Shaver Lake, shrunken and enshrouded in smoke

I took one other High Sierra hike last year, which I never wrote about. I just recently discovered my notebook while cleaning up my desk, and reading it made me want to relive the experiences in public. Also, I just got back from a few days in Desolation Wilderness, and I feel like I can’t write about that until I get caught up. So here goes!

My older sister, Kristin, flew out from Colorado on August 17 to join me on a hike that was intended to be about 6 days, and take us from Florence Lake along the San Joaquin River up through Evolution Valley. Then we planned to hike overland from Lake Wanda (named for one of John Muir’s daughters, btw) to Goddard Canyon, and thence back down to the San Joaquin and a night at Muir Trail Ranch before we headed back home. It didn’t turn out that way.

8/19/2015

Kristin and I finally managed to get out of town into early rush-hour traffic at about 3:30 PM. We arrived eventually at the Dorabelle Campground, just off Hwy 168, at 5,500′ above sea level, in Fresno County. Such a strange place: clean to the point of obsessiveness. It is situated among a grove of dusty pines, and I can’t help but feel that if the campground manager were able, she would vacuum the lower boughs, at least. All the camping areas are freshly raked, with no footprints in evidence, like a Japanese sand garden. Plus, it’s a pretty expensive place to pitch a couple of tents for the night at $24/campsite. But oh, well. It’s quiet. I can smell woodsmoke, and there are no campfires. Kris and I set up our tents and crawled in. It’s 10:30 PM and I am off to Dreamland.