Day 30: San Francisco to Yosemite
Left San Francisco this morning with much less drama than we arrived to. Put the rack back up, packed it up and headed out for Yosemite. Drove through an interesting mix of farmland, golden fields with dark black oak trees and into the mountains. Picked up some fresh strawberries and cherry tomatoes on the way that were both delicious .
We arrived in Tuolumne Meadows around sixish and made camp for the night. Arriving so late we ended up having to pack our backpacks in the dark to prepare for a trip in the backcountry the next day. The plan was to wake up in the morning and hike around 8 miles in via the Cathedral Lake trail head and out via Sunset. After making camp and eating we decided we wanted to stay up for a bit and so made ourselves a fire, like we've done plenty of times this trip, but tonight was different. The firewood was hardwood and the climate is extremely dry. We doused the fire with a couple gallons of water before turning in for the night. An hour or so later we get a "knock" on the tent door...."Folks! Park ranger! You're fire is going out here unattended." Shocked, we both hopped up in the freezing cold dark, Brett in his boxers, and scrambled to put out the fire. We ended up burying it with dirt since we had no more water on hand. Embarrassing. We felt really terrible about it because wildfires are no joke in this part of the country and we take fire responsibility very seriously. We've just never had a fire come back after dumping two whole gallons of water on it. A mistake we won't make again. This was an unappreciated late night shock with a long backpacking trip getting started bright and early. Ugg.
Day 31: Yosemite Backcountry
Woke up and left to go get backcountry permits around 9am. A bit of a late start after the nights festivities. Around 10am we jumped on the Yosemite Shuttle to get to the trailhead. After getting on we were informed that the shuttle ride cost a dollar per person, but we had no cash. Crap. As we were getting off the tram the the driver said she'd cover for us because it was only a couple bucks. Awesome we thought, but as we got underway we realized we'd have no money to ride back and we'd be miles away after a VERY strenuous day. Ohh well, deal with that in a couple days.
As we arrived at the trailhead we were met with a much more tiring climb than we had anticipated and both quickly realized that we were suffering from some mild elevation sickness. We had driven from 10 ft above sea level to around 9000 ft in a day and were both feeling a little dizzy and were having a hard time catching our breathes. A few miles in we started feeling more normal, but we definitely felt the elevation the whole day. Luckily the scenery was gorgeous and kept our minds occupied and away from our suffering bodies.
The hike to camp was long and was capped off with a fairly long climb up to Sunset Lakes which was the location for our first nights camp. When we arrived we took a moment to rest our puppy dogs by Lower Sunrise Lake and watch a young female duck swim happily in the glassy water. We would both later comment to each other how beautiful she was there, living in a place so unspoiled. Going about her daily business.
Leaving the lake we found an excellent campsite right on a bluff overlooking the setting sun. After eating dinner and taking a sponge bath in the sunset we decided to pull out Brett's sleeping bag and lay on a massive granite slab to watch the stars. There was no moon so the Milky Way was in full bloom in the middle of thousands of stars. We saw satellites pass by and a couple shooting stars before our eyes grew tired. It was time for bed.
Day 32: Clouds Rest-Hike Out
Woke up this morning and had coffee and breakfast to fuel up for what we knew would be a pretty beastly hike. Around 14 miles with a hike up to a peak called Clouds Rest which is supposed to be a bit scary and higher than Half Dome. We decided that since the hike out would take us back by camp we decided to leave all our gear and pick it up on the way out. This was a good move as it would mean 10 miles with much less weight on our backs.
The hike up to Clouds Rest was everything we thought it would be.
And being on top of the peak was like being on top of the world. Insane.
The trip across the narrowest part of the spine was kind of scary if you let your mind get away from you.....given that there were 1500 ft drops on both sides of a side walked sized path. Pics don't really do this one justice.
On top of Clouds Rest we met a few nice people, one of which was a young woman we relayed our shuttle story to. As we were leaving she offered us 5 dollars for a shuttle ride which we graciously accepted. We then started the long hike back to camp. When we arrived we took a minute to rest our feet because we were already tired and we had a nasty descent to do over around 3 miles. Steph took a picture of her nasty ass feet for the record books.
As we made our way down switchback after switchback of hard granite we were starting to get seriously tired. We had a nice surprise waiting for us at the end. We knew we were ending at Tenaya Lake, we just didn't know how absolutely drop-dead gorgeous is was.
We got out and waded for about an hour, taking it all in. Unfortunately while we were basking in the glory of the lake we were also missing the shuttle and there wouldn't be another one for an hour. This was not what we wanted to hear because we were dog tired at this point. After unsuccessfully trying to hitch hike we asked a random dude leaving the trailhead if he was heading to Tuolumne campground. He tentatively said he was and so, after making sure it was ok, hopped in the car. As it turns out he was just about to go for a dip in Tenaya right as we caught him, but was nice enough to take 20 minutes out of his day to give us a lift. We kind of felt terrible and so insisted that he take the 5 dollars we were given on Clouds Rest as it was all the money we had on us. Plus, we were given the money for a ride home and that's what it needed to go to. He took the money and went on his way.
Arriving back at camp we grilled some hotdogs over the oak firewood and charcoal. We were probably just really hungry but they tasted amazing. We sat by the fire for a bit before dousing it with FOUR gallons of water and hitting the bed.
Day 33: Yosemite Valley
We took our time getting up this morning to break camp and pack the car. At Tuoulumne Meadows campground that was a bad move since it meant cars passing constantly and stirring up clouds of dust which seemed to permeate our nasal cavities. This made for a very unpleasant experience and we could not get out of there quickly enough.
We arrived in the valley around 1:15 or so to check in to the lodge. Since we didn't have much time to explore we decided to rent bikes and ride along the valley floor.
This was a nice way to see Yosemite Valley in a small amount of time.
After biking we took some MUCH needed showers and went to the lodge restaurant for a bite to eat. We didn't stay up to late because we had an early appointment to square away a new rental agreement on the steed the next day.
As for Yosemite, we will definitely be back during prime time weather when the waterfalls are running full force. We could definitely see spending a whole week in the park because it has so much to offer.