Since we had spent most of our time in the high country completing alpine hikes, we started the morning in the area's namesake meadows. Still recovering from our Cloud's Rest summit (or near-summit in Ashley's case), we chose a leisurely path (i.e. flat) through the meadows along the river for an opportunity to view the Soda Springs. Despite the ease of the trail, we encountered few hikers this early in the morning and enjoyed the peacefulness of the High Country. We probably wouldn't truly appreciate that peacefulness until entering the chaos of the valley later in the trip.
Leaving Tuolumne behind, we hadn't yet had our fill of the Alpine trails so we continued down Tioga Pass Road to the May Lake trailhead. It's a fairly accessible alpine lake that even rather novice hikers should be able to visit. Although uphill, the trail climbs 400 feet in 1.2 miles before reaching the lake, which makes it a nice option for visitors with children or limited time or sea-level dweller's lungs. Plus, if you want to take a break to catch your breath, you can admire the views of Half Dome in the distance.
May Lake sits in the shadow of Mt. Hoffman and is home to one of the High Sierra Camp locations. The Park contains a series of backcountry tent camps, which are extremely popular and require hopeful visitors to enter a lottery to secure the opportunity. The May Lake camp is probably one of the easiest to visit since you'd have to hike further to visit the other sites. The camps supply the gear such as the tent cabins and cots, which allows visitors to hike and camp/glamp in the backcountry without having to carry all that gear. We were really impressed with the tent camps and definitely plan on staying there during the next visit. When flying cross country for these trips, it's hard to bring your own gear in checked luggage. Tuolumne Lodge might technically be part of this system, but it doesn't require any hiking so that seems like cheating.
After exploring the camp, we enjoyed strolling along the shoreline of May Lake. Wildflowers dotted the shore and marmots would occasionally come over to see what we were snacking on. The Lake itself provides a nice opportunity to get away from the crowds of Yosemite without having to attempt an all-day hike at altitude.
Since we had a decent drive ahead of us, we took in one last view of the Lake before starting the quick hike back down to our car.
Arriving back in the parking lot, Ashley joked that we may need to check under the hood of our car for hitchhiking marmots. Just prior to our trip, one such park resident hitched a ride with unsuspecting visitors all the way to San Francisco!
Our time in High Country exceeded our expectations and we were disappointed to leave the views behind us as we descended down Tioga Pass Road. However, we were looking forward to exploring another section of the Park - Wawona - home of Giant Sequoias.
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