It all began with an early start. I was determined to get to the main visitor centre before 12pm as I was informed it gets very busy.  So, 6am, up not so bright but very early, so that I can leave about 7am. After a slight detour at the gas station where for the life of me I couldn’t operate the pump.  It was weird, it had a sucker thingy on the end which you had to push hard onto the inlet for the gas.  I had to concede failure and the nice lady at the shell station helped start to pump my gas.  Much appreciated but I felt like a bit of an arse.

After a very scenic journey up a mountain, down a mountain, up a mountain and down a mountain….  you get the idea.  It took a while in my little compact but she did well and I got there in one piece. On the way I saw some sites to investigate further another day such as some lakes to go swimming and Tuolumne Meadows, part of the John Muir Trail. Very beautiful and there is good hiking, could even get to do a bit of the JMT. Sorry K, but is beautiful and I have to do it just so I can tell you all about it when I get home 😜.

At the bottom of the valley is Yosemite Village which is a very quaint, random bundle of a shop, cafe, campsites, hiking trails and shuttle buses to other areas of the valley. There were a few hikes that could be done in a day from the village. I chose to do mirrored lakes, a dip in the valley that in the beginning of summer fills with water from the nearby stream and, when full, it mirrors the mountains surrounding.  It sounded delightfully interesting so I got this shuttle to the trail head.

At the trail head there is a big sign that welcomes you to the trail and slightly below that comes a warning.  The area surrounding mirrored lakes is mountain lion country and reassuredly the signs states they aren’t usually a problem but just in case keep small children nearby and don’t hike alone as this may prove temptation to a hungry mountain lion. Failing that, if a mountain lion does approach and thinks you might be a tasty meal maybe shout a lot and throw something.

OK then!!  😕 I take a look at myself, am about the height of a teenager and not to big or loud.

Don’t stand a chance then.

Nervously I look up the trail, see a couple walking off and quickly run to catch up.  Safety in numbers and all that!!

Anyway needn’t be so worried, the trail was very busy, people coming and going.  What a relief.

The trail was so worth it…

The small pools of water thirst were still present would eventually dry up by end of summer, but, for now, they are a great place to cool off and have a dip

Mountains surrounding the whole area.

The hike could be done in two parts, first to the lakes and back approx 2 miles and second, a loop trail around the lakes which adds on 5 miles to the 2 miles previously. I decided to do the loop trail.  Why not, not every day I get to hike in Yosemite. I am glad I did. The trail was really great, got to sit by the stream with spectacular views up and down the valley.  Met 4 awesome English girls who let me tag along on their walk and we ended up chatting and laughing about this and that.  They were into biology, ecology and nature.  Very interesting.

The end of the hike came and we actually walked 2 miles back to Yosemite Village as we didn’t go in the direction of the shuttle.  Oops!!!

Tired and hungry after our little walk we had lunch.  By this time it was 4pm.  The girls were camping an hour away in the opposite direction to me.  Nether mind, we swapped e-mails and hopefully will meet up before the girls leave on Sunday. We went our separate ways and I finally got back to Mammoth Lakes about 8pm. Not too bad.

Am knackered and tired so am off to bed.  Will have to have a think about what to do tomorrow.

Who knows, tomorrow’s another day ☀️🇺🇸