Journeys›Photograph

Socially Distant Summer Hike at Tuolumne Meadows

·Tuolumne County, California·#road-trip#hiking#california#summer#sierra nevada
Two masked people stand in front of the Iron Door Saloon, California's Oldest Saloon, with a street and trees behind them.

Our extremely socially distant summer road trip started this morning, and the route in went through Groveland, where we pulled over at the Iron Door Saloon — California's oldest, according to the sign, families welcome. Masks on for the sidewalk, taped-up notices in the window about ordering at the bar door only. 2020 has reached even the gold country.

From there it was the long climb up into the high country, one stop at a lake so blue it looked dyed, patches of old snow still hanging on the peaks behind it at the start of August.

The real destination was Tuolumne Meadows — subalpine, around 8,500 feet at the trailhead, nearly two miles of grass ringed by granite. Trailheads for Glen Aulin and Lyell Canyon leave from here, but today was less a hike than a wander. The girls took both dogs out through the tall grass to a fork of the river and waded in barefoot, shorts and all. The water ran clear over rust-colored gravel, shallow enough that the little dogs could stand in it.

Day one down. The car still smells like wet dog.

A scenic view of a vast pine forest stretching across hills towards distant mountains, with a blue lake on the right.A wide, calm blue lake with forested mountains and snow-capped peaks under a clear blue sky.Two people and a dog wade through a shallow stream in a grassy meadow with pine trees and forested mountains.Two people and two dogs stand in a shallow stream in a grassy meadow with a forested mountain in the background.Two people and two dogs stand in a shallow stream surrounded by grassy banks, trees, and mountains.Two people and two dogs stand by a stream in a grassy meadow with a forested mountain.A clear stream flows through a sunny meadow with green grass, surrounded by trees and mountains under a blue sky.A clear stream flows through a grassy meadow with pine trees and a forested mountain under a blue sky.

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