High Sierra Loop Trail #4, Layover at Merced Lake

We woke on the third morning of our trip to another wonderful breakfast. Vegetable omelette with spinach and squash, if I remember correctly. Breakfasts start by helping yourself to hot cereal as you entered, fixing it up with brown sugar, raisins, coconut and chocolate chips, and then finding a seat at a table that already had a giant plate of fresh fruit waiting for you, sometimes with fresh berries! Next came a platter of pancakes, then an egg dish, usually a giant omelette, and then a plate full of bacon or sausage. That mountain air sure makes you hungry.

After breakfast I went to brush my teeth. It felt like some of that pulled pork from the night before was wedged between some teeth at the back of my mouth and was bothering me. That late in the day the light was pretty good in that bathroom, so I inspected my mouth again. There in the good morning light at Merced Lake I was able to look deep into the back of my own mouth and find that my last molar on the bottom of the right side of my mouth was filed down into a post, and was noticably smaller than the surrounding teeth. That gold crown that I had found in my mouth two days ago at Vogelsang was my own! Oh, the embarassment and shame I felt. I wrote a note apologizing to Tom at Vogelsang and asking if my crown could be returned to me. I gave the note to Ranger Dave, who was headed to that camp next, and asked him to meet me at Tuolumne Lodge 2 days later when we both would come out of the back country.

Today was a layover day for both our group and Ranger Dave's, which meant everyone was free to do whatever they pleased. Dave announced that he was going up to a nearby lake 3 miles away, and then trekking further into the canyon for some rock climbing. Lisa announced that she was going to lead a hike 3 miles in the opposite direction to a little known place called Fern Grotto that, when it has water, is a beautiful and refreshing swimming hole. Anyone and everyone was free to join whichever group they liked, or chose none at all.

As we were waiting to start, a jogger went sprinting through our camp, only to be hailed down by Lisa. This bearded man was wearing jogging shorts and shoes, and had a hydration pack on his back and nothing more. It turns out that he led a trail-building crew that was doing work about 10 miles up the trail from us, and he was headed down to Tuolumne for a meeting that afternoon before heading back up the next day. Here it was, 9am, and he had already run 10 miles and still had about 15 to go. This guy was running a complete marathon race, at altitude, and on rocky, uneven, slippery trail. He would run down 2,000 feet in elevation, gain it back, and then lose it again before he was over! Suddenly we didn't feel like the total back country warriors that we had been starting to envision ourselves as.

Not surprisingly, all of our group travelled with Lisa that day. All of our group except for Marion. Marion was still aching after the descent the day before and opted to take it easy around camp, nursing her tired legs and soaking them in the cool river that ran by camp. I felt bad leaving her at camp alone, but she urged me to go on and have fun. I really didn't want to take a day away from hiking for fear that the rest would do me more harm than good, so off we went.

I removed the hydration pack from my backpack and wore it on my back, and removed the lid from my backpack which converted into a fanny-pack. It felt nice to hike without a heavy pack. It was a short, easy hike those 3 miles to where, once again, Lisa led us off the main trail at an unmarked spot and we found our way to the Fern Grotto. It looked like something you would see at Disneyland. A good amount of water washed over a 40 foot tall cascade of stacked granite slabs. On the face of the cascade, growing out of the cracks between the slabs were large, luscious ferns with huge bunches of yellow flowers jutting upwards. Unbelievable. Lisa led the men up the granite slabs to the top of the cascade where the water filled several deep pools. The higher up the granite we climbed, the more pools we found. Lisa pointed to some cliffs high above us and told us that would be a stopping point on our trail the next day.

We came down to find the women sun bathing and enjoying the water. We stayed there for a few hours and enjoyed lunch before heading back. I was eager to see how Marion was doing, so I hiked out in front of our group and got to enjoy an hour or so of solitary hiking, alone with my thoughts and the beauty of the area around me. Marion had enjoyed a swim in the river, and was playing solitare in the dining tent when I returned. She felt much better for having rested.

Dinner that night was chicken tacos with fresh made salsa. Lisa led the campfire that night, talking about bats while we listened to their calls all around us. The snoring wasn't so bad, and we got to sleep quickly that night.