An Epic Journey, A Modern Quest Part 1

Megan and I ventured to Yosemite last weekend for a few days in the mountains. It is one of her favorite places in the world, and I couldn’t wait to be outdoors for some hiking. Unfortunately, about 3 days before departing I discovered that the weather forecast was less than favorable. Rain was predicted for most of Saturday, and Sunday it was likely to snow! We over-packed appropriately. We left Friday night around 8pm, trying to let the traffic die down prior to heading over the Bay Bridge. We rolled into the park around 11:45 pm or so. It was a dark night, but it was clear. Once Megan and I were officially in the valley, she pulled off to the side of the road and turned off the headlights. Despite the darkness, we could see El Capitain looming ahead of us, and off to the right, more gigantic-ness. I immediately identified with someone who said that Yosemite made them feel claustrophobic, but it was night. I wasn’t going to draw any conclusions in the dark.

We checked in, and it was then that I realized the real danger that is bear country. There’s a video that plays looped within the check-in station 24 hours a day. It shows bears crawling into and out of cars that have been smashed and ravaged for food. First lesson: leave nothing in the car. Second lesson: leave nothing (food, toiletries) in the tent cabin either, duh! If you can’t leave it in the car, surely you don’t want to leave it in the canvas and wood structure where you will be sleeping! There are metal cubbies outside each tent cabin for the storage of whatever it is that you managed to bring. Megan failed to debrief me on this part, so I had to do a quick little cleaning of the car, which probably should have happened prior to our departure from the city.

After navigating some muddy areas with our one headlamp (Megan also forgot to mention that I might want to bring mine—slash, maybe this should have been intuitive.) Regardless, we made it to the bathroom and back and bedded down, exhausted. We awoke the next morning, or rather, I awoke the next morning around 8 am having to pee. I snuck out and took a gander at my surroundings. WOW. The shapes of the previous night were no longer hulking and oppressive, but more magnificent and impressive. I took a little walk to see what I could see before I wondered back to the cabin to wake Megan. We lay around until around 9:30 am (I mean, it was the weekend, after all) and then we dressed for the day and set out for some food. Megan managed to procure food vouchers (unbeknown to both of us), and we were stoked about some free breakfast. Unfortunately, as is often the case, the free breakfast was less than impressive and included a cake-like “muffin” and an orange and no cappuccino or café au lait ☹




Did I mention that it was already raining? Staring up at the North Dome and what we could see of Half Dome, one had to blink away the steady drops falling from the sky. After our delicious breakfast, Megan proposed that we hike to Vernal Falls. Since I didn’t know anything about anything and since Megan had spent an entire summer working in the valley, I agreed without much question. The hike was supposed to be pretty easy, and it wasn’t the hardest hike I’ve ever done—by a long stretch—however, it is difficult and frustrating to hike up steep grades and try to enjoy yourself when it’s pouring. There’s a picture of Megan with my camera (in it’s bag) under her rain jacket. This marks the point of the journey when it started hailing.
We started to catch glimpses of the falls after most of the steep climbs (did I mention the path was paved?). The falls were gorgeous and Megan was surprised by how much water was coming down, apparently there’s a lot less water in the summer. The paved path ended shortly after we saw the first view of the falls. Important side note: upon leaving our tent cabin that morning, we encountered a ranger-like woman who was cleaning up any recently vacated cabins. She asked what we were up to for the day, and we disclosed that a hike would be in order, despite the weather. She mentioned that the trail to the top of Vernal Falls was closed, but that if you went just beyond the gate, you could go out to “Photographers’ Rock” and find some good views of the falls. Thus, once we made it to the end of the paved trail and the next part of the hike was blocked by a sign, which read “Trail Closed for Winter”, we promptly walked around the sign. It wasn’t like we were the only ones. In fact, we saw some of the most inexperienced hikers I have ever seen in my life. Actually, there was a huge range: teenage girls in spandex and fashionable boots (or at least they were fashionable before they became water-logged), Asian women in the tiniest most unsupportive little flats, “cool” guys in jeans and t-shirts (did I mention it was pouring and about 50 degrees?). Then there was the other extreme: Patagonia-clad middle-agers with ski poles to…help steady them on the pavement? Megan and I were about in the middle of the two extremes. We weren’t fashionable, but we looked pretty good, and we managed to stay mostly dry aside from our running shoes that became totally soaked.


The closer we got to the falls, the more wet it was—and it had actually stopped raining for a few minutes. The falls were giving off an incredible mist. Megan took a picture of the water that was outlining all the tiny little hairs on my face. We could have hiked farther, like all the way to the top, but we were sopping wet, a little cold, and I could feel hunger setting in. We had managed to hike/walk 3 to 5 miles or so before we made it back to the tent area. We bought some snacks to go with the pizza that we had brought with us (and safely stored in the metal cubbies, no worries!) and we also bought a pack of cards. We thawed and dried in our little heated tent as we ate. Afterwards, just before the food coma set in, we played a game of cribbage. I have just learned to play, and Megan has been playing since she was like 2, so I lost, but I’m ok with that because I’m still learning the ropes. Actually, I think she managed to skunk me on this round, which was a little painful on my pride, but I’ve since recovered. Immediately after the game, with heavy raindrops falling loudly on our canvas roof, we settled into a nice afternoon nap.