Caliente Mountain and Caliente Ridge

HPS Star Emblem Peak
Hiked: 10/14/2023
Distance: 17 miles round trip on trail
Summit Elevation: 5106' (Caliente), 4425' (Ridge)
Prominence: 2206' (Caliente)
Elevation Gain: 2200'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 1.7
Round trip time: 6 hours 20 minutes
Recommended water: 80 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free at Caliente Ridge Trailhed (unnamed road)
Difficulty: Moderate (distance)

Adam Walker contacted me about an upcoming trip he had near the Central Coast. We identified a P2K new to both of us and I met him the night before in Solvang. Caliente rises above the Carrizo Plains, famous for spring superblooms. There was no bloom in the fall, but the weather was great for a long ridge walk. Adam set a brisk pace just before 8 AM along Caliente Mountain Road. From the ridge, we had great views on both sides, including the giant white blob of Soda Lake. From Wikipedia, Soda Lake is an alkali lake with a salt crust up to 20 cm thick. After 2.5 miles, we passed the lesser Caliente Ridge Peak with a small metal tower enclosed in barbed wire. We continued on the gently rolling ridge until we saw Caliente at the end. A few sandstone formations burst from the plains, and farmlands dotted the valley to the south. The final ridge revealed some sandstone uncovered by erosion. The summit lookout tower had collapsed into a pile of wood. There were multiple registers in a plastic container and a geocache. We signed in a took a 20 minute lunch break. The only mark we found was strange. It it wasn't a traditional USGS mark but had an LGO stamp. We kept the brisk pace on the way back and finished faster than expected. With only a few sections of deep sand, it probably would have been more fun as a mountain bike trip. Without the bloom, it wasn't very interesting.

Fossilized shell on the trail

Caliente Ridge tower

Caliente Mountain

Collapsed lookout

Mark of unknown origin "LGO 1977"

Soda Lake in the distance

Mount Hoffmann

Hiked: 10/7/2023
Distance: 6.2 miles round trip on trail and cross country
Summit Elevation: 10850'
Prominence: 2290'
Elevation Gain: 2000'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 1.6
Round trip time: 5 hours
Recommended water: 80 oz.
Parking/Fees: $35 National Parks Fee (good for one week)
Difficulty: Moderate

At the end of our first full day in Yosemite, I was feeling bad enough to punt on Hoffmann. However, the next morning, I felt well enough for the attempt. It took a little over an hour to drive out of the Valley to the May Lake Trailhead. Nice weather was holding up. We arrived at May Lake in less than an hour and got some mirror shots in the still water of Hoffmann's battlements. The summit is about a half mile behind the battlements so is not visible from the lake. I was expecting to go cross country from the lake, but there was a good trail leading around the lake, up a ramp to get past the lower cliffs. The trail made a hard right toward the cliff on a slab and was easy to lose. We marched right by it, then scrambled 100' up the end of the ramp and bumped into the trail again. The second part of the hike was up rocky class 1 terrain to the left (west) of the battlements. There were multiple braided use trails but it doesn't make much difference how you tackle this part.

Battlements from May Lake

The last section of the hike was across an upward sloping plateau where the trail was defined and easy. The trail ended below the summit rocks consisting of pancaked slabs. We arrived at the base of the summit the same time as another couple. They both wore tennis shoes and didn't look like regular hikers. When we started up, the male decided to wait at the bottom while the female followed us up the slabs. That is, until the final 20' of class 3, just below the summit. The female looked at our route, didn't like it, hunted around for a another way for 10 minutes, then gave up. So close. The views from the top were stellar and there was a shear drop on the north side, something not obvious from the topo. The benchmark was intact and I found a reference mark nearby. Some kind of antennae or relay sprang from the summit, but it had no markings that gave away its purpose. We looked down the south ridge to Hoffmann's Thumb, but it clearly required rope protection and was not in the cards today. The fancy aluminum register box that used to be on Hoffmann was moved to the Thumb. No other register was found. The view of Clouds Rest and Half Dome were notable. We ate lunch on the summit and I could have been happy there a long time. Eventually, we packed up and returned, able to follow the trail all the way back. Hoffmann was delightful and definitely worth the half day investment.

Summit on the right, Hoffman's Thumb on the left

Leisa near the top

Looking down south ridge at Thumb, Clouds Rest and Half Dome in the distance

Looking north from Hoffmann

High Sierra Camp at Map Lake was in disrepair

Union Point and Glacier Point

Hiked: 10/6/2023
Distance: 10.3 miles round trip on trail
Summit Elevation: 6314' (Union), 7222' (Glacier)
Elevation Gain: 3250'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 2.6
Round trip time: 5 hours 45 minutes
Recommended water: 100 oz.
Parking/Fees: $35 National Parks Fee (good for one week)
Difficulty: Moderate

Leisa and I were back in Yosemite, camping in the shadow of Half Dome at Lower Pines Campground. We got the same spot we had in 2022 when we toured a half dozen waterfalls. Our first excursion this year was the Four Mile Trail from the valley floor to Union Point, then Glacier Point. Legend has it the original trail to Glacier Point was four miles long, but extra switchbacks were added over time to reduce the gradient making the current trail 4.6 miles one way. Parking at the trailhead was full when we arrived so we had to hike from hear swinging bridge adding additional distance. Since Glacier Point can be accessed by road and shuttles, I was surprised how many people were on the steep, Four Mile Trail. No section was more difficult than another, it's just a steady climb up the south valley wall. It was shaded all day. Union Point was a little more than half way up and a short diversion from the trail. Views were great but got better the higher we went. There was a vandalized mark of some kind on the highest boulder at Union Point, unreadable.

El Cap

Destroyed mark at Union Point

The last half mile before Glacier Point was mostly flat and you could see it jutting out from the wall on approach. Glacier Point is known for it's iconic Half Dome view and it was swarming with people as expected. We did a bit of wandering around the area on top. The hike seemed more taxing to me than the stats suggested and I wasn't feeling well. I found out three days later I was in the middle of my third bout with Covid-19. The worst thing about it was that I passed it on to Leisa, whose suffering started when we got back home. Descending the trail was much easier but the lower switchbacks seemed never ending. The GPS track had extra noise from proximity to the south wall. We stopped for snacks at the general store and returned to camp for fire rituals.