Creek and Meadow Above Evelyn Lake. Yosemite National Park, California. September 9, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
Trailless meadow and rolling hills along a creek above Evelyn Lake in the Yosemite Naitonal Park back-country near Fletcher Lake.
This type of country, and this area in particular, is perhaps my favorite Sierra terrain. After camping and photographing at Evelyn Lake the previous night, I woke up and spent the morning doing more photography around the lake. My hiking goal for the day was barely a mile away, Fletcher Lake and the meadows near the Vogelsang High Sierra Camp. Instead of just heading up the short trail over the low ridge between the two lakes I began scoping out the easy climb up the granite slabs above Evelyn Lake. From many previous visits to the area I knew that there is a large, rolling subalpine meadow dotted with trees, streams, and boulders in the area roughly bounded by Evelyn, Townsley, and Ireland Lakes. There is no trail through the area, but it is some of the easiest and most pleasant cross-country hiking I know of.
I started by circling around the side of Evelyn Lake near the ascent, gradually angling up and across the rocky hillside. Gradually the terrain steepened and I began to follow benches and gullies up the incline, finally spotting an area just to the left of the inlet stream to the lake that looked like it would provide a good crossing to the plateau. I arrived there and saw the lower area to my right where the creek came down from the plateau, so I headed over that way and intersected the shallow gully holding this stream and several small, seasonal ponds. After stopping here to make a few photographs, I continued ambling up this little valley and eventually crossed a broad flat area, passed by a couple alpine tarns, and finally descended past Townsley Lake to reach Fletcher Lake and my camp for the night.
(Update: This morning I thought to acknowledge another reason why I like this sort of place so much. While there are so many iconic and well-known views of the Sierra, this is an example of the sort of intimate landscape that any individual back-country traveler can find. This is just “some little spot along a creek with no trail,” and I’d guess that only a handful of people come past this spot every year and not all of them stop to look at this little scene – but it is no less spectacular on that account.)
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Hi Dan, This area and the way you describe are very appealing. Thanks so much for taking the time. We hope to be in this area in a couple of weeks and will definitely look for the plateau between the lakes. I love these types of meadows and streams. If you have any additional photos or thoughts for the area, please let me know. Thanks!
Hello Bob,
If you are coming up from Fletcher Lake you have a few options. You could go to Townsley, heading for its left side as you approach, and at a convenient spot simply head straight up the hill to your left to reach the plateau. Or you could go a bit further up the trail from Fletcher, climbing a bit above the flats around Fletcher and then head up to your left from there. (That is a bit more involved, but might be more direct.) The other option is to go to Evelyn on the trail, and then pick out a likely route up from the Evelyn bowl towards to higher terrain on the far side, and then just bushwhack on up toward the plateau.
Good luck!
Thanks for writing, Doug. These places get in your blood! A number of years ago I discovered this wonderful area while traveling cross-country between Fletcher and Ireland Lakes, and over the past decade or more I’ve wander more widely in this specific little area and I’ve come to regard it as my own little Sierra backyard. It is amazing how much diversity and beauty we can find in one small place like this.
Dan
Your killing me with these photo’s. As with you I love this part of the sierra’s. I can just visualize sitting there and taking
in these views. Nice work.