Cathedral Lakes - July 13, 2004

Cathedral Peak is a very distinctive peak in the eastern part of the Park. It also gives its name to two small lakes at its base - Lower Cathedral Lake and Upper Cathedral Lake. As you can probably tell by their names, one is at a higher elevation than the other. The hike to and from the lakes took me about 6 hours. I took two "long" breaks once I reached each "lake" - this hike was itself the most strenuous one I undertook during this stay at Yosemite. Factor in the over 8,000 feet altitude and I was literally exhausted once I returned to the trail head.

Cathedral Peak, Yosemite National Park

I first went to Lower Cathedral Lake. Both "lakes" are reached off a central trail; once you reach a certain point in the trail, you must take a "side" trail to Lower Cathedral Lake. This trail is about 1-1 1/2 miles roundtrip; you get to traverse a rather muddy and rocky trail (even rockier than the main trail, which was rocky indeed), cross a rapidly flowing creek, cross a picturesque meadow (which necessitated crossing some further creeks you could not see until you were upon them), and then you arrive at Lower Cathedral Lake.

Lower Cathedral Lake

Lower Cathedral Lake is the larger of the two "lakes" and, as you can see by the picture, isn't really all that large. You arrive a large granite rock shelf, which is great for sitting and reflecting on your recently completed journey (ie, resting). As you can also see, it was a beautiful day. Just gorgeous. I think I sat on the granite for about 1/2 hour before deciding I'd had enough reflection and should continue on to Upper Cathedral Lake. Which meant I got to recross all of the creeks and go back up the muddy side trail back to the main trail.

Upper Cathedral Lake

Upper Cathedral Lake is not quite as grand as its Lower sibling. Smaller, without the surrounding granite shelving, it is nice to visit however. I took a seat on an available rock and ate lunch while (again) reflecting on my journey to the lake. Then several other people came up the trail. My timing was pretty good!

To reach the lakes, you must hike in about 4-5 miles (and then, of course, hike that same amount back out plus the side trip to Lower Cathedral Lake). The trail is rocky and wet, or at least was wet when I was there. The trail rises on the way to the Lakes, which makes the going somewhat slower. All of this leading to this - the hike out took a lot less time and energy, mainly because it was more downhill. After all the climbing and scrambling, this was a nice way to end the day. Because it was the end of the day. Once I reached my campsite, I pretty much did nothing for the rest of the day and night. And slept very well indeed, thank you very much.