Saturday, August 10, about 10:30 AM. One last look back at Burro Pass (10,600'). Time to head down.

Turn around, and there's this: a big bowl up top then the long trace of Matterhorn Canyon.

Penstemon davidsonii (Davidson's penstemon). I only saw these up here. Lots of mountain pride, of course, too.

Penstemon newberryi (mountain pride). This patch was a ways lower down than the Davidson's penstemon.

About 200' feet below the pass I took a short break by these architectural rocks. I was after a little more shelter from the wind than I found up at the pass.

The lower I drop, the more Quarry Peak is towers overhead.

Matterhorn Creek at about 9750' is still not very large, but it is energetic.

A look back up into the bowl, now from about 9500'. The Sawtooth Ridge on the other side of Slide Canyon looms large. Burro Pass is visible, shaded by a cloud.

Flowers were abundant where there were seeps. Paintbrush, lupines, and Senecio were very common.

Platanthera dilatata (white bog orchid) was less so. (But the Lilium parvum was another frequent one.)

Calochortus leichtlinii (smoky mariposa) showed up in some of the drier spots.

Matterhorn Creek at 9200' is larger than before but definitely still a creek.

On the other hand, at the first trail crossing at 8975' it was wide enough for me to get out the water shoes. Easy crossing though.

I managed to rock-hop crossing #2. Just under 8800'.

But on crossing #3 at 8725', I was back to the water shoes. One or two more well-placed large rocks (or a slightly lower water level) would have turned this into a rock-hop.

Delphinium glaucum (Sierra larkspur). A few minutes down the trail from the third crossing was a wet seepy hillside covered with fields of these 6-8' tall delphinums. From the distance, the foliage dominates, but up close the towering stalks are impressive.

Delphinium glaucum (Sierra delphinium): a closer shot with some alpine lily in the background.

The PCT junction. I'm not going that way, but in 1982 I did, at short ways. I went up to Miller Lake -- 1-1/2 miles and 1000 vertical feet -- before retracing my steps the next day. That 30.5 mile route to Yosemite Valley reaches its destination via Glen Aulin, May Lake and the Snow Creek Trail.

The lowest Matterhorn Creek crossing at 8475'. The log seemed narrow and I never found a rock hop I quite trusted with my now rather tired legs. So ... out came the water shoes once again.

I made camp about a mile farther on, near where Wilson Creek met Matterhorn Creek. (8450')

The reverse view. That fire pit deserves mention. Its sunken rectangular form suggest it's one of the "old camp" fire pits, dating from the early days of the park. It may be a century old. I saw something similar in Tiltill Valley. None of the historical topo maps call out a campsite here though.

While camp is in the trees, there's a meadow just below, with Matterhorn Creek wandering though. The top of the the canyon is now longer in sight.

Matterhorn Creek.

An interesting precipice across the canyon.

Horkelia fusca (dusky Horkelia) was common in moist spots. In the field I really wanted to put this in Saxifragaceae, but doing the checks at home, nothing fit well.