So, Megan and I went to Yosemite and had a rockin time! We drove over on Thursday and tried to get into the cheap climbers' campground (Camp 4), but it was full. We found a tent cabin for that night instead. Those are cool, except not really designed for hanging out, and they're really crowded. We had some unfortunate noisy neighbors who probably thought that no one was around them, but Megan told them to be quiet, so that was good. The next morning we got up early to get in line at Camp 4, and got there just in time! We waited about an hour before the ranger came to let people in. She let in 26 people and we were numbers 23 and 24!

So our adventure began with a trip to Mariposa Grove with the big huge Sequoias. Megan hadn't been there before, and although I had, there was still lots of snow the day we were there and we didn't get to see much of the area. So we went and admired the trees and hiked all the way to the top of the hill. On our way up we stopped to sit and have a snack near the road where the tram takes people up who don't want to walk. The tram stopped at a couple of trees near us. The riders listen to a tour on headphones in this big truck, which was cool because it was quiet, but then funny because everyone in the truck would turn and look to that side all at once, and then turn and look at the other side all at once, as the tour guide in their ears would tell them to.

I'm glad we went all the way to the top. At the top we found a run-down parking lot and viewpoint. It was clear that people used to be able to drive up there, but aren't any more and so it doesn't get many visitors. But the view was cool and it was a nice place to rest. While we were sitting there a raven flew over to us, having identified us as snack-machines. It was super tame and I had a great time taking photos of it as it sat about two feet away from me on the bench. It also made noises at me, presumably to make the snacks appear. When no snacks were produced, off it went.


In the evenings we went to the fancy-pancy Awahnee hotel to sit in the sitting area and knit and have hot chocolate. That was very nice. That big room looked a lot like that big room in the MU at OSU, for those who are familiar. Nice high ceilings, dark wood, and big windows.

On our second adventure day, we decided to undertake a big hike out to a point called Cloud's Rest. This point is just back from Half Dome, and at an elevation of 9926 ft, is around 1100 feet higher than Half Dome. Access was from the highway out to Tuolumne Meadows, to the north of Yosemite Valley. The hike would be 7.5 one way to the point, and an elevation gain of around 1900'. I was worried about the elevation since I'd had my experience in Santa Fe at the elevation there of 7000. It is very noticably harder to breathe, and that doesn't help me with being out of shape already. Megan was very patient with me and she didn't have quite as hard of a time because she runs every day. Most of the uphill climbing happened in one go up the side of a hill, and it took me a very long time to get up it. We stopped to have lunch at one point there, and we picked a spot where we could be entertained by two squirrels who tirelessly chased each other around the trunk of a tree. Other than that awful hill, that hike was fine, and the scenery was nice. It was mostly a pine and fir forest, though I couldn't identify the trees any better than that they were pines or firs. I walked quickly when I could (we were a bit in a hurry to get the hike done before dark) and slower when I needed to go slower. At the point it went up a big rock pile, which was amazing, and then for a short span almost at the top you had to walk across the rock only about 10 feet wide, with big drops on both sides. Like Maria said once: "No sides on both sides!" It was a little scary, but we couldn't stop there! So we made our way across (crouching-walking) and to the point.

It was awesome! We enjoyed the views for about a half hour. The clouds were coming in, so it wasn't clear, but we weren't getting zapped by lightning so that was fine and made for more interesting photos, in my opinion. We could look down on half dome, which was closed for the winter and didn't have any people on it, but you can see the trail on the rock where they climb up. It was a great feeling to be up there after the hard work of the hike, and that is the highest up I have ever been (not counting planes).


We returned to our campground for dinner and wine. We made a fire and had sausages for dinner, and some wine, and a guy approached us. He was looking for a campsite that had enough room that he could find somewhere for his sleeping bag even though the campground was full. We had plenty of room, so invited him to stay at our site. His name was Fred, he was from France, and he was traveling around to a bunch of the western US national parks. He was cool and it was fun hanging out by the fire with him for the evening.

The next day we hung around the valley for a bit and watched the big grey clouds come in. We went and checked out the waterfall, which had much, much less water in it than when I was there in March. We also wandered around the meadow so we could check out these crazy big plant seed pods. They were cool and we learned that they were milkweed plants. Then off we went back home! I'm glad that I got to have that trip with Megan. We had a nice time hanging out together and we did some cool things. Yosemite is a wonderful and amazing place to hang out, and I encourage everyone to go!

There are many more photos in the October 2010 folder in my photo gallery...