Yosemite in three days….

So it’s probably been at least 17 years since I was last in Yosemite and from what I remember, I was too petrified to step outside my parents vehicle to experience it’s beauty lest I get swept away by the rushing Tuolumne River.  As a kid my list of irrational fears was quite long and towards the top of that list was a fear of drowning (probably caused by all those Reader’s Digest survival articles I used to read or perhaps the label on the side of the tub of detergent my mom used to buy from Price Club that showed a baby could drown in a couple inches of water).  I was definitely a baby.  =P

Well fortunately I have overcome a number of those fears which has allowed me to start doing these overnight backpacking trips with Ksenya and random cool people we’ve met through the Stanford Outing Club.  =)  This last weekend we did a 3 day backpacking trip in Yosemite from White Wolf to Tuolumne Meadows.  The plan was 30 miles in 2 days plus some cool down hiking on Monday.  We started out by heading up Friday evening.  Ksenya and I slept in the Freestyle the first night since we didn’t have a campsite and where just parked along the side of the road.

We probably would have been better off sleeping on the ground.  The super hard and flat surface of the Freestyle wrecked havoc on my hips.  =(

Ok, gotta throw in an obligatory picture of the vehicle.  I mean it’s no Jetta but still, pretty good looking if you ask me.  😉

The next morning Rachel, Aaron and James figured out how to redistribute the food into bear cans for the trip.  Because there are a lot of bears in Yosemite we needed to make sure we stored all food and scented items like suntan lotion, chapstick, etc. in the bear cans which were then placed far away from our camp in case the bears actually found them.

After separating the food, picking up our backpacking permits, and dropping off the Freestyle on the side of the road above Tuolumne Meadows, it was time to get going.

We started out at the White Wolf camp ground and trailhead.  From left to right: Ishun, Aaron (not the same Aaron J. Swank guilty of manslaughter in Ohio although they are from the same state), me, James, Ksenya and our trip organizer, Rachel.

The first stretch was pretty easy going.  We had a small water crossing to do early on which was fun although it meant having dirty, wet socks for awhile.

I was totally in awe of the amazing scenery and the fact that I was actually taking on this ambitious of a hike.  I thought this natural spillway was really beautiful.

A water spillway

On the way down we ran into this guy.

We didn’t get as far along as we’d hoped to that first day.  It’s actually a lot easier to go uphill than downhill and the whole first day was going down the canyon.  By the time we got to our camp, we were all pretty exhausted.  Ksenya and I setup our tent and then set to preparing dinner.  I spent a lot of time down at the river taking in the scenery.  I loved looking at the rocks and then the deep green trees in the background.  It reminded me Bev Doolittle’s art “The Forest Has Eyes.”  See if you agree.  =)

After watching the moon rise above a darkened canyon wall we headed to bed.  We had nearly 17 miles to cover on day 2 and there was quite a bit of elevation gain to tackle so a good night’s sleep was imperative.  I woke up early and had a breakfast fit for champions (dark chocolate M&Ms and wheat thins).  We soon packed up and headed on to the trail.

Muir Gorge was one of the first fairly large waterfalls we saw on day two.  It looked really cool from this distance.  Little did I know we’d be crossing not too far beyond this point.

Muir Gorge

After Rachel crossed, Ksenya braved the cold, rushing water.  We had to make sure unbuckle our gear just in case we lost our footing and went down.  There was a waterfall just to our left and another one leading down the mountain to our right.  I was very happy to get to the other side of this crossing.  Rachel lent me one of her poles to get across.  I can’t imagine trying to cross without it.

Ksenya crossing river w/ help from Rachel

After that water crossing we headed along the river and then began our ascent up the canyon wall.

Stairway to heaven (via hell when you have problems with your feet)

I really liked this trail even though it was out in the sun and continued climbing for what seemed like forever.  The climb was well worth it though.  As we neared the top we came upon Waterwheel Falls.  Click on the picture to see the full size.  The “waterwheel” is caused by a large rock blockade in the middle of the river that causes the water to fan out in a large wheel of water.  Cool huh?  =)

Waterwheel Falls

Finally after miles and miles of hiking we finally reached the Tuolumne Meadows.  When this picture was taken I thought we were right there.  I was eager to get back to the car because I had two semi-injured feet and it was pretty painful to walk.  Even though Ksenya lent me a hiking pole which helped a ton, I was still compensating for my busted feet so I was super sore.  There were still about 4 miles to go but the climb wasn’t nearly as steep so it wasn’t bad at all.  I was so happy to get back to the car though.  =)

Me in front of Tuolumne Meadows

The next day we decided to do a cool down hike by hiking about 4 miles to Mirror Lake.  We were fortunate to avoid bears but I was kind of bummed because what’s a trip to Yosemite without a bear sighting?  Luckily I wouldn’t have to go home empty-handed so to speak.  Do you see what I see in the trees behind the Suburban (click on the picture to see a bigger image).  It’s a bee!  I mean it’s a bear!  😉

It's a bear! Cool!

When I heard that we would be hiking to Mirror Lake I thought they said Muir Lake so I was completely surprised when someone pointed out the near perfect reflection of the canyon walls in the distance.  To cool.

Mirror lake

On our way back down we saw this really cool bird and her babies.  I had never seen birds like this and so I waded into the freezing (and I mean FREEZING) water to get a good shot.  It was totally worth it.  The ducks were traveling across the lake and decided to hurry it up (guess they wanted a little more distance from me, hey, I had been hiking for two days in 80-90 degree weather, go figure) so the babies started hoping on mama ducks back to hitch a ride.  At one point there were 3.5 baby ducks happily sitting on her back.  It was pretty comical.  And no worries, no ducks were harmed in the process of booking from one end of the lake to the other.  😉

Piggyback on momma duck

After we completed the Mirror Lake trail loop we went to find the “secret” backpackers camp.  It was really nice and if we hike Yosemite again, we’ll definitely have to give that a shot.

And then there were 4...Finally finished.

We started out with 6 and finished with 4.  Ishun and James left when we got back to our cars on day 2.  Tired but happy we headed back to the Freestyle and began the trip home.

As a side note, if you ever have the opportunity to do a backbacking trip, I highly recommend going for it.  Getting away from the beaten path and into nature (real nature) is the most amazing experience.  I can’t wait for my next backpacking opportunity.  Until then, peace out!  =)