outlet of Lower Cathedral Lake. From there we visited the Lakes of the Domes and came down through a steep gully. This distance was about 5 miles with 1,200 foot elevation gain and required a short car shuttle.
- Mount Hoffman – 10 miles, 2,400 foot elevation gain
Lawrence Pallant Photography 
Absolutely breathtaking!! Looks as if you had the whole place to yourselves. Thank you for sharing your amazing journeys!
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Thanks! It was another great trip. We went off trail and did have much of it all to ourselves.
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Lawrence, did you have a base camp and then do the various hikes as day hikes? Or did you backpack in and set up camp each day? Great photos! Thanks for sharing them. Bob Russo
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Hi Bob – We didn’t do any backpacking. The first night we camped at the North Lake Trailhead out of Bishop and did a day hike to Puite Pass. After that we set up our base at Tuolumne Meadows campground in Yosemite National Park and again did four day hikes with Tuolumne Meadow as our base campground. Thanks for you comments. Glad you like the photos.
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With all your hiking, I’d be curious to know what kind of encounters you’ve had with wildlife. Have you encountered any bears or mountain lions? I’ve never come across either, although I’ve come across a few rattlesnakes, one Joshua National Park and another in a park outside of Julian. Neither seemed to have much interest in me. I have a friend who got caught between a Mama Grizzly Bear and her cubs in Canada. He layed down flat on the ground to appear non-threatening and they eventually left. He’s lucky to be alive.
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I have encountered lots of bears over the years in the Sierra Mountains. None of them were threatening and I quickly learned to make noise and scare them away. One time I had to hike past one that was digging for grub in a dead log. He just ignored us (luckily) as we hiked past on the trail. Also, I’ve seen lots of rattlesnakes over the year. They always try to warn us. Our part is to stay alert and stay away. I have come too close at times, when I wasn’t alert. Luckily, they didn’t strike. I think I saw a mountain lion dash across the horizon once. It looked like such, but I will never know for sure.
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Sounds like you generally hike with others. I suspect that that would be a great asset if you were to encounter a mountain lion or a bear. We used to wear bells when we hiked in Glacier National Park years ago. Never did see a Grizzly. The times I backpacked in the Sierras (years ago) I always carried a 22 caliber pistol with me. Never used it.
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