2013 National Park Tour

8 national parks and monuments in 25 days: Rocky Mountain NP, Colorado NM, Capitol Reef NP, Great Basin NP, Yosemite NP, Zion NP, Bryce Canyon NP, Grand Canyon NP and Vermilion Cliffs NM. I also visited the Colorado State Fair, A Taste of Colorado, and the Gold Hill Cajun Festival. I did a 4 day, 27 mile backpack in Yosemite National Park that included a climb of Clouds Rest and Half Dome, 9/13/13 to 9/16/13. I started and ended at Tanaya Lake in Tuolumne Meadows. The next week I hiked the Grand Canyon rim to rim in a day, 21 miles, 4780 ft down, 5761 ft up.
1 - Rock Mountain National Park, RMNP - Bear Lake area
2 - RMNP, Bear Lake
3 - RMNP, A visitor at my campsite
4 - RMNP, Forest Canyon
5 - RMNP, Marmot stocking up for winter
6 - RMNP, A lazier marmot warming in the sun
7 - Colorado National Monument, CNM
8 - CNM, Grand junction below
9 - Capital Reef National Park, CRNP
10 - CRNP, This road was closed the next morning due to flooding
11 - CRNP, Fruita Campground and U-pick fruit trees
12 - CRNP
13 - Great Basin National Park, GBNP, rainbow
14 - GBNP, Lehman Cave
15 - GBNP, 2000 year old Bristle Cone
16 - GBNP, 3200 year old Bristle Cone
17 - GBNP, 3000 year old Bristle Cone has been dead for 250 years
18 - GBNP, Bristle Cone
19 - Approaching Yosemite National Park, YNP, smoke under the clouds, did not enter the park for 2 days
20 - Mono Lake
21 - Mono Lake tufa towers
22 - Yosemite National PARK, YNP, Did a 27 mile ackpack, yellow shows my route
23 - YNP, Tanaya Lake, I started on the far (south) end
24 - YNP, Flatish first mile, then up 2000' in the next few
25 - YNP, already getting pretty good views
26 - YNP, First view of Half Dome, smoke obscurred, from the 250,000 acre Rim Fire
27 - YNP, But the rest does not look bad
28 - YNP, Day 1 camp, 9/13,/13, only 4.8 miles, but 2000' gain
29 - YNP, Day 2, see the lake where I started? Right of middle
30 - YNP, Spectacular views as I climb Clouds Rest
31 - YNP, Cool formations
32 - YNP, See the trail?
33 - YNP, Almost there, note Half Dome below us
34 - 360 view from the top
35 - YNP, Yosemite valley
36 - YNP, Me
37 - YNP, Descending, looking back
38 - YNP, Descending, tomorrow's destination
39 - YNP, Trail side entertainment
40 - YNP, Day 3, Half Dome ascent
41 - YNP, The flats before the cables
42 - YNP, Who said the cables were conjested?
43 - YNP, Steep
44 - YNP, I made it!
45 - YNP, Now I can sit down and relax
46 - YNP, Oh, this one looks sturdier
47 - YNP, 4000' to the valley floor
48 - YNP, Glacier Point 7214' (lower middle) and Sentinel Dome 8122' (upper left)
49 - YNP, Clouds Rest 9926', Half Dome is 8842'
50 - YNP, 360 degree panorama
51 - YNP, Tenaya Canyon
52 - YNP, Where did all these people come from?
53 - YNP, Did I say steep? And slippery, without the cross boards, it would have been much more difficult climb up or down
54 - YNP, Pretty cool experience, try it
55 - YNP, See the people on the trail? 10 of them
56 - YNP, Back down to break camp and hike some of the John Muir Trail
57 - YNP, John Muir Trail
58 - YNP, My birthday campsite, 9/15, 8.5 mile day, lots of up and down and up
59 - YNP, The site came with a free pet, he was near me into the evening
60 - and the next morning
61 - YNP, Silhouette
62 - YNP, Clouds Rest, Half Dome and Yosemite Valley. What happed to the smoke?
63 - YNP, Friendly Chipmunk
64 - YNP, Attack mode
65 - YNP, Never mind
66 - YNP, I'll just take a nap now
67 - YNP, Almost done. After Yosemite, I spent a night in a NF campground, 2 days in Las Vegas and a day in Zion NP. See my website for pics of Vegas and Zion.
68 - Red Canyon, on the way to Bryce Canyon Nation Park, BCNP
69 - Red Canyon
70 - Bryce Canyon National Park, BCNP
71 - BCNP
72 - BCNP
73 - BCNP
74 - Grand Canyon National Park, GCNP, North Rim looking down Bright Angle Canyon
75 - GCNP, South Rim at sunset before the big hike
76 - GCNP, A mile in to my hike, sun about to rise
77 - GCNP, The sun makes its appearance
78 - GCNP, Started up there, have a long way to go
79 - GCNP, See?
80 - GCNP, First glimpse of the Colorado River, lower right
81 - GCNP, the trail continues down
82 - GCNP, See my shadow?
83 - GCNP, Colorado River bend
84 - GCNP, Incoming rafters
85 - GCNP, Outgoing mules
86 - GCNP, I'm 7 miles in; 14 miles and a 5761 foot climb to go
87 - GCNP, I had a morning beer here
88 - GCNP, A cool box canyon after leaving Phantom Ranch
89 - GCNP, Then the sun
90 - GCNP, Ribbon Falls
91 - GCNP, a fall in Bright Angle Creek
92 - GCNP, now I have a 4000' climb out
93 - GCNP, Roaring Springs
94 - GCNP, Almost out
95 - Vermilion Cliffs National Monument
96 - Trip Map
97 - Trip Log
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