Day 19. Lots of Lovely Trail. July 9, 2016.
6am to 6:20pm. Blue Lake to Rafferty Creek, 4 miles out from Tuolumne Meadows. 19 miles.
I woke to the best sunrise of the trip.
Looking back down on where we camped between the lakes.
Blue Lake Pass was one of the easiest of the off trail passes. Except for one icy snow chute it was all grassy ramps and easy boulders. The way down was over bigger boulders but was easy compared to others.
Down we go.
Then we had easy walking until we intersected a trail. We stayed on trail the rest of the day.
Where is that trail?
View south from just before Vogelsang Pass
Vogelsang Lake
We got to Vogelsang High Sierra Camp about 4. It hasn’t opened for the year and the tent cabins hadn’t even been set up. It was still interesting for me to see it. In 1946, when my mother was 16, she along with her father and brother backpacked 60 miles in Yosemite. They camped at the High Sierra Camps and occasionally had meals there. My mother has talked glowingly about this hike for my whole life. I heard a new story last week when I told my mother that I would be passing by Vogelsang. This was one of her favorite camps. She remembers a young girl there who was learning all the names of wildflowers. My mother thought it would be great to someday have a daughter like that. Last week she told me “and I guess I got my wish.”
The white speck I am pointing to is Vogelsang High Sierra Camp
Vogelsang High Sierra Camp. The frames for the tent cabins are still on the ground.
nancyhikes 
Love the story about your mom. She definitely got her wish! My wife Kathryn stayed at Vogelsang last year and loved it so much that this year we’re hiking to Glen Aulin for the last night of the season.
Wonderful!
Thanks for sharing the story about your mom. I can only imagine what it felt like to hear her say that to you. It’s these kind of encounters that make life worth livin’. -I was in Glen Aulin in 2013 and 2014. Love that place.
It was pretty special.
Wow, Nancy, that sunrise is breathtaking! We will be starting at Tuolumne meadows to Vogelsang and then on to Merced Lake Camp in less than two weeks, so hearing the story of your Mom will make our time at Vogelsang camp very special.
That’s awesome. Have a great time. Too bad we didn’t overlap.
I used to spend weekends hiking in that area. Volgelsang is one of my paradise places. You bring back wonderful memories, WhyNot?. And I’m not surprised at all that you are a fulfillment of a mother’s wishes.
It is Paradise indeed.
Sweet story about your mom and double sweet you can still talk to her and that she can see what you continue to accomplish.
💫
Yes. I am very fortunate.
All three of you captured that spectacular sunrise and it seems everyone loved their time at Blue Lakes. Good call! You are a wise woman 🙂
The story about your mom and her connection to Vogelsang is sooooooo sweet!
That is sweet about your mom! I applied for spots at the High Sierra camps this year, but didn’t get in 😦
I didn’t apply for HSC dates in the lottery but I got one night at Glen Aulin after they published the leftover dates. Check their website because it changes every week.