A few of us in our 60s are intending a four-day hike to 9,700 feet in the Yosemite backcountry to reach Ten Lakes. It’s coming up soon.
To build stamina, we and the Kittrells drove to Yosemite during the Detwiler Fire to take a couple practice hikes. We didn’t know about the fire, but a lot of people cancelled reservations and we were able to book a cabin near the Hwy 120 entrance east of Groveland. The air was smoky, but we intended to hike above it.
Our plan was modest. On day one we would hike 1.1 miles up a rising trail to May Lake at 9,270 feet and back again. One the second day we would hike two miles up the Ten Lakes trail over granite and back again. That’s it. End of training. All told, we’d walk about seven miles total, the same distance to Ten Lakes.
We piled into one car and drove out of Benicia at 5 a.m. that Thursday. We checked into our rustic cabin and were parked at the trailhead by 9 a.m. Good thing. A massive tree had fallen across the entrance to the two-mile road leading up to the May Lake Trailhead. The only way to reach the one-mile trail was to walk up the smoky road through standing water and mosquitos for two miles. What the hell. We did it, almost seven miles on day one.
Day two went as planned. We hiked with poles the first 2.2 miles of the Ten Lakes Trail and gained about 1,000 feet in elevation. It’s the steady grind I remember from my youth. We ate some nutrient bars, drank our electrolytes, hiked out and drove home. We walked double our intention, but that’s was OK because Susan and I were planning our trip to Manhattan.
So far in preparation for Ten Lakes, I’ve fished the East Carson River for four days to test my equipment, lived in a cabin and hiked Yosemite to test my legs, reserved a campsite in Desolation Wilderness upcoming to test my lake fishing abilities, and I’m out walking the State Park in the gaps. I’m having all kinds of adventures preparing for one.
Bud Donaldson is one of our hikers. He also wants to practice lake fishing and car camping for a few days in preparation. “It is the safe and the right thing to do,” he put it. I got Deb Kittrell a collapsible pole and reel. She’s going to try fishing. We will train her.
The Friday before our hike we’ve planned a big garage party. We will all bring our gear packed for share and compare, and maybe we can get rid of some redundancies.
To think that a few months ago when we got this idea to hike Yosemite, I had imagined it as a month of sweat and suffering with a grueling mountain trail at the end. It was to be a painful self-challenge. Instead, it has been fun and joy rides, stunning vistas and stronger wrists.
I move that our hiking group drive down a day early and have a Bon Voyage Party at the hotel the day before. On the drive home we’ll need to stop in Sonora or Angels Camp for a Welcome Back Party. Milk it, baby. Oh, and when we get home we can invite friends over for a slideshow.
All seriousness aside for a moment, I’m doing all this running around purely for the health benefits.
I had a point when I started writing this. I need to remember what it was and get back to it. Oh, yeah. It was about the ease of it all. Yosemite is a way cool place, most of us would agree, but it’s a bit of a winding drive through lots of traffic, and most folks seldom go.
Drive early and Yosemite is close. Like I wrote, we slept in Benicia and were on a trailhead by 9 a.m. We had all day. With one over-night reservation we were able to enjoy two beautiful hikes and be back in Benicia before bed. We’re sure to do a repeat performance sometime.
While testing my backpacking equipment for four days while car camping on the Carson – my little tent, little stove, little chair, little sleeping pad – I made a discovery that may help our group when we car camp at Wrights Lake coming up to practice our lake fishing and so others can test out their little backpacking equipment.
Here is what I learned: it doesn’t take four days to test a little chair, a little stove, and a little tent. About an hour will do. Then you can toss that backcountry stuff in the back of the truck until you need it and haul out the big chaise lounge chairs, three-burner grills, tables, scrub tubs, inflated mattresses, and heavy coolers. Alone on the Carson, I was stuck testing my miniature equipment for four days.
We’ve learned two valuable lessons here today, travel light and early to Yosemite and get there quick, and when you go car camping, bring the good stuff.

Steve Gibbs is a retired Benicia High School teacher who has written a column for The Herald since 1985.

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