The initial thought was that we'd spend night 1 at Polly Dome Lake, night 2 at Glen Aulin, and night 3 at May Lake. But after we got to Polly Dome and set up camp, we decided that tearing down/setting up camp multiple times was an unnecessary hassle, so we just stayed put and used Polly Dome as a base camp. When we got our permit, the ranger told us bears were very active and to expect a visit in camp every night. But that never happened. We did cross paths with a big bruin on the trail to Glen Aulin, but that was it. We had no bear visits to our camp and saw no signs of bear around Polly Dome.
The second day we day-hiked down to Glen Aulin. Along the way, we stopped at McGee Lake for snacks. At Glen Aulin, the Tuolumne is flowing, but it is very low. In fact, waters levels across the park were generally very low. That having been said, the water that still is flowing, at least at Glen Aulin, was freezing cold. We all jumped in for a swim, but the cold was almost intolerable so we immediately got out to warm ourselves in the sun.
The High Sierra camp at Glen Aulin was all boarded up and no one was camped there. There's bathrooms and water there, but both were locked up. Even the bear boxes were locked. Apparently, there is at least one problem bear in the area, so maybe the Park Service is trying to dissuade folks from camping there until the troublesome bruin move on. I dunno.
The third day we hiked out to May Lake, the geographic center of the Park. There's a High Sierra camp there as well. The bathrooms and water were locked/off there as well, but the bear boxes were open.
If you're looking for solitude and a swim, May Lake ain't your place. Even in the late season, the place was packed with folks camping, but none of them could jump in the lake as swimming there is disallowed (watershed). The attraction is understandable. The scenery is sublime and access from Tioga Pass Road is easy. And Mt. Hoffmann towers over the lake giving the place the ultimate High Sierra vibe. We initially thought about tackling Hoffmann, but it just wasn't that type of trip.
The last day we walked out. It's an easy jaunt through the forest on a gorgeous, flat trail so we took our time. After ramen and trail mix, we'd been dreaming of burgers so we stopped in Mammoth at the brewery for beer and lunch on the way back. Hazy in Mammoth on account of the fires. As we went south, the smoke continued to get much worse. By the time we got to Independence, the range wasn't even visible from 395 and it didn't really let up until we got Mojave.
