Mt. Dana in Yosemite

Our final practice hike before Mt. Whitney was the intimidating Mt. Dana, again on the east side of Yosemite National Park. Though only a 5mi round trip hike, the trailhead is at 10,000' and the peak is the second highest in the park at 13,061', making for an average 20% incline.

We lucked out and found a parking spot near the Tioga Entrance to the park. Since it was a holiday weekend and we (again) didn't have camping reservations, we slept in Erin's car near the trailhead and enjoyed having easy access to bear lockers and restrooms. ;)

Despite not having far to travel, we had a bit of a late start and weren't on the trail until 7:40am. The hike itself proved less formidable than I expected (surely in no small part due to the extreme quantity of water I'd consumed in the 24 hours prior). Despite little acclimation time, the elevation wasn't too noticeable. What quickly became hard to ignore, however, were the ominous clouds overheard. Almost as if on cue, a midday storm rolled in as we approached the summit. With about 400' left to ascend, we turned around due to hail. We were off the mountain by 2pm and back in the city by 7pm. Here's to efficient hiking and to one day returning to Dana. Those last 400' won't elude me forever.

Food: rice cakes with pinto beans. Banana bread and blackberry scone. So much trail mix. Hardboiled egg that I never got to as the beans were unsurprisingly filling.