So I’m on vacation this week and needed to do some vacating yesterday, so Melissa and I headed for the hills. We took Ebbett’s Pass, lunched with a through-hiker and gave him a ride into Markleeville, then headed down to Tioga Pass Highway and returned via the Yosemite High Country. We made a quick dash over to Hetch Hetchy, hoping to catch the fading sun hitting the big rocks over the reservoir; got there about 10 minutes too late but it was still pretty cool.

Let’s look at some pictures, pretty and otherwise.

Highway 4

Hiker Hauler reflected in tanker truck’s tank, while stopped for road construction on Highway 4 east of Angel’s Camp.

Doug the thru-hiker

Doug the through-hiker was a few days behind his trail pals … we gave him a ride into Markleeville so he could call a buddy to come down from Tahoe, pick him up and get him caught up with the pack. He told us he’d lost 17 pounds since starting out in Mexico. We shared our lunch, he generally chowed down.

East side of the Sierra range

East side of the range, heading down U.S. 395 near Mono Lake. Had great clouds and sky, though it was a bit hazy in places.

On the way to Tioga Pass

The haul up to Tioga Pass was awesome.

Standard tree-framing technique

Tree-framing, one of the things I can do. The light was great in the afternoon.

Tioga Pass

Nothing to see at Tioga Pass, as usual.

OK, this one came out pretty good

Well, this one did come out OK.

Nice clouds

Nice clouds paint the sky.

Great rocks, as always

One of the excellent rocks along Highway 120 near Tenaya Lake.

Tenaya Lake

Hard to take bad pictures at Tenaya Lake.

Half Dome

Half Dome from Olmstead Point. In honor of all you Half Dome hikers.

Hetch Hetchy

Fading light at Hetch Hetchy. Maybe I just needed a better camera.

Moon over Hetch Hetchy

Moon over Hetch Hetchy.