Tioga and Sonora Pass December Traverse

Knowing that our vacation days were numbered (we actually had to teach on January 2nd!) Mrs. H and I headed out for an unprecedented December hike in the Sierra high country. However, once we arrived in the frozen confines of Tuolumne Meadows and Tioga pass we decided to forgo the long hike and just document the crazy things we’ll most likely never see again. The driest December on record afforded us views of frozen cascades, frozen lakes, snow-barren mountains and wind-blown Mono Lake. The sound of the ice on Tenaya Lake was worth the drive by itself. Having gone over Tioga Pass we though to ourselves “Why not Sonora Pass too?” and finished our trip by seeing a frozen Leavitt Falls and amazing alpenglow on the granites near Deadman Creek. Here’s hoping for more snow so that we can never do this trip again.