The Tuolumne River carves through the high country of Yosemite National Park, and made the short list for our first day at elevation.
Our campground at Tuolumne Meadows sits around 8,600 feet in the northern reaches of Yosemite, a wide-open subalpine meadow ringed by granite domes that couldn’t be more different from the vertical drama of Yosemite Valley 55 miles south. 55 miles you say? Only a few miles for the crows, 55 miles by car through windy, low-speed mountain roads to get here yesterday.
Where the Valley crushes you with scale, Tuolumne spreads out – flat, grassy, and laced with the Tuolumne River wandering lazily through it on its way to eventually becoming Hetch Hetchy Reservoir.
Fewer crowds, cooler temps, and a totally different flavor of Sierra Nevada granite than we found a couple months back in Kings Canyon.
We picked the river trail north of Pothole Dome for an easy afternoon hike, and it delivered exactly what we wanted – flat, meadowy walking with the river never far from view.
Meadow Stroll
Tuolumne Meadows is flat and meadowy, with massive granite domes and a beautiful river to play in.
The stretch just north of the dome is full of deep, glassy pools, cold enough to make you gasp but clear enough to watch fish cruising around your ankles while you decide whether you’re actually going in. Tom and I put our tough-guy faces on, stripped to our undies, and made the plunge. He’s more badass than me though, he went all the way under in the snowmelt-temp water. I think my watch measured the water temp around 68 degrees, pretty warm for the Minnesotans in the family but still a shock to the system.
Pick A Pool
The section of the Tuolumne River north of Pothole Dome is filled with large pools that you can swim in.
Riverside
The kids posing on a large rock in the Tuolumne River
Crystal Clear
Watching the fish
After a solid stretch of swimming, sunning on rocks, and generally not being in a hurry, we made our way up Pothole Dome itself on our way back to the car. It’s a short, gentle scramble up smooth granite – no technical nonsense, just a steady walk to the top – and the payoff is a wide-open view back across the meadow with Fairview Dome standing sentinel in the distance. These domes are classic Yosemite glacial polish, granite scoured smooth by ice that retreated some 10,000-plus years ago, leaving rounded whalebacks scattered across the high country.
Pothole Dome gets its name from the small depressions pocking its summit, carved by rocks trapped and spun by glacial meltwater. We honestly didn’t see any, but they were there somewhere…
Fairview Dome
A nicely framed shot of Fairview Dome as we make our way back from the Tuolumne River and up to Pothole Dome.
Pothole Dome Views
Taking a break and enjoying the views from the top of Pothole Dome
Pothole Panorama
A 360-degree panorama from the top of Pothole Dome
With the morning’s energy spent, we loaded up chairs and hammocks and headed over to Tenaya Lake for the afternoon. Tenaya Lake sits at about 8,150 feet along Tioga Road, and it does not look like it belongs at that elevation – clear turquoise water and a sandy-ish beach on the eastern end that reads more Caribbean than High Sierra. We staked out a spot on that beach, strung up the hammocks, and spent the rest of the day reading and strolling while the light shifted on the water. The lake is named for Chief Tenaya, leader of the Ahwahneechee people forcibly removed from this area in the 1850s.
In The Tropics
Teneya Lake looks more tropical than alpine! Tom spends a little downtime enjoying a book and some sunshine.
Tenaya Lake 360
A fun 360 photo as we wander around Tenaya Lake. Click and scroll around.
Beachside Stroll
Shelby and Tom enjoy a walk along the beach on the eastern end of Tenaya Lake.
Not a bad way to spend our first day at elevation. Swim, scramble, do nothing. Repeat as needed.
