Day 73 : SHR part 2

1st July 2013
Unnamed lake to Lyell Canyon
Mileage : 0 + 10
After an earlier start than yesterday, the 3 of us soon warmed up traversing granite slabs contouring high above a spectacular u shaped valley far below us. After spending an hour or two picking our way through fragile talus, we eventually dropped into the valley system that would lead us upward toward our exit pass. The guidebook informs us that we would 'cavort with glee like children' upon reaching the valley, and ao, after much cavorting we started our ascent. Granite is usually laid down in a series of layers, and the valley we ascended was perfect proof of that, it was made up of a series of smooth benchs that stepped upward every few hundred metres or so, and it made for easy hiking as we wound our way upward toward Blue Lake, and its namesake pass below Foerster Peak. After skirting the lake, we surveyed the route up to the pass. The guide declared that the climb was 'astonishingly easy', which i contest in the strongest terms. Although only 700ft above us, the route was a mix of difficult scrambling and easy rockclimbing, no problem on a normal day, but today was different. On the horizon, storm clouds were growing, and storm clouds in the mountains  present 2 problems : The first is the rain, on a trail this isn't an issue, but granite slabs and talus fields would quickly become very, if not too, dangerous to traverse with even the slightest rain, as i found out a few day previously when i slipped and broke a hiking pole. The second is the lightning threat which, as we were high above the treeline and on our way even higher up, was very real indeed. As predicted the ascent didn't present any major issues, and after the obligatory photos from the top we were on our way down. This was where things got a bit tense. The sky was getting darker with the centre of the storm cell only a few kilometres away, judging by the lightning and associated thunder. So far so good, but we had no way of knowing if it would grow, dissipate, or move, and if so in which direction. We could only go as fast as Chick-Chacks leg would allow, which was not fast at all. Had he storm been 5 miles closer we would have been in serious trouble, but luck was on our side and we escaped the talus and snow field just before it started to rain. Thanking our lucky stars we looked for the quickest way down off the basin and back down below the treeline. An hour or two later the storm threat had past and the 3 of us were enjoying a spot of late lunch before finding our way back to a trail that would lead us toward Yosemite Valley. We ended up camping next a pack trail just after Lyell canyon on the way to Merced Lake and beyond. The view from the cliff-top trail provided a fitting end to an incredible, but knackering couple of days. Sleep came easily that night.