Buena Yosemite: Buck Creek GS, Moraine Meadows, and Breeze Lake

Yosemite National Park

DAY 1 | DAY 2 | DAY 3 | DAY 4 | DAY 5 | DAY 6 | DAY 7 | DAY 8

static map — Orange line for day 3. Click for interactive map

We set off from Royal Arch Lake determined to get a little more miles under our feet than we'd been doing, with some talk of going all the way to Rutherford Lake. There was also some skepticism about committing to Fernandez Pass so late in the day. First, we had to wander a little further downhill before catching a new trail up and over an unnamed pass. Along the way, we encountered the first people since Buena Vista Lake.

118: downhill by rocks and trees — Getting a start on the day.

120: tall trees and smoky distance, what little is visible — There's no view going over this pass.

121: deer looks back over its shoulder — A mule deer ponders if it is worth running off.

122: lots of green that isn't grass — Over the top, there were meadows with a few flowers and views.

123: fluff flowers and orange wings — Numerous butterflies on the mountain coyote mint.

There were a couple things along the way on this day that possibly distracted our attention a little longer than reasonable. The first was the old guard station at Buck Creek. This building has a bit of a lean to it, as do the other buildings in the area.

124: leaning big building — Buck Creek Ranger Station, leaning dreadfully to the west.

125: outhouse and big trees leaning — The little trees stand straight behind the outhouse, but the big ones don't.

126: log cabin with brace — A closer look at the ranger station shows it has been braced against one lean, but not the other.

127: long petaled sunflower sort of thing — The California coneflower was so showy, I was sure it was part of a garden, but it's native.

We took off again, before this building could drop itself on us, heading for a junction with a choice. The high road would access the trail to Merced Pass and showed more meadows. The low road would access trail to the Chain Lakes and meet South Fork Merced River sooner. The plan was the high route and we followed that. The Chain Lakes, which wouldn't have been on the agenda for the day, look like a worthy destination some time.

131: climb — The higher route only takes a little climbing and is quite dry.

132: view through trees — Sometimes there's a view, but a lot of it is in the trees.

134: last flowers of a small pink lousewort — The last flower of a lousewort is a prize: little elephant's head!

135: pool under a stump, looking bad — Water at seasonal Givens Creek. Pass.

136: bright yellow flowers, not quite so long petals as the last — Bigelow's sneezeweed looking very bright.

137: gentle slope of white ridge — The view back the way we came.

141: flowers in the wood duff — White-veined wintergreen on the forest floor.

143: small backpackers among large trees — Continuing to continue among large trees.

The second thing to attract a great deal of our attention was a tiny pond with an excellent view. It happened to be well placed for a snacking spot and ended up requiring some extra examination.

145: shallow pond with a granite edge and then peaks — A tiny pond with a view.

146: bright yellow flower with bright red spots — We had a scattering of small primrose monkeyflowers in the green.

148: dip in the water on a reed — A tiny chorus frog sits on a strand of bur-reed.

151: small round flowers dangle from a stem — One-sided wintergreen in the dryer spaces.

152: points on a line — A closer look at the mountain view from the pond edge.

153: wiggly animal — There's ram's horn fairy shrimp hidden away in these waters.

155: two critters in the water — The match of the day between a diving beetle larva and a dragonfly nymph.

160: frog on the forest floor — Another frog. I thought Pacific chorus frogs were green or brown, but they've all been white this year.

Eventually we finished poking around this tiny pond and got moving. We checked the next one for shrimp, but found none.

161: small flower with spots — Little celebration for finding an alpine gentian.

163: green and treeless from the trees — Green meadows while approaching South Fork Merced River.

164: purple bracts looking like flowers with green pointy flowers within — Lemmon's paintbrush was small and bright.

166: little sign by a tree — Apparently the pass isn't very far, even before we get to crossing the South Fork Merced River.

167: water among rocks and dirt — This pond was far less interesting.

We grabbed a little water at the river crossing, which wasn't very big, and then started to climb with lakes and marshes off to the side but no apparent water running along where it is mapped.

168: selection of trees, closer ones looking very stocky — There's some really big trees along the way.

171: shallow lake past trees — Through the trees, the marshy lake as promised.

172: much smaller body of water — A thin, marshy pond too.

When we got there, we followed the sign for the 0.7 mile trail to Breeze Lake. Someone had taken the time to cut out some logs and help define the trail as separate from a stream bed. The first half looked quite built, but the second half had some mild scrambles and might not be wise with a horse.

176: pond in rocks — Passing the pond, where the trail gets rough, on the way to Breeze Lake.

177: pond and saddle and distance — Looking back across that pond to Fernandez Pass nearby and Merced Pass somewhere in the distance.

Breeze Lake is massive and was somewhat in shade as we arrived. It wouldn't finish going to shade until the sun set. We looked some along the lake left of the trail, but then headed across the outlet to an area more full of camping spots.

179: narrow water opening up to much more and then a rock cliff at the far side — Breeze lake from near the outlet.

180: rocks to the water, dropping in and deep — A lovely shoreline.

184: long lake view — Breeze Lake from the shore near camp.

We enjoyed the colors on the rocks and then watching the bats as they dipped to the water and then even got some food cooked and camp set up and sleep.