Lower Cathedral Lake from the east, Tuolumne Peak in the distance.

Lower Cathedral Lake is beautiful, with a big meadow at one end and a waterfall at the outlet, and views of Cathedral Peak, Echo Peaks, and Tresidder Peak. We took a break on the granite slabs above the north side of Lower Cathedral Lake -- that's where Keith took the panorama at the top of this page. While eating our dinner of fried chicken, potato salad, and Mother's iced raisin cookies, we noticed that there were quite a few tents and people in the basin. We were surprised at the number of people, given how late in the summer it is.

After our break we headed up to Upper Cathedral Lake. We contoured around the inlet to Lower Cathedral, and headed up slabs to the upper basin. When Keith and I hike, we usually get a late start. We figure how many hours it is from when we start until dark, and feel we should turn around at the halfway point, timewise, and head back so we get there before dark. Well, our halfway point this day was at 4:20 pm, and we were sitting up above Upper Cathedral Lake. From there, the Eichorn Pinnacle on Cathedral Peak is visible. From Lower Cathedral Lake, the pinnacle blends in with the peak and you can't really see it. There were several groups of people around Upper Cathedral Lake, too.

Cathedral Peak (with Eichorn Pinnacle) from Upper Cathedral Lake.

Upper Cathedral Lake with Cockscomb and Echo Peaks behind.

From Upper Cathedral Lake, instead of going back down the slabs, we hiked down the John Muir trail to the trail going back to Lower Cathedral Lake. This was easier going than the slabs we'd taken on the way up, but we had to dodge the ubiquitous "road apples" from the horses and mules that frequent the trail. This is one of the great attractions for me of going cross-country rather than hiking on trails -- you don't have to deal with the road apples.

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