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Published: October 10th 2006
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The drive to Yosemite was spectacular- wrapping through the mountain, slowly turning uphill to open unique landscapes and views. I was behind the wheel - T stayed back.
Marissa, Hope and I arrived around Yosemite National Park Sunday evening. The three plus hour drive left us burning daylight, which is critical when you’re trying to set up camp, especially when it’s raining. The rain started to pick up about an hour before we parked to set up our tent and eat dinner. (Note to reader, rain makes camping significantly less enjoyable, not the best way to kick off our vacation. But of course we made due.)
Having two seasoned campers like Marissa and Hope helped quite a bit. Those ladies know all the tricks. That night we just pulled off the highway, drove up a dirt road and toughed through our camp set-up. Somehow we didn’t exactly even have a tent - it’s more of a portable teepee: a pole centers a staked down canvas square, with a door. That night as we all lay snugly in our sleeping bags, doing our best to not get wet, our floorless tent thing became inundated with beetles. The little bugs were
attracted to our dry floor and head lamps so much that I flicked at least 25 of them off of my book, sweatshirt, sleeping bag and face! Beetle-mania had a whole new meaning that night.
Anyways we made it through the attack of bugs(despite Marissa babbling nonsense in her sleep) and awoke to a thick wall of fog. Day one and we were feeling a little discouraged. We arrived at Yosemite around 8am Monday and the clouds were breaking, blue and sun shinning through. Fittingly, Yosemite had a spooky, Halloween theme. Ghostly clouds lie in the valley and spread through the monstrous rocks. You know you’re in a scenic rarity when Yosemite’s Park Rangers are standing next to you taking photos of the valley.
We found the ideal campsite for the next couple days. It was secluded in the campground and had excellent views. Sadly Park Ranger Susie made a mistake and we were forced to repack our gear and take the teepee down and move to a significantly less attractive camping area. We resentfully moved to the site closest to the trash cans and bathrooms, as well as adjacent to a family blaring Indian freestyle music,
ala any Dearborn Park on a Sunday. Again we persevered, resetting our tent and stashing our food in the bear lockers.
Eventually we made it to the John Muir Trails in Yosemite Valley. Our goal was to check out two waterfalls named Nevada and Vernal. The ascent was about 4.5 miles, decent about 5 miles. We hiked about 5 hours total and enjoyed ridiculous views of the two waterfalls, major rock formations, low hung clouds, and mountains. At any point on the trail we could be eye level, above, or below a cloud.
Tuesday started early and ended late. We hiked the entire day, a grand total of over fourteen miles with an elevation change of 4000 feet. We ascended up a tight path to Glacier Point. Continuous, long rock bedded switchbacks defined most of the climb. Once we reached the first goal of Glacier Point we rested and grabbed a power packed lunch. After our bellies were full of cheese, Cliff Bars, and tuna we pushed ourselves the final 1.4 miles and 1000 ft of elevation to Sentinel Point. Here we took in a 360° clear view of the whole park. The trek down was tough, especially
the first mile for myself, as I was desperately anticipating a trip to the commode. Too much fiber at lunch I guess…
Wednesday morning we checked the weather and noticed snow and cold in Yosemite’s near future. So we packed our teepee and headed out west. Before exiting Yosemite we stopped and enjoyed a 3 mile hike through some redwoods. I’ve never seen 300’ trees with 30’ circumferences.
The coast was the goal, a solid 5 hour car trip and we were at the Pacific Ocean, Big Sur California.
I digress - California is not at all what I had anticipated. (Too much 90210, Beverly Hills Cop, and LA Law) The drive across revealed an amazing variety of landscape: farms, deserts, smog, mountains, lakes, oceans and all sized cities. Not to mention the plethora of State and National Parks that we passed and the few that we visited.
Most of Wednesday was in the car. We tired out and stayed in a hotel for the evening. (I think the girls wanted me to get cleaned up, I was about 3 days overdue for a shower.) Hope and I hung out at the local Big Sur
Pub. We had a couple of beers and listened to Big Sur’s finest open mic night. It was all and all a fun evening (regardless of the oddity of hippie acoustic acts) topped off with a round of tasty pumpkin spice beer.
Thursday we drove Highway 1, to check out a waterfall and the elephant seals. I did the driving and Hope and Marissa did the nauseating. The road was very cool at first, right out of the old time movies, less the convertible and bottle of booze. But eventually the charm wore off and reality set in. The insanely windy, slow paced, and stomach harsh road made the drive long, but the payoff was hanging out with dozens of seals.
Friday was another hiking day. We visited the Andrew Molerno State Park and did an eight plus mile voyage. Somehow most of the trek was uphill, but elevation change was simple, only 1000 feet for the old hiking pros. Post hills, we packed our tent and drove the six hours back to our familiar beauty, South Lake Tahoe.
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Jane Muscat
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Awesome, and you're no dork.
Frank, The pictures are terrific. How close were you to those seals? Your scenery pictures look like postcards. (We don't really care if you have to use the commode - everyone does at some time or another). Your blog is delightful. I want to go there, but I don't want to hike on those switchbacks. Love Mom