Yosemite - Evening Extravaganza

While we were relaxing in the boulder playground Cam discovered, we talked about how we could just pack up and head home. We weren't completely excited about another night on the hard ground in the cold even without our noisy neighbors. We were pretty tired. Too tired to hike much more but we still had several hours to kill before it would be time to make another campfire. Earlier in the day, Cam had said we'd go into the valley on Sunday morning before driving home. Since we were all starting to lose momentum and yearn for the comforts of home, I suggested we go into the valley that afternoon to see the sights. That way, if we weren't up for it in the morning, no one would be disappointed. We talked about saving them for the next time but since I wasn't sure when we'd be back and I am a fan of Carpe Diem, I did say that I would really like to see the famous sites before leaving. I didn't care whether we did it that afternoon or the following morning. We walked back to camp and decided that we might as well seize the day.

Not long after we turned left off Tioga Road towards the valley, the scenery started to change. Suddenly, we were faced with these massive rock formations like nothing we'd seen on the upper road. I don't know what this one is called. It isn't one of the famous ones but it is the first one that caused us to stop on the side of the road to marvel.




We drove all the way into the valley then started back up towards a scenic overlook called Glacier Point. Before we made it to the official overlook, we stopped again to do some looking over of our own.




My folks have pictures of us at Yosemite on some vacation from my childhood. There is a picture of my mother, my brother and I in front of one of the impressive waterfalls. I'm missing my two front teeth. That makes me think I must have been about 8. It is hard to believe I don't really remember seeing this before. Or that Sam likely won't really remember it either. That is one of the amazing things about pictures (and why we are trying to document our experiences and memories.) They often serve as memories for us.




Cam has the cheesy picture I took of him at Glacier Point standing in front of the Half Dome on his blog. Here is the cheesy picture he took of me.






We don't have one of Sam posing because he asked for permission to run around on top of the giant boulder in the observation area.







He found one of the waterfalls in the viewfinder of this telescope. It was impressive to see with the naked eye too.



Since it took about an hour to get to our campsite from the overlook, we decided to for go sticking around to watch the sunset. We headed back into the valley, racing the sun to see if we could make it back to our campground before it set. Even though we were in a bit of a hurry, as we passed the sign for Bridal Veil Falls, Cam suggested we stop and take a quick look.



And we couldn't pass El Capitan without stopping for a closer look.




Even though the sun was almost gone, Cam stopped again, saying let's check out this creek while we are here. We'd seen people playing on its banks during the drive into the valley. I'd commented that we'd have to do it sometime.


No time like the present, I guess.

The drive down the valley, up to the overlook, back into the valley then up to our campground took its toll on all of us. Cam had a massive headache. We think all of us experienced a bit of altitude sickness in different ways during the trip. While our food was warming over the coals, it was Cam's turn to rest in the tent for awhile. He got up to eat and said he felt much better afterwards. We soaked up the fire's glow and starlight not to mention the marshmallows. Then we tucked ourselves back into the tent, under our covers. Cam had packed stocking hats. Since he said his head had been cold the night before, I joked that we should sleep in them. Cam took me seriously. It actually turned out to work really well. It didn't seem nearly as uncomfortable the second night.

But when we woke in the morning, it was frosty and cold again. We turned the heater on in the car and tore down and loaded up in record time. Soon we were on the road towards home. All of us were looking forward to making it back with time left to veg a bit before starting the week again.





Shortly after we pulled out of the park, Cam stopped another time so we could stretch our legs, admire the view and have some snuggle time. Thanks for capturing this moment and sharing Yosemite with us, Cam.

Yosemite - Afternoon Adventures

After our hike to Lukens Lake, I was ready to rest up a bit. The temperature had changed dramatically. Our campsite which was now in full sunlight was probably around 80 degrees. I changed out of my jeans and snow boots (still the only boots I own) and into sandals, shorts and a tank top. I took out my contacts, thinking I might lie down and take a nap after lunch. At least, I hoped Sam and I might read together for awhile.

We had a nice picnic from the food Cam packed. Then I went into the tent to rest/relax. Cam wanted to explore the area around our campsite more. We planned to meet back at the campsite later. Sam stayed with me. We did rest and read a bit then suddenly, Cam was back. He said he'd found a huge boulder playground and that we should come with him to check it out. So we did. Sam liked walking/crawling between the two in the first picture.





The boulders were quite interesting. Some of them seemed to be placed there by hand.















The guys found a couple of tiny caves too.














It was fun hanging out together on them.

Yosemite - Morning Tranquility

In my last post, I told you how lucky we were to snag a campsite at White Wolf, one of the first-come, first-served campgrounds at Yosemite National Park. But I didn't tell you much about the camping experience. Let's see...

