When I initially drove into the park, I first had to drive past the very recent aftermath of the Big Meadow Fire, after which I got to the Valley, and went and set up at a campsite. The next morning I got up, and after seeing the beautiful mist-shrouded Valley, I set off on my backpack, detailed in my previous post. After getting back, I mostly spent an evening dithering around the Valley, playing in the river, reading, having a drink, writing some postcards, and generally relaxing and putting myself together. After a very frightening nocturnal mammal visit, I had a great night’s sleep.
The next day, I picked up Jeff, and we drove up towards Glacier Point to meet up with Andy and Sara, and their toddler son Alex. We then went and hiked the short trail to Sentinel Dome, which is about 2.2 miles RT, and maybe 450′ of gain from the car. So, not a terrible hike, and with some really spectacular 360′ view from the top. Upon getting back down, all of us proceeded go our separate ways to get ready for the wedding that afternoon. The wedding was absolutely beautiful, taking place on the lawn behind the Ahwahnee Hotel, with all the glory of Yosemite’s walls rising around us. Eventually, the wedding wound into dinner turned into the party and eventually I turned into a pumpkin, heading off to get another night of sleep before heading off to drive home very early the next morning.
Valley view, in the late afternoon.
I drove into Yosemite from the west, on Highway 120 coming from San Francisco, and then dropped south towards the road into the Valley. This put me driving smack through the area that had just burned. The fire had only been declared over a week before, and I still saw a lot of firefighter crews doing some roadside work. At first I just saw random burnt patches here and there, but eventually a wide open vista of freshly burned landscape opened up before me. I actually had to pull over for a few minutes, so I could get out of my car and really take a good look at the landscape. It was pretty grim; this was a fire that had gotten very out of hand.
Freshly burnt landscape
I then continued south into the Valley, and went over to the campsite. At the entrance to the campsite, there was a clear sign about high bear activity, which turned out to be somewhat prescient. I spent some time talking to some of the other people camping near me, and then headed over to the Village to pick up some snacks for the trail, and then to sit and write some postcards to people. The next morning I got up fairly early, packed up, and drove through the beautifully mist-shrouded valley to head out on my backpack, as discussed in the prior post
Tell me more about these…bears
Mist in the meadow
I went on my backpacking trip, and came back , and went to Housekeeping Camp where I set up all my stuff, relaxed with a nice shower, and then walked over just a few feet to walk (well, hobble, with my blisters) on the shores of the Merced River. It was heading on to the end of the day, and the setting sun was causing everything to be lit with that end of the day Sierra glow.
That night, I slept really really well, but before that occurred, I had a bit of an…occurrence. The structures at housekeeping camp are three sides cinder blocks, with a fourth “wall” of a curtain. Beyond the curtain is a small mostly enclosed patio. There is an electric light in each room, but once you turn that off each night, needless to say, it is really quite dark. Anyway, I had stowed most of my gear in the bear box, put my mostly empty backpack against the unused bunk, and unrolled my sleeping bag onto a cot. I turned off the light, and rolled over to go to sleep. I was most of the way into slumber when suddenly…I heard something in my little home!
I hear it breathing, and rooting in my bag. I cannot see the first thing. It is sheerly pitch black. But something is rustling through my bag, and again, I can hear it breathe, and it sounds incredibly loud. My heart is pounding. What with all the bear warnings, and having seen the bear on my own backpacking, I am mostly convinced that there is a bear…in my hut…three feet from me…pawing through my bag. The last thing I want to do is startle this animal. I have mental images of my bag getting ripped to shreds. I shed one silent tear for my soon-to-be-laid to rest backpack. And I am just laying there, flat on my back, in a sleeping bag, worried it is going to come over to *me*. Needless to say, I was a bit nervous.
Anyway, eventually, it knocks the backpack over, and I can hear my cookkit clatter. After another little while longer, I am starting to wonder what is actually happening, when I see the corner of my curtain flap open, and see a surprisingly small shadow scuttle out of the corner. Pretty much too small to be a bear. I take some 30 seconds to get my breath, and then turn on the hut light, expecting to see the worst. But! My bag was fine. Nothing was really destroyed at all. I managed to get up and out, and found a ranger or camp concessionaire walking around, I can’t quite tell. I was still a bit jittery, but after we determined that most of my stuff really was in the bear box, it was determined that my cook kit itself (even though I had washed it) probably had enough odor to attract and animal, so it pawed through the stuff in my bag attempting to find the “food” it smelled. And what was the nature of this crafty , terrifying, deep-breathing visitor? It was almost certainly a raccoon. Jerk.
children playing
my plastic bag did done get all chewed up though!
I did manage to make it through the night however, and went and picked up Jeff in the morning. I then drove up with him to Glacier Point Road, where we met up with Andy, Sarah, and their son Alex at the Sentinel Dome trailhead. This was a short little hike, that started off through a lightly wooded, somewhat rocky area. After about 3/4 of a mile, there is a turn in the trail, and you turn around and start basically going up the slope of the dome itself. This is the only mildly challenging part, there is no clear “trail” , you just get up as best you can.
half dome is smoking
Sentinel Dome ahead of us
But, as it is very clear where you are to be going, this isn’t too hard, and 10 minutes later you are at the summit, with whipping winds and amazing views. I think this is great – not challenging at all, but a pleasant stroll with a well-earned reward, and far fewer people than the massive crowds at Glacier Point. We did this with a 1.5 year old, and this is definitely kid-doable (though poor little Alex did get bee-stung! Oh no!)
free ride
We hung out at the summit for a while, which is the site of a famous Ansel Adams photo of a Jeffrey Pine which unfortunately died in 1976 and finally fell over in 2003. This whole hike is only just a hair over 2 miles round trip, with only 400-500′ of gain, so all in all, pretty doable.
Jeff is so much taller than me
After that everyone headed back to their respective areas, and got ready for the wedding. Which was a lovely affair, held out back of the Ahwahnee hotel, with the guests in chairs on the lawn, the bride walking in from under the tall pines, and the wedding taking place against the backdrop of the granite walls of the valley. At the end of the ceremony, the couple jumped over the historic family broom, marked with a ribbon for each couple that had used it. This was followed by reception, dinner, and dancing, which went on far into the evening, I am told, well after I bid adieu to finally go and get one more night of sleep, before my drive home the next morning.
Nice backdrop, I think
Jumping over the broom
