LVMC trip to Yosemite

Harlan W S
Sept 5-6 , 2015

This trip reminded me of LVMC trips of old, when we had time to sit around a campfire and chat, with ample opportunity for individuals and groups to head off on trips of varying difficulty. We had the group site at Saddlebag Lake, which turns out to be a not-very-private spot on a Labor Day weekend! (Who woulda thunk it?) The official trips to Conness and Patterson were lead by Joel Brewster, and are documented on the LVMC meetup site. I had been up Conness in 2011, the wettest year on record in the Sierra; so I chose to go up North Peak, which has a good view of Conness. Since that wet year, we had 4 years of drought, with 2014 as the driest year. While the views were beautiful, the contrast was stunning, with the Conness glacier receding in just 4 years to what looks now like a hanging snowfield (though I did see crevasses still). The next day Jeff C led an informal trip to Cloud's Rest, a 14 mile RT with 3000' accumulated gain. This destination was one I thought I'd never reach, and was a pleasant surprise.

Sept 5 I went solo to North Peak. I felt sluggish, but still made the peak in about 2h 15m. I varied my route on the way back, to use up some more time, but still got back at 12:30PM. Labor Day weekend is very interesting and crowded at Saddlebag Lake!	The nest day we did a class 1 trip to Cloud's Rest, and got there just as smoke from the Rough Fire came in.	I went in on the SW side of Saddlebag Lake, and got this view of North Peak to W. It was windy and very cold; I saw ice above 10500' all morn.
The highest Conness Lake. Mt Conness in back.	The unnamed tarn right below the terminal moraine. Mt Conness in back.	View back E over Saddlebag Lake.
View of Connes from top of North Peak. In 2011 we contemplated going down from Conness, over the ridge at R, not realizing that is a 5.6 route!		Close-up of the 5.6 ridge.
	Heading down.	About the point where I started across the slope back to the lake. There are use trails that make for low class 2- if you find them!
	Now I went to the SW sides of the Conness Lakes	Metamorphosed rock, possible m igmatite
View back at North	I found a bridge to make the crossing to NE end of Saddlebag easier	View SE at "Ferry" dock.
View back at N, I'm nearly around Saddlebag... about noon!	Next Day we went from Tenaya Lake to Cloud's Rest (the peak on L side). Half Dome sticks out just R of Cloud's Rest.
	A pond along the way; I was surprised to see the pond was the same size as on the topo maps.	We got to the peak (CR) about 0.5h after smoke started to pour in. You can still see Half Dome.
	Toby comes up.
		Kat and Matt next.
Jeff; Half Dome is mainly obscured, only about 15m since last photo this direction.	I saw lots of marmots, but only this begging chipmunk stuck around for his picture.	Back at camp that eve.