A Walk in the Park

An interesting day yesterday, with perhaps a better title being 'A Walk to Remember'- just don't mistakenly think this post is that similarly titled movie. After trying it last year and not completing the challenge, this year Rojo and I brought along Kate for round 2 of our mini High Sierra loop, and changed the order of camps attended. So with a home cooked meal by me handed out to everyone, we drove to the Cathedral Lakes trailhead and parked. A walk up Bud Creek and around Cathedral Peak via the climbers trail brought us up to Cathedral Pass and the trail to Sunrise. With mosquito dope on for the meadow stroll we passed people in head nets and stopped at Sunrise for a moment. The camp was vacant, but we passed the mule train coming in on the summit as it drops down into Sunrise Lakes. A romp and roll down the slabs brought us back to the trail to the road, with a quick stop to fill up water from a small stream that was literally on the trail. We had to stop so people could use the rocks in the water we were also standing on. It was a strange site to be filtering water as someone was walking in it a few feet away. Its also where we passed the gang of four drinking Corona's, carrying a cooler and smoking cigs, as if they were headed to Lake Havasu. The trail followed the road and took us up the old Tioga Road that leads to May Lake, and then we followed the short trail into camp. There we got a glass of Lemonade from Lacy and said hello to some friends coming down from Hoffman (Tracy and Brian and others) and began the descent to Glen Aulin. A couple hours later and we were tired and in Glen Aulin saying hello to Janet and Ben, refilling water, sucking down GU's and generally all around ready for the bar. A trip up the slabs brought us to Twin Bridges and the shortcut back out to the road where we found out we missed the last bus and would have to walk to the car, therefore insuring a car to car time of 10 hours 39 minutes- approx. 27 miles and 3 high camps. The goal was to make it to the Curry Bar for last call, and we did. 2 beers later ad I was home with my wife and Summer, having another cold one in the backyard. All in all, a good day in the park. A John Muir-type Day. P.S. The pictures are meant to look like its 1958- why not? Tomorrow, look for more postcards.

I didn't have to use my AK, It was a Gibbs Day...

Another work week done, and time to do something dramatic. After clocking my personal best time down the 4 Mile Trail after work Monday (42:45), and thinking I may be able with all the right forces lining up again, to get it under the 40 minute mark, I needed something big and fun to practice with today. A talk with my BFF at the Ahwahnee Bar, sparked the idea: follow what they just did and head up to Mt. Gibbs near the Tioga entrance station. Mt. Dana next to it gets all the love, and everyone I talked with today had also never been up it- see what I mean. The fun part was being the register entry right after Tracy and Bryan's ascent on July 11th, and mine now on July 14th. The top postcard is the summit, after many thousands of steps up the never ending red rock tiles that line the way. The bottom postcard was a quick stop on Hwy 120 after the tunnel for a nice river/Bridalveil view of the entrance to the valley. Soon I'd like to go back and work a better angle of this one- perhaps get the falls to stop flowing or the river to dry up- haha. Enjoy everyone reading this and those also not.

Snow Creek Airiel

Ever wondered what your getting yourself into on the Snow Creek Trail? Granite up the side of a cliff with little shade til the top. And Snow Creek Cascade over to your right where you never can see it. Still, its a good one to hike up and I've rarely encountered more than one handful of people on the trail. It takes you to North Dome, Tenaya Lake, the summit of Mt. Watkins, or over towards Yosemite Falls. All in all fun stuff. Wear some sunscreen and bring a water filter to fill up at the bridge over Snow Creek. Enjoy this photo taken yesterday. Today was less adventurous, with a trip to the dentist for a filling and a tooth extraction. Then off to Fresno where I could not actually eat any of its great food, missing the main reason to leave Yosemite- eat food! Oh well.

No Summit Today

So today I took a holiday from work and went hiking someplace I've been before- someplace most of us have been before. But, unlike all the other times, this was the first time I did not go up the cables at the end. As some say in climbing, the difficulties ended and the summit is not necessary. I don't know if I quite believe that, but I left the summit this year for when our friends come soon, and also a climb up Snake Dike. I thought hard (for ten minutes) about waiting in line, but the line moved one rung in those ten minutes. And the worst part is no one was really coming down the cables, people just weren't moving anywhere up the cables- not the lower part, the middle or the top. With permits needed on weekends, perhaps the park service should also station someone at the base and manage the now longer lines weekdays. If everyone simply started moving up every 15 seconds and didn't stop, the congestion would go away. I decided today that the time spent in line moving up and down the cables would take almost the amount of time it was going to take me to get back to my bicycle at Happy Isles. It probably was true.
It was a good 4 hours and 45 minutes spent today on the trail, bike to bike. Look out Rojo, next week its some High Camps for us.

Yesterday's Today...

I don't feel that good today, and it has nothing to do with beer or hiking. Mostly pollen and a runny, runny nose. So I spent the day cleaning our house and am posting some more photos from yesterday. There is still one more snapshot from the summit I'm holding out on, that will come in the future. Rojo and everyone is rafting today, Laura is at Disneyland and I am napping on the couch and watching bad television. As you can see the flowers are sprouting still and the base of Nevada Falls is flowing just as good as Vernal. See you on the streets of Yosemite soon.

Liberty Cap Views

So we had a great day today, Rojo and I. First, we pushed through our hangovers we thought we didn't really have up the very wet Mist Trail. Then, bushwacked our way between Liberty Cap and Mt. Brodwick through the beautiful slot canyon and up the gully behind Liberty Cap to the summit. Then ended the day back down the steps at Nevada Falls down to Happy Isles. A circumnavigation of the only non-psychedelic Liberty Cap in existence. A day fueled with protein from Cliff products. A day where sometimes the rock just ended, and bush began. Then maybe the first day in history were we sat at the bar and didn't consume alcohol. All in all a good day. Today's postcard is a glance down the John Muir trail from the summit. Enjoy whomever looks.

one week later...

So much for the subtitle 'a daily showing.' I thought this would be like a matinee for folks, an afternoon viewing option. Instead, lately, its become a weekly showing- and then closed for reconstruction for 6 days at a time. Oh well. Last night I did get off the couch and head over to the infamous moonbow at the Lower Falls, coming home at 1am. Boy is it hard to focus in the dark. Now I understand why photogs will stake out a position and then stand for hours in the same spot. If I could've focused earlier in the daylight and then had it ready 12 hours later they might have turned out a little sharper. Or I could have put down my beer and focused better; maybe next time. Here's one postcard that turned out- though I'm sure its the same shot as all my neighbors to me on either side. And another snapshot of the line up of people at the bridge. Next time I'll be more ready and know what to do better. Starting with: bring more than one beer! Hats off, enjoy.