Nalumon and Cathy wanted to do a hike in Yosemite that wasn't in the valley and wasn't too much of a death march. We came up with a few ideas, but mostly decided to just meet at the ranger station and see what we could get a permit for.
We were able to get a permit for Young Lakes, which I had never been to. We started hiking pretty late since it took a while for us all to assemble and get everything sorted and packed up. Then we set of up the trail. For a little bit it was warm, but as the afternoon wore on things cooled down. Then the sun went down and things cooled more. Fortunately we were getting close by that point. It was fully dark by the time we got to the lake so finding a campsite was a bit harder, especially as the first few we found were occupied. Eventually we found a site and set up and started cooking dinner. I went to get water from the lake and the view was really cool. There was only a slight breeze and mist rising from the warmish water (mostly the water was not warm, but the air was a lot colder) combined with a nearly full moon. After taking the water back I returned with my camera to try to capture it on film, not an easy task.
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It kept getting colder - below freezing, so we opted to all squeeze into the one tent. It had enough space, but not a whole lot of ventilation - there was a lot of condensation - mostly frozen on the single layer wall and ceiling.
The next morning I got up earlyish to try to get pics of the sunrise over the lake. The conditions weren't optimal, but it was still pretty scenic. After breakfast I decided to try to climb Ragged Peak, and maybe some other things depending on my motivation and how it looked.
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I was not feeling very energetic, so I took my time climbing up to the col between it and another peak and then up the less steep (but frustratingly loose sand) up towards the summit. The last bit up to the summit was a little more scrambly - and the rock was pretty crumbly. There was a falcon (I think) on a lower summit that was overlooking the lake but it flew off when I noticed it. I scrambled down to that one which involved a lot more excitement (more exposure, smaller holds, and a bit more circuitous route finding). The views were very nice down over the lake. I carefully made my way back and then headed downhill. I was still considering heading east on the next ridge to tag some more peaks, but opted to head back to camp.
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We decided to pack a picnic dinner and go for a swim and then watch the sunset on Mt Conness. The water was cold, but no worse than most of the Sierra Challenge swims and the entry was quick and there was a nice rock to dry off. Then we napped a bit until our rock went into the shade. We cooked dinner before things got dark and then watched the mountains turn gold and then purple-ish as the sun set. By then things were getting chilly so we headed back to camp and bed. Nalumon and Cathy switched sleeping bags which made for better sleeping for both.
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We were in no rush the next morning and tried to dry things out before packing them up. We took a different route back to make a loop. There was more uphill on the way back than we expected, but we also had some nice views to the south and saw some deer. Some people hiking towards us said they saw a bear, but we didn't see it. Then we detoured to Dog Lake where we ate lunch. From there back to the trailhead there were a lot more people on the trail. At the trailhead we recovered the stuff we stashed in the bear lockers including some delicious ice cold ginger beer. I headed back towards Bishop to prepare for the next adventure (Clyde Minaret) while the others headed down to Tenaya Lake on their way out.
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