- Distance: 6 miles RT
- Elevation range: 9900′ to 13,050′
Over dinner on the previous evening, Ken had the bright idea of testing himself at elevation, and he proposed hiking to the summit of Mount Dana (13,057′). The west slope is a class 1 hike across alpine meadows and fields of scree and talus on a use trail which starts at the east entrance to Yosemite National Park.
We started by traveling across fields of hard-packed snow to avoid the flowing streams, ponds, and lakes. The croaking of frogs would subside as we walked past them, and then pick up again as we left them behind in our wake. About a mile in, we cleared the tree line, and the views opened up.
Wildflowers carpeted the landscape: nodding arnica and western wallflower on the alpine meadows, and sky pilot in the talus fields.
As I was photographing sky pilot, I noticed an interesting creature hovering over the flowers. It looked like a cross between a hummingbird and a butterfly. I spent several minutes trying to decide whether it was a butterfly or a hummingbird, and observing its activity as it flew from flower to flower, hovered, fed on the nectar, and moved on. I later learned that it is called a white-lined sphinx moth.
Once we reached the open slopes, I decided to go on ahead without Ken. The path to the summit was obvious, and it would be impossible to lose him. I reached the summit of Mount Dana at 1400. Visibility was at least 20 miles in any direction: to the east is Mono Lake, to the west the peaks in the Cathedral Range, to the north and south are many more peaks which I couldn’t identify. The sky was hazy because of a wildfire to the east.
I left the summit at 1445 and met Ken on the talus field with 500′ more to go before reaching the summit. He was exhausted from walking on talus, and ready to descend to the car. Nonetheless, he was happy to have reached 12,500′. We hiked back down together with me going on ahead, stopping for water, reading a book, and napping while I waited for him to catch up.
After reaching the car, we drove to Lower Lee Vining Campground, set up camp for the night, and drove to Whoa Nellie Deli for dinner. I ordered the fish tacos, which were a perfect way to cap another fun day in the mountains.
Moon rising over the horizon
pacorios 