Another cold night and I woke up to very stiff limbs after the exertions of the last two days. Still, was determined to make the most of my last day in Yosemite so I forced myself out of the bed and out to face the world! At least it had stopped raining - the major hazard now was being hit by snow or ice dripping off the trees.
I decided to get out of Yosemite Valley and see some of the rest of the National Park. I understand that most visitors don't ever leave the Valley so I decided to buck the trend and see what else was out there. I'd also read about the giant Sequoias and thought that a visit here wouldn't be complete without seeing them.
This entailed a drive of around an hour to just beyond Wawona and I was a little trepidatious to do this drive given the change of weather over the last couple of days. However, all the "Snow Chains Required" signs were firmly spun away from the road and unilluminated so I pressed on. The drive was quite pleasant actually with very few other cars on the road and the roads were by-and-large dry and clear. It was noticeable however that the snow at the side of the road suddenly appeared once I passed 5000ft of elevation. There were a number of look-out points along the way but I pressed on to get to the parking area at Mariposa Grove as quickly as possible. In the end, the biggest stress was finding a parking space and enduring the queue for the toilets at Mariposa Grove - phew!
In the summer there is a tram (sic: actually a sort of open air minibus) available to take you around the Grove but I eschewed that and pressed on on foot. There was a really good explanatory guide available for just 50c that included a map and explanatory text. The trees really are incredible - at least 2000 years old and so resilient. I learnt that they actually thrive on the regular fires that occur in the forest and their roots can spread for 70metres or more underground.
I pressed on beyond the usual tourist route and up to Wawona Point which offered some great views out over the valley. And on the return I went down the road rather than the path which I pleased I did as I meant I got to see the little beauties you can see below.
Some photos offers a better description than any of my text...
This is one of the first Sequoias that you see and the one that many people turn around after seeing. He is a beauty but there are some treasures later on too.
Like this, a replacement for the famous "drive-through" tree that eventually succumbed to the damage that that carving did to it. You can walk through this dude and it is really amazing to get a sense of the scale and size when you're inside it.
This is the original tunnel tree, left in its felled state as a reminder of the damage that past generations have done to the trees and the neighbourhood in general.
These two shots are from the Wawona Point lookout. Note the snow on the mountaintops alongside the lush green valley below. And the two smoke streams in the second photo - I wasn't sure if they were from residential locations or were forest fires.
Tomorrow I leave Yosemite at the crack of dawn to: (deep breath) drive to San Jose, get a flight to Los Angeles, then a bus to LA Station and a train to Houston. I then get to relax on the second of my Amtrak journeys (36 hours of food, scenery and occasional stops). Plus I'm really looking forward to seeing my friend Brad who I met at university in my first term and haven't seen since - it's a testament to the strength of the friendship developed in those ten weeks that he offered without hesitation to host me for a weekend on my trip. Can't wait!
What a difference a day makes! I woke up to the sounds of rain on the canvas roof of my tent cabin which I was expecting but on getting up and about I wasn't expecting to see snow on the tops of the mountains that yesterday were totally clear. And I knew that the more elevated and exposed roads could close very quickly but on seeing the information board in the National Parks Service hut it appeared that that moment had come. I was careful to make sure that my exit route out of the park was the road that never closes but it's still a sobering moment to see the other main road suddenly shut for the winter - and that can mean until March!
I had a slightly later start than yesterday and wandered over in the rain to Yosemite Village itself. There were some interesting explanatory boards along the way which talked about the history of the village itself and also the terrible way the original settlers treated the landscape - one of the meadows was effectively used as a dumping ground and was only finally cleared of rubbish in 1993! There is also a good museum and shop plus the official National Park Service hut. And I'd forgotten that Ansel Adams made his name of course in Yosemite so there is a really good exhibition of this work that can also be bought as prints. If only I didn't have to think about my luggage allowance for upcoming flights!
Enough procrastinating and with the rain looking like it was easing off I set off along my path for the day - seeing how far along to Glacier Point on the Four Mile Road I could get. The name is misleading - the route is now 4.8miles and means almost as much climbing as yesterday so I wasn't too sure how far I'd get because of either fatigue or weather. The path was actually very good for the majority of the way - in fact it was almost overdeveloped: I'm a bit conflicted about using tarmac to lay paths in what are essentially wildernesses - yes it enables more people to experience the beauty but runs a big risk of over development and ruining the thing that it's designed to serve.
I made it probably until about a mile shy of Glacier Point - the weather was getting worse and worse and there was a lot of snow underfoot. When the mist started to come down I knocked it on the head! A shame but given the weather conditions I'm not sure how much I'd have been able to see anyway. Just a couple of shots;
This is the view from about halfway on the walk - very attractive but in a different way to yesterday!
This is the point at which I decided to turn back - the snow was getting deeper and deeper and the rain was coming down and I was cold. I think that's a fair choice!
I'm hoping that the bar here in Curry Village will be showing the third Presidential Debate tonight - or I'll have to try to do some live streaming on the not very fast WiFi.
16.2 miles.
4800 feet / 1500 metres of ascent.
Just over 9 hours total.
