Distance: ~8 miles

My rating: moderate

In front of Cathedral Peak.

This was such a rushed hike for me when I did it in the fall of 2015. I was doing an extremely long day trip that took me to the Eastern Sierra first to hike the Gem Lakes Trail. I hit up Cathedral Lakes on the way back to Fresno while driving through Yosemite on Tioga Pass.

I started after 2 PM and was concerned about being solo on the trail in the evening, or after sunset. I’d seen a coyote on the drive in, and although I felt comfortable with that, I didn’t want to walk around a bend and surprise something bigger, like a bear or mountain lion.

The trailhead is just down the road from Tuolumne Meadows.

Turns out, I didn’t have to hustle as much as I did. There were a handful of people at the lake, and I did pass a few others on my way back to the car. It’s a pretty popular trail, and I had plenty of daylight left when I was done. Oh well.

There are signs for the trailhead, which is just west of Tuolumne Meadows. Park along the road. It was pretty crowed when I was there, so as usual, the early bird gets the prime parking spot here. I always shrug to having to park far away. Aren’t I out here to get exercise? What’s a little extra walking going to hurt?

Much of this hike is wooded. The first 3/4 miles or so is up an incline and will get you warmed up. After flattening out for ~.5 miles, up you go again.

You’ll gradually lose a few hundred feet from about mile 2 to Lower Cathedral Lake. Take a right hand trail around mile 2.9, and continue to the lake.

This is the lake you see in most of the photographs. Walk around to the far side of the lake, look back, and depending on the weather and time of day, you can clearly see Cathedral Peak reflected in the lake.

Explore the surrounding rocks, or just sit and take in the view over a PB&J. That’s my go-to hiking lunch – sugar and protein. ☺

Cathedral Peak

If you hike back the .9 miles to the main trail, you can go right and continue on for another mile for Upper Cathedral Lake. It’s supposedly set back slightly from the main trail on the right. I didn’t go there, so I can’t comment on how worth it the extra hike is. But come on, it’s Yosemite. It’s probably fantastic, so do it.
Hike back the way you came, and take a celebratory dip in Tenaya Lake on the way back home.