As excited as we were about finding this spot surrounded by pristine beauty, we were concerned about the people blaring music and talking very loudly (ok yelling) to each other who had already set up camp very nearby. We considered driving on to the next campground to see if there was a more peaceful spot but we liked it there and didn't know if anything else would be open and even if something was, what was to stop another group of obnoxious campers from setting up next to us? We decided to cross our fingers and hope the loud people at White Wolf would mellow out a bit as the night progressed.

After exploring the area near the campground (see previous post and Cam's posts), we settled in to relax and enjoy an evening around the campfire. Cam and Sam have a ritual about fire building. I am happy to be the recipient of its warmth and fascinating coals. Soon, they had a wonderful fire blazing away.

Before leaving, Cam offered to pack all of the camping gear and food. He and brought excellent cook on the fire options. We quite enjoyed our impromptu chili (one can pinto beans, one can chopped tomatoes) and Sam had some sort of pasta. However, we were often distracted by our neighbors who rather than turning it down seemed to be gearing up for a night of revelry. We did our best to ignore them while wondering with dismay why they thought yelping in a poor imitation of a wild animal was an ok thing to do. After roasting marshmallows and enjoying our s'mores, Sam and I were ready to catch some shut-eye. It was dark and we were tired so we didn't have any trouble falling asleep. Cam decided to check to see what time quiet hours officially began.

Thankfully, Cam brought along several comforters to augment our sleeping bags in providing warmth. At 8,000 foot elevation, it was going to be a chilly night. When Cam finally came to bed, he told me about how our rowdy neighbors had been taken away in handcuffs.

Shortly after 10:00 pm Cam decided we had all had enough of these people's infernal racket. He walked over an asked them to turn off their music. Apparently, one of the guys was obviously wasted, slurring his speech. The other guy was so angry at having their party interrupted that he wouldn't even look at Cam and just sat there staring at the fire. Then, I guess one of them challenged Cam to go get the ranger. He said he was happy to get the ranger if that would make things easier then walked off toward the ranger station. It seems like that was enough to get them to turn off the music so Cam walked back to our campsite. Minutes later, they were making animal noises again, "Whoop, whoop, whoop?" Really.

Before Cam decided to go have another word with them, he heard an authoritative-sounding person talking with them. Apparently someone else had called the ranger. Soon Cam heard the ranger say they were going to search these guys vehicle/tent. He asked if they had anything else they wanted to tell them about before they found it like the concealed knife one of them had on them. Marijuana and hashish were mentioned that evening and the next day, Cam heard some rangers discussing the bust say they had also found cocaine. So these people were more than obnoxious, they were armed criminals. Excellent. At least no one was stabbed. "Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do?" (Photo courtesy of COPS TV.)

We both had a bit of trouble sleeping after all of the excitement. I'd had just enough sleep to be less tired than uncomfortable. I unzipped my sleeping bag and felt much better not being constricted. It was cold. Dogs were barking. Someone's car alarm went off and then at seriously around 1:00 in the morning, we heard someone setting up camp. They had some sort of generator going; I think they were blowing up an air mattress. Oh well. At least Sam was sleeping soundly. Cam and I did manage fitful bouts of sleep.

Then finally, it was morning, glorious morning. If we thought it was cold inside of the tent, it was literally freezing outside. There was frost on the tent. We ran around a bit; washing up with cold water from the bathroom didn't help much. The Frappuccino and Reese's Puffs cereal did. Sam and I found a patch of sunlight to stand in then as quickly as we could we decided to just get hiking to warm up.

Cam had suggested we take one of the hikes that left from the campground. It sounded like an excellent plan to me so we headed out towards Lukens Lake. I loved the way the moss grew on the branches of trees in the woods. One group of middle-aged guys hiked past us while we were climbing boulders near the path. We didn't see them or anyone else again on our walk to the lake. The men were at the lake when we arrived. We walked along the lake a bit to give them space. I guess they left shortly afterwards. I didn't see or hear from them again.



The lake was ours. We sat on a fallen tree and enjoyed the definition of tranquility.





It was glorious...
















peaceful...











and relaxing...














Cam hiked around the lake in both directions.

I took this photo of trees and the pristine sky while lying on my back on the log.




Just as we were about to pack up and head back, this deer came to the lake to have a drink and pay us a visit. She was around the bend from us and seemed to feel pretty comfortable despite our presence.

As we were leaving, we passed some people just arriving at the lake and saw several more groups on their way there during our walk back to camp. After such a restless evening, I am happy we were given such a restful morning.