Amelia Earhart Peak Climb

Deanna insists a bandana will do; we'll have to work on that (but she's cute!). (image #040805-031)

Sunscreen on The Kid: "Oh, Mama..." (image #040805-032)

"...that's enough!" (image #040805-033)

The hike up Ireland Creek consisted of quite a bit of elevation gain but we has all day and made plenty of rest stops. (image #040805-035)

It wasn't solid uphill; it leveled off in meadows here and there and had a flat place above timberline at the Vogelsang trail junction. (image #040805-036)

These Nalgene bottles with CamelBack-like bite valves kept our water so handy that we drank a lot more. If you don't already have one, we recommend you get one. (image #040805-037)

We're nearly out of the Lodgepole pines as we gain elevation. These pines have two short needles to the bundle. (image #040805-038)

As we climbed, we encountered Whitebark pine. These trees have five short needles to the bundle and are present at higher elevations. (Photo by Deanna; image #040805-0353)

Daughter-Mother act. (image #040805-039)

Amelia Earhart Peak on the left. about a mile before we reached Ireland Lake, we crossed the contact between the Half Dome Granodiorite and the Granodiorite of Kuna Crest. This is an older unit than the Tuolumne Intrusive Series and is still Cretaceous. It is a dark-colored medium-grained hornblende-biotite granodiorite. It is generally coarser grained than the tonalite of Glen Aulin on the opposite side of the Tuolumne Intrusive Suite, but nevertheless, considered to be its approximate equivalent. Amelia Earhart Peak is underlain by this unit. (image #040805-041)

Simmons Peak in the far background. (image #040805-042)

Yellow-Bellied Marmot. I shot this with a 500-mm mirror lens. (image #040805-044)

Fat-so. (image #040805-046)

Up on the flats of the moraine that forms the down-valley shore of Ireland Lake. (image #040805-048)

Our first view of Ireland Lake. This must be one of the largest lakes in Yosemite National Park. (image #040805-049)

The trail ends at the west end of the lake but we wanted to put our base camp at the east side because it is both closer to the peak and near the outfall where Ireland Creek begins. (image #040805-050)

So we took off across the flats cross-country. (image #040805-051)

The redish rocks that crop out west of Ireland Lake (right) are Jurassic metamorphosed sedimentary rocks - thinly laminated calc-silicate hornfels and quartz-biotite schist with epidote layers and "eyes." It is locally interbedded with volcanic conglomerate. The redish rocks on the south side of the lake (left) are Jurassic metavolcanic rocks that are predominantly tuff-breccia of intermediate composistion that contain angular to rounded fragments that average 2 to 10 cm across but are as large as 75 cm. (image #040806-052)

Our Third Day - The Day of The Climb

Mike started out with a Bad Hair Day. (Photo by Mary Jane; image #040806-053)

Mary Jane hides her hair under that hat. (image #040806-055)

Maurie and Jon as we head out to cross Ireland Creek below the outfall. (image #040806-056)

After crossing the creek, we worked our way up this boulder field. (image #040806-057)

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