left coast part 2……yosemite
wildlife in yosemite do not fear you.
but, conversely, lillis does fear wildlife. lillis was convinced my baked goods from san fran were going to drive a bear into our tent. highlight quote of the trip from lillis was (upon being startled by a skunk, and trying to flee up the stairs to the tent, but being stopped b/c she had shut her bag in the bear locker)……”i’d rather be eaten by a bear, than sprayed by a skunk!”
we sat outside waiting for night to fall on half dome.
and were rewarded with just a tremendous site…here, the colors of the sky are reflected off of the merced river.
this guy had a rainbow shooting out of his back. i shook him down, but, alas, no gold.
this was our first view of the ridge we would scale. we climbed directly up the middle of that granite shoulder. this was probably about 3 hours into the hike.
here lillis and i are before the final ascent. we had just hiked up 500 feet of stairs so steep (and at 8000 feet) that i had to stop 3 times to rest. also, keep in mind, we’ve been hiking for over 5 hours at this point.
the last 400 feet is hand over hand, holding on to the steel cables that are loosely slung down the ledge. we had a couple of issues with people above us freaking out that actually made this quite dangerous. it should have been a 15/20 minute ascent of this 400 foot face, but instead it took close to 45 minutes of holding on to a cable while standing at anywhere from a 40degree to 55degree angle. not good times. we also had to circumnavigate a couple of people who just couldn’t move. a little scary.
finally having made our way to the top, we stop for a picture in the patch of snow atop the mountain (note, it’s actually visible in the very first picture in this blog post). it was close to 6 hours up to the very tip top.
so, lillis was getting scared because clouds were rolling in, but she suggested she get a shot of me out on the “diving board.” so, i edged out there, with ENORMOUS trepidation, looked up at lillis, and immediately went dizzy and semi-nauseous. i then switched my technique. i pointed my face at lillis, but my eyes stayed fixed on my feet. that seemed to work a little better. it looks like i’m looking at the camera, but i’m not. then, just as i was about to leave vertigo point behind, thunder rang out.
so, lillis then threw the camera to me and high-tailed it down the side of the mountain (outside the cables, mind you. very dangerous and NOT to be repeated by my wife unless i am already dead). i took a few more pics and then came down myself. rapelling down was MUCH better. it took about 5 or 6 minutes to get down the hill.
so, we paused here for a break (having survived the lightning that didn’t happen 🙂 we were at the top of the falls and about 3 hours into our return. i mentioned wildlife didn’t fear us. i did, however, try and make lillis fear the wildlife. i told her they had face eating squirrels. lillis did not believe me.
obtw, did i mention that i was hiking with a sprained, swollen ankle? i don’t recommend it, b/c if you do that, you end up with a sore hip flexor and knee from compensating. just something to consider.
the next morning we were back up and at it (albeit, quite a bit sorer). here we had hobbled over to yosemite falls….the 6th tallest waterfall in the world.
then later that evening we drove the hour down to glacier point. PHENOMENAL view of the valley. just amazing.
lillis makes the birds sing, the flowers bloom, and she squirts waterfalls out of her finger.
another nights sleep and another early rise. it’s worth noting for anyone considering staying in the tent cabins. it gets freaking COLD in the valley, even in late may. it gets up to a muggy 88 degrees that time of year during the day, but our tent was down in the 50 to 55 degree range by early morning each night. i was completely covered up, but i would wake up, and i’d be so sleepy i couldn’t determine which part of my body was cold. so, i’d just roll more blankets on top of me….which would work until i ran out of oxygen. but other than that, and lillis’ wildlife concerns, i loved the tent.
so, we got going, and we headed on down and around to the mariposa grove….probably the most famous of all the giant sequoia groves.
here’s the view looking up through the “telescope tree”. note that this thing is still alive.
this one is called the “clothespin tree”…no idea why
so, a brief lesson the sequoias…..they reach their full height in something like a brief 800 years. from that point on they just get bigger, but not taller. they can live something like 3000 years. they are impervious to disease, pests, fires, and they don’t ever actually just die from old age. according to to the literature there, they die b/c they have shallow roots and eventually, they just topple over. amazing amazing plants.
oh, below is the previously mentioned totally awesome tent cabin.
we drove out towards tahoe later that day. an AMAZING drive along the north rim of the valley. we pulled over at what turned out to be olmstead point. just a tremendous view back into the valley at half dome and a storm coming in.
the marks are caused by glaciers dragging giant bolders against the granite thousands of years ago. just impossible to describe how impressive this was. the bolders are glacial erratics. there is no point of land nearby and higher than this point. the boulders were just left behind when the glaciers melted and receded.
the pine is a jeffrey pine growing atop the rock there. amazing it can…is thrive the right word for twisted and disfigured tree??? atop a smooth granite outcropping.
next along the tioga road was toulomne meadows. so beautiful even though it wasn’t in bloom. from what i understand, within a few weeks, it will begin to explode with color. definitely on my list to check this out some other time.
last look as we headed out of the park and through toiyabe national forest.
probably the most amazing, impressive stretch of driving (4 hours i believe) that i’ve ever done in my life, was the trip from yosemite valley up to tahoe.
we stopped in this little town along 395 there……pretty sure it was called walker? at a really really great bbq place. a couple had relocated from houston and were knocking out some pretty fantastic pulled pork. we got a couple of sandwiches to go.
last pic i took before we got to tahoe (still an hour or two out)…..the long and not-winding road. the drive along tioga and then 395 really was a tremendous drive. rivers along the side of the road the whole way, winding across mountains, through valleys and around lakes. it was big and violent and majestic country.
so, the total talley….maybe around 40 total miles of hiking in 3 days at yosemite. 1 mountain conquered? survived? 2 (possible) bears, 1 skunk and 1 really fantastic time. as we pulled out of the park, lillis actually cried a little and made me promise her that i would take her back some day. i think i will. full set of yosemite pictures is here. i think they’re worth a look…..if you’re into being awed at how big some places are.
I am already awed — great commentary, too!