Dana Peak

10/21/08
Two days later I climbed Dana Peak, at 13,000 feet the second highest peak in Yosemite National Park, and a new high for me. The trail is mostly a scramble of rock and talus with wide then wider vistas, and a howling wind conjured up more of a real mountaineering feel than I was actually looking for. Two people were out ahead of me on an otherwise empty trail, and while I ascended slowly and deliberately I soon caught and passed them. We were heading straight into the wind, and it was cold and difficult hiking. At one point I found a boulder that provided both shelter from the wind and sun exposure and it was so nice I decided I could die there.

Views increasingly great, until the top when they become ridiculously great. Over Mount Gibbs down to Mono Lake and the Mono Craters and beyond; Tuolumne Meadows and its domes; Saddlebag Lake and the jumble of peaks to its north; the Gaylor Lakes area; Mount Lyell to the south, and so on. All just by slowly turning around.

The two hikers I passed on the way up arrived, a nice young couple from Klamath Falls. They weren't acclimated to the altitude and the young woman said she was afraid she was going to wimp out. But here she was. She not only once lived in Seattle but had frequented Honey Bear Bakery. She was sharp, and I liked him too. They suggested I stop in Klamath Falls on my way back, so I had to tell them that wouldn't be for some time, and gave them the generalities of my trip. They loved it, and looked longingly at each other; clearly they’d discussed something like this themselves. I would have liked to talk to them forever, but they started down. I stayed a while longer and took one more picture of everything. This is one great spot.









I got going and verily flew down hill. I go down faster than just about anyone I’ve seen. I passed my friends picking carefully down the boulders. The wind by now had totally stopped and I came upon another young woman hiking up alone in a tank top and I told her how lucky she is to have gotten a late start.