Tuolumne Meadows is highest easily-accessible area of the park. It’s so high that half the year it’s closed because the roads are impassible due to snow. My last full day was spent in these meadows where glaciers staged themselves for the carving ride down into the valley. Good timing too. It was the Visitors Center’s last day open and all the gift shop items were on sale at 50% off!
What makes Tuolumne Meadows special has to do with its terrain and its elevation. This is the largest flat space in Yosemite and very high at 8600 feet. Still sub-Alpine, trees and grasses grow abundantly and crystal-clear rivers gently flowed through meadows and forests. It was a peaceful place where after visiting you feel refreshed.
My favorite spots were bridges along the Lyell Fork of Tuolumne River. The water there is perfectly clear. The air is crisp and dry. The trees stand tall and strong agains the coming winter. It’s a special place. In addition the path I hiked was part of the Pacific Coast Trail which next to the Appalachian Trail is probably the long-haul trail which most interests me.
Below you’ll see pictures taken along my hike and around the meadows.
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Just a few facts about the hike up the backside so you can size the challenge. The summit’s elevation is 8,843 feet (2,695 meters). The hike itself gains 4,800 feet (1,463 meters) over the course of the ascent while the distance hiked totals 17 miles (27.4 kilometers) round trip. The highlight of the hike is the final climb between cables to the top of the dome. Not for the faint-of-heart, it’s both scary and physically demanding, but the reward is a 360 degree view of all Yosemite has to offer. Simply stupendous. 
Courtney spent the summer in Los Angeles working for Southern California Edison in their real estate department. Among other things, her group contracted for land rights to bring energy from remote renewable energy generation plants to the populations of SoCal. This meant learning about how wind, solar, and geothermal energy makes its way to the homes and businesses that consume it. Her experience was right in line with her interests and her degrees in Environmental Science and Economics. After living on the campuses of USC and UCLA she returned in August for her final semester before graduating.
Kelsey didn’t go work in a major city with warm days and sunny beaches. Quite to the contrary she went to the middle of nowhere into the cold mountains of Alaska for a month-long backpacking trip. Along with 14 other 16 and 17 year olds she arrived in Anchorage then disappeared into the wilderness with three NOLS instructors and with supplies on their backs. A month later they emerged with great stories to tell, new skills and maturity, and some deep-quality friendships. Now apparently she’s an “outdoor girl” as she enters her Senior year of high school and starts applying to colleges.
