Yosemite Day Hike: Upper Cathedral Lake

Dale Matson

Hike Route

Round Trip 7.5 miles, elevation gain 1,400’, Maximum elevation 9,571’, Trailhead is off Highway 120 (JMT southbound)

         Sharon and I drove from Fresno early morning and arrived at Tuolumne Meadows about 7am. It is about a three-hour drive from Fresno. It was a nice cool morning as we began with light trail traffic even for a Saturday. We had done much of this trail before going to Lower Cathedral Lake in 2015.

         The reasons for this hike were twofold. I thought we might get a chance to see the fairly recently transplanted Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep (2016) that had been moved to the Cathedral Range. We did not see any sheep. The second reason was to take the JMT to Upper Cathedral Lake. That is the lake Ansel Adams photographed Cathedral Peak from. It is smaller than Lower Cathedral Lake but definitely offers a different view of Cathedral Peak first climbed by John Muir. If you look at the map at the beginning of this post, you can see where we continued on the JMT trail to the upper lake. It is easy to mistakenly drop down to the lower lake trail instead of continuing on to the Upper Lake. Both lakes are about the same distance BUT there is more climbing if you go to the lower lake. If you continue on the JMT, you will go over Cathedral Pass and the past Sunrise High Sierra Camp which is probably closed this year.

         I did not have the wonderful sky that Ansel Adams had for his famous photograph. https://shop.anseladams.com/products/cathedral-peak-and-lake-1?variant=31414459629635

         I found a good place across the lake for my main photographs with my Sony A7R4 and Sony 24mm 1.4 GM lens. Meanwhile my wife, as is her custom, went for a swim. We were out for about 6.5 hours. On our return, the trail was full of folks headed to the two lakes. So much for the quiet hike! Well, it’s understandable. The C19 lockdown has forced more people into fewer spots. We stopped in Crane Flat for gas but the store was not open. The store in Wawona was open and we got some treats there. We were back home before dark.

Lembert Dome

Author

Lower Cathedral Lake From a 2015 Hike