After finishing the last 27 miles of the John Muir Trail as a day hike, I caught a hitch out to the edge of the park. Matt had stashed my bearcan on the side of the road in the trees, and I was grateful when I found it.
I sat on the side of the road and read for a few hours and then my friend Jojo met me there just after sunset. We camped out on Hardin Flat road and drove into Hetch Hetchy the next morning. It was my first time seeing Hetch Hetchy Valley, a picturesque large glacially carved valley that was unfortunately dammed by the city of San Francisco. I have now visited the four major glacially carved valleys in the Sierra: Hetch Hetchy, Yosemite, Tehipiti and King’s Canyon. Hopefully Hetch Hetchy will be returned to its former glory one day.
We spent two days hiking across the range, past Lake Eleanor, along the Huckleberry Trail, through some remote country along the Northern Yosemite border, and hiked a section of the Yosemite High Route. After leaving the reservoirs behind, we did not see another hiker for days. As we neared the end of our trip Jojo ran 35 miles back to his car, and I walked out to the Buckeye Hot Springs and hitchhiked into Bridgeport.
Anthony Ottati 