It was early June and we arrived in Yosemite in the middle of the night hoping to get to the Tuolumne Meadows Ranger Station early enough to obtain a highly coveted wilderness permit. We'd heard that people line up as early as 3 am sometimes, so we were prepared to do just that. Along the way we stopped at Olmstead Point to kill some time and capture a shot before settling in for a cold night of waiting in line and/or sleeping in the truck.
Olmstead Point under the stars
We pulled up to the ranger station a little after 2 AM, and although there were several cars parked in the parking lot, there was no line forming yet. Tired from the long day and late night drive, we set an alarm for 5 in the morning and settled in for some cold sleep in the truck. It wasn't until a little before 6 o'clock before we noticed one person standing in line through the frost covered windows of the truck. That was our cue -- we threw on our hats and gloves and stood out in the cold morning until the ranger station opened at 8.
Once the doors opened we quickly learned that there were no permits left for our desired trailheads, and so we got put on a waiting list to see if anyone would no-show and/or cancel by the 10 AM reservation check-in deadline. Having a couple of hours now to kill, and feeling very hungry, we drove a short distance down the road to Tuolumne Meadows where the local grill, post office, and convenience store were. There, we feasted on breakfast sandwiches from the grill which were to be our last "real" food before setting out for a couple of days in the sticks.
Tuolumne Meadow
When we arrived back at the ranger station to discover our permit fate, we were told that there were no cancellations and so we could not camp at Cathedral Lake for that night. We could, of course, "day" hike the trail without a permit, as long as we didn't carry any overnight gear whatsoever according to the ranger. That wouldn't be a problem for us since the hike to the lake was only about 3.5 miles. We would hike there and hang out for the day - get our shots after sunset - and then night-hike back out without ever camping. It actually sounded perfectly fine since it would mean another tasty breakfast sandwich the following morning.
After another quick nap on the side of the road, we finally departed the Cathedral Lake Trailhead about noon. The trail starts off with a fairly steep and steady climb for about a 1000 feet, and then mostly levels off for the remaining short distance to the lake.
When we got within a half mile or so from the lake, the mosquitoes swarmed with great madness. We could barley stand to stop long enough to apply bug spray, and when we did, we went through the entire first bottle between the two of us in a matter of minutes. The good news is that it worked, and so instead of being eaten up, we just had a mass of mosquitoes hovering about a foot or two away from us wherever we stood.
Once we reached the lake and the meadow that surrounds its eastern side, the views were immaculate.
Cathedral Peak lies just east of Lower Cathedral Lake
Lower Cathedral Lake inlet
Tresidder Peak towers over Lower Cathedral Lake
After exploring the area a bit we found waterfalls feeding the lake from the walls of Tressider Peak. Ultimately we ended up high upon a mountain top on the north side of the lake with great views of Tenaya Canyon, Cathedral Peak, and even Half Dome could be seen from way, way up near the Mesonite Dome.
Waterfalls cascade towards Lower Cathedral Lake
After sunset, we set up and got some shots, with this one, which we call, "Cathedral Peak Silhouette," being the best one of the night.
After we were done getting our shots, we began to head back towards the trail to get back to the truck. We shined a bright light across the meadow by the lake to find our way back to the trail, and to our dismay, there stared no less than 20 giant eyes back at us. Only deer though, only deer. So we made our way back to the trail and ultimately reached the truck around 3 AM to complete the "day's" hike.