McGurk's Meadow

That Really Helpful Person, Starr, from the kiosk at the park, told us about this hike. She had hiked it that morning, I think. McGurk's Meadow is a simple, yet beautiful and easy hike into a Sierra Meadow, one which is so peaceful and quiet you can hear the trees talking. In the spring, this is one of the first meadows to bloom, and the wildflowers are supposed to be abundant and widespread. For me, it was a joy to find a new eco-terrain, one that was not all about rocks and mountains, but a respite into smaller things, streams, a cabin built in the 1800's, a tiny trail, tall grasses, the whispering breeze. Yosemite is a place which can easily overwhelm, and this short hike was refreshing and full of silent walking.

There is little warning of the trail, merely a sign that says "McGurk's Meadow" along the road. No trail head marking, no parking, nothing. The approach is a gentle decline down a dusty trail that winds into woods, then opens to a larger trail ending in front of McGurk's cabin, a simple, very rustic thing, which has been there since around 1850. The trail then wends it's way over a small bridge over a stream and into the meadow.

We kept hoping for elk, or bear or deer. We walked, sometimes out of sight of one another, quietly looking into the trees, examining flowers and berries, listening to the trees creak when they sway in the breeze. It was a cool day in the meadow, and after the days of over 100 degree heat, it was very refreshing to just Be. We follwed the trail for about an hour or so, and then headed back. On the way we met three women on beautiful horses, as the mist began to rise and the day became more grey. It was magic listening to the horse's hooves thunder as they broke into a canter on the way up the trail ahead of us. Here are some images from that hike.