Wow. I'm only in Yosemite for three days and I have been checking the forecast since about August. As it typically my luck it looks like Monday and Tuesday will be a bit ropey so decided to go for it and do my 'big climb' on the first day. Half Dome totally dominates the surroundings so it was always going to be at the top of the list.
I got up at the ungodly hour of 6.45, shoved down a dubious buffet breakfast and hit the road - a mile trek to the official start of the walk. I'll not try to do a blow-by-blow account of the trip but suffice to say it was pretty punishing. The 'official' time is for around 12 hours so was pleased to get it done in around three-quarters of that, but I'm certainly paying for it now - am self-medicating with beer for the sore knees and feet.
I did the Yorkshire Three Peaks this summer just gone and that was longer in a linear sense (26 miles) and about the same in terms of ascent (1600 metres) - the difference here was the heat (it was at least 25C at some points I'm sure) and the total relentless nature of it - there was no respite from the climbs and the shorter distance made it very punishing.
Hopefully a series of photos will give some sense of the day - with some commentary under each one.
Starting off so early most of the valley walls are in shade - which was nice from a temperature point-of-view and also because you could watch the sun move slowly across the face of the rock and reveal the colours and shading that was hidden in the darkness. This is a shot of the challenge from quite early on in the day - I kept pinching myself and saying, "am I really going to climb that?".
Lots of the walk was through wooded areas which was cool - some huge trees that obviously had been around for many decades - even when they're scarred with fire otherwise struggling. There were also lots of wildlife in evidence - particularly squirrels and a curious bird that looked like a blackbird or a jay but sparkling sections of blue.
This is one of the views from the highest point that I got to. A photograph really doesn't do it justice - as far as the eye could see was mountains, valleys, trees, granite and sky. The sky!
I didn't fancy the final 400m up the final summit, especially as the ropes were officially 'down' so it would have been a hand-over-hand job to get up there on quite slippery granite. There was a group of proper climbers there and they said that the view wasn't any better on top compared with the 'saddle' - so that reassured me! I was very happy to be satisfied with what I'd done!
Yosemite (or at least, Curry Village where I'm staying) is a curious place. When I got here on Saturday afternoon my heart sank a bit - it was all very Butlins: an ice rink, cinema, terrible food etc. But then I went into a very well stocked mountaineering shop and got authentically surly service (that's always the way in those kind of specialist shops). But overall my impression was of a very busy and noisy place with lots of unruly kids running about everywhere. And I was totally convinced that there was a bear snuffling around behind my canvas tent cabin at various points in the night but this morning I realised it was the enormous biker guy snoring...
I set off so early this morning that I didn't get a sense of what everyone else was up to, but coming back in this evening passing the car-park on the way to my cabin there were about 15 cars left in a carpark at least ten times that size which was full 12 hours before... So I think it'll be quieter at least for the next couple of days! Having a bit of a think about what to do for the next two days - weather looks a bit iffy so might do some smaller stuff with shelter built in...
I'm currently in a fairly terrible Motel 6 in Merced, California as a half-way point to Yosemite. I've been looking forward to this part of my trip (Yosemite, not the Motel 6) since I booked my accommodation for the National Park about two months ago. It's about another two hours drive from here to Yosemite so I decided to break the journey here overnight so I wasn't driving tired. Pleased I made that call as it's been a series of early starts for the last few days - I'm looking forward to a bit of a lie-in tomorrow. (My smugness is being slightly abated at the moment by the incredibly loud sound of a train passing by what feels like right outside my window - let's hope they don't run all night...).
My last day in the 'Bay Area' of California was cool - I went up to Berkeley with two purposes in mind: to visit the The North Face outlet shop and to check out the University campus. The day was a big success on both counts - I snagged a new fleece, a zip top, a hoodie, a base layer t-shirt and a hat for $108 - about £70 - stuff that would cost at least three times that in the UK. Now I just need to think about how to get it all home! This obviously sets me up well for the upcoming trip to Yosemite. Big thanks to David at work for suggesting a visit to this store!
I then headed over to the University of California campus at Berkeley. There was a strange wetness in the air which I am told is something called, "rain", I am unfamiliar with this at this stage. Further research may be required... The campus is incredible - totally blows away my alma mater of The University of York - and made me wish I was 19 again so I could study there! I loved just wandering about the campus and dodging the various student societies urging me to register to vote, attend a football game, pledge to support Israel, pledge to support Palestine and something about good dental care that I never truly understood.
The libraries (27 of them!) are certainly impressive and I loved seeing all the different architectural styles of the different academic, residential and social buildings. Plus I'm obviously still retaining my boyish-good-looks as I kept getting asked for directions to various places as if I was an enrolled student...
I then popped down into Berkeley proper (the campus is like a town to itself) to grab some food at Triple Rock Brewery and Ale House. I had a slightly disappointing pint of beer but some good food that set me up for the rest of the day.
About 2pm I decided to head East out of the Bay Area and into California proper so as to avoid the rush-hour traffic. In the end it was very light and I got to the motel about 5.30 - it was still very hot which hopefully bodes well for the Yosemite action!
