Miles: 11.4 

Total Trail Miles: 938.4 

Ascent/Descent: 1635/2434 ft 

Start Time: 04:30 

End Time: 15:05 

Temperature: 13°C (55°F)

It was a cold night so we woke to frosty tents and frozen water bottles. It was pretty much all uphill to Donohue Pass though so that warmed us up, especially all the balancing on frozen sun cups as we ascended, not quite as big as the ones yesterday at least. It was a pretty gradual ascent but a bit of a long slog, we made it up for breakfast and took a long break. This was the starting point of Yosemite National Park. Two JMT hikers passed by going SOBO, they must be one of the first to be starting the JMT as we haven't bumped into anyone else. We thought the descent would be bad based on FarOut comments so we're pleased when it was pretty chill. We descended down into the valley and when we got to the bottom we were blessed with snow free trail, we stopped for lunch in a lush green meadow, it was beautiful. We sunbathed, ate and took some group photos and videos, happy to see a little of the Sierra in the sun and grass. The few miles to the campsite were pretty much snow free except some small patches, although not exactly dry, the party had turned into a stream in most places. It really was stunning though and quite how I imagined Yosemite would be, lots of trees, boulders, grassy meadows, rivers and waterfalls. We had to stop at a certain point due to a no camping restriction around Tulomne Meadows, we set up camp on grass for the first time and enjoyed the sun for the rest of the afternoon.