08/27/04 Report: "ALONG THE OLD TRAILS"

I had a few days off between trips and decided to do
one of my own.  I had spent almost the whole summer on
the dusty trails of the west slope and was excited to
return to the steeper, more alpine east side that is
so familiar to me. To be sure, the western side of
the range is splendorous; the vast forest belt, the
deep river canyons, Yosemite Valley itself!  But the
east side feels more secret, turned away as it is from
the hordes of humanity scurrying over California. It
blends invisibly into Nevada itself, which appears
just the same as it did when I first came to the area
in the late seventies.  

Something not too strenuous was what I had in
mind, somewhere I would see no people. I was headed
for the eastern edge of the Park, a place that is
high, over 10,000 feet and easy to get to, yet so close
to the well-publicized majesty of Yosemite that it is
seldom visited. It was the trade route of the Mono
Indians for hundreds of years before white men
"discovered" it. Miners' cabins that date from the
late 1800's still stand among stands of weathered
white-bark pine.

I camped at a place that my parents recommended
that overlooks the Mono Basin and many miles into
western Nevada. I saw no people in the three days I
was there. I had hoped to see the herd of big horn
sheep that occupies the drainage, but found out later
it is almost necesary to have an alarm clock and a
good telescope or binoculars. I was pleased to
observe an adult osprey winging through the trees and
a Large Coyote slinking up a slope, eying me with
casual wariness.

Camped in the canyon near the top of a pass. I
was exposed to a relentless wind that moaned down
toward Mono Lake all the second night. More than once
I had to get up and secure parts of the tent that
would tear loose. The sky was perfectly clear and I
saw a very bright meteor cross the dazzling sky. The
next morning the wind was still blowing, roaring
through the trees and chilling the thin air. On the
walk out it was easy to imagine the coming snow and
yet another change of seasons.

photos property of tim bluhm.