Labor Day Yosemite Trip Part 2

Ladder fuels lining the path.

After all the preparation, delays, and slacking off, we were finally underway. The first impression I had was this: Yosemite was in bad shape.

Not from the fire, mind you. The exact opposite actually. The ground floor is riddled with ladder fuels. Now I knew why the Rim fire was ripping through the tree tops- Yosemite was a ticking time bomb of fuel, just waiting for a match.

Labor Day Yosemite Trip Part 1

Mono Meadows- Our start point.

Time frame: Labor day weekend 2013, 5 day hike

Location: Yosemite National Park

Participants: Myself, Andrew, Michael, Jose

Oh, you want to backpack in Yosemite? Great! Oh, it’s on fire?

Even better.

While the Rim fire torched through north-western Yosemite, my friends and I had decided it was a great time to take a backpacking trip.