I decided to do the hike to the top of Grand Mountain on my second day in the 10 Lakes Basin. From my campsite, I hiked over a small rocky ridge and arrived at Lake Six. After circling around the Lake and getting freshwater I then ascended the western slopes of Grand Mountain. It was not too difficult to find my way up to the summit ridge where I had spectacular views of the Grand Canyon of the Tuolomne, Mt. Conness, Mt. Dana, Mt. Gibbs, and many other high peaks in Yosemite.
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When I woke up on Wednesday morning and went down to the Lake to get water this was my view
When I started hiking up for the day I quickly reached this high point where you can see just how sheer the walls of the basin are. If you look on the right hand side of the picture hidden behind the second tree from the right is the slope that you come down on a narrow rocky trail.
This photo gives you a better idea of where the trail comes down. You can see a little bit of green in the center of the picture and the burned out yellow grass just above that is where the trail comes over the pass and down into the 10 Lakes Basin
After hiking for about 15 minutes I arrived at Lake 6.
Walking up the slopes of Grand Mountain I came across this incredible tree whose roots were completely entangled in granite; note the broken boulders around the trunk of the tree
Arriving on the summit ridge this is one of the many views that greets you, Mt. Conness dominates the center of the picture
Looking back down at Lake 6 and the Western Wall of the 10 Lakes Basin
Looking to the east you see Mount Dana in the upper left part of the picture and in the center Mount Gibbs, the Grand Canyon of the Tuolomne is in the foreground
Looking 4000 vertical feet down into the Grand Canyon of the Tuolomne
This is the view to the northeast, the bottom of the canyon in the lower left of the picture is approximately 5000 feet in altitude the highest peak you are looking at is just under 13,000 feet
The view to the northwest; from where I was standing it would have been treacherous to attempt to walk downhill into the Grand Canyon of the Tuolomne, I would certainly have been stymied by cliffs
One of my favorite shots, Mt. Conness framed through the trees from the summit ridge on Grand Mountain