While backpacking the full High Sierra Camp loop in Yosemite two years ago, we had made formative plans to come back and do a mini loop with Cynthia and Pedro – in fact, we had won a lottery spot last year to do one night at Glen Aulin followed by two at May Lake, but the entire High Sierra Camp season was canceled due to high snow levels and our reservation went by the wayside. This year we again got the identical trip together for the four of us – all our planning went swimmingly, until Cynthia came down with strep throat two days before our departure and couldn’t come. So, we ended up as a threesome – we’d spend Saturday on the 6.5-mile trail from Tuolumne Meadows to Glen Aulin, Sunday hiking 8 miles from Glen Aulin to May Lake, Monday as a layover with a likely excursion up to the summit of Mt. Hoffmann, and Tuesday getting shuttled back to our car followed by a long drive home. After an overnight stay in Bishop, we got to Tuolumne Meadows about 9:30am, heading out west along the meadows directly. We crossed the Tioga Road after a quarter mile, then skirted the meadows to the north for another mile or so out to the official Glen Aulin trailhead northwest of the Tuolumne Meadows stables. On familiar ground (well, at least for Chris and Jane), we made good time through the open forest and rolling terrain, descending to and across Delaney Creek before topping another rise with an ensuing descent back to the edge of the Tuolumne River, whose course we’d follow the rest of the day. After meeting the river, we crossed several massive granite slabs in succession before climbing away from the river for a short distance – dropping down the east side of a granite outcropping, we turned westward, meeting the river again at a pair of footbridges. On the far bank, we took an extended break at the water’s edge, eating our lunch of ham-and-cheese croissants from Schat’s Bakery in Bishop (heartily recommended, by the way). Resuming our hike, we continued descending northwestward through the canyon, the river having turned from placid stream to tumbling cascade. The trail at times trended away from the water as it avoided rocky obstacles nearer the river, returning to the cataract each time, including one special spot at the base of Tuolumne Falls – it’s a magical site, even the second time around. We lost elevation more quickly below the falls and soon reached another footbridge that deposited us on the river’s east bank. Until last year, there was a second bridge leading over Conness Creek into the camp, but the harsh winter rains and snowmelt washed the bridge away and its replacement is yet unbuilt – we had advance notice of this fact and had planned on a knee-deep ford of the creek, but the rapidly-diminishing water level made our crossing into an easy rock hop. We checked in at the dining tent (one may recall we stayed in backpacker’s campgrounds on our last trip here – this time, we sprang for the full HSC accommodations in tent cabins), and then made our way down to the river where Pedro earned the Blue Badge of Courage for fully immersing himself in the chilly water. We had hoped to watch the sunset from the slabs west of camp, but our steak dinner ran a little long and we caught only the twilight end of the day. A really nice walk into camp with no bugs at all (the reason we came back in August, like two years ago).