“Longest” Hike Ever—Pohono Trail

This title may be slightly misleading, but time-wise it was the longest and you’ll find out why before I’m done. Length-wise I logged almost 29 miles though, so it was pretty long that way as well.

The past week was pretty interesting work-wise. Everybody’s a little stressed with Obama’s visit, so some interesting events have been taking place. To sum it up briefly, our manager’s managers are more concerned with our (the lifeguards’) image than actually allowing us to do our jobs, so we have a whole lot of new rules in place. Shelby and I are working with Sabas to straighten things out and come up with a better solution. So end of that for now.

On the funny side, something super hilarious (for almost everyone) happened Thursday. The pool showerhouse is always closed from 10-11 for cleaning. Well, I guess someone had to go really badly because someone did a #2 right outside the men’s bathroom door at about 10:55. They just sat down and pooped right on the cement.

So to start my “weekend”—everybody calls their two days off their weekend, regardless of whether it’s a Monday/Tuesday or what—after volleyball on Thursday night, I hung out with some of the UConn and Co. (that’s what I’ve deemed this particular group of friends—Shelby thinks it’s fitting) crew and Shelby, Chase, David, Miles, Miles’ parents, and I went up to “The Couch.” It’s a really short hike from Huff and the view is great! It was nighttime, so I’ll go back up there at some point when there’s daylight to take a picture to show you all. There’s just never really a bad view in the valley!

Also, I had convinced myself that I wouldn’t go get ice cream after work before I went to the beach. Well…later after volleyball I was waiting for Shelby and I lasted all the way until 9:40—then I went and got ice cream. :D I’m really lucky that Tom and Sam are fantastic and always just charge me for a single scoop, regardless of what I actually order. Friends are cool.

I got back pretty late from that, so I only got about five hours of sleep before my planned hike on Friday. Not a bright idea, but I like to start my hikes early. Unfortunately, this meant that I didn’t have time to analyze and memorize the trail map for hours like I usually do. Mistake #1. However, I did think to bike to the chapel to cut out a few miles of walking each way—saved about four miles. (This will come in extremely handy later.) Unfortunately, I couldn’t remember which way the Four Mile trailhead was from the chapel so I turned right and walked for a while, decided I must be going the wrong way, walked all the way back and walked further that way, then realized I had been going the correct direction the first time and walked all the way back until I reached the trailhead…solid loss of like 30 minutes. Mistake #2.

So I ended up getting to the Four Mile trailhead around 7:40 and made it to Glacier Point at 9:23. An hour and forty three minutes is a new PR for me on that trail so this was actually one of the highlights of my day. (If you read the trail guide, it suggests 3 to 4 hours.)

After I talked to a friend up at the Glacier Point store for a bit, I continued on my way to the Pohono Trail. I took a little detour to Sentinel Dome because….might as well. There were quite a few people there because there’s a parking lot only about a mile away, so it’s not nearly as strenuous to get to this dome as it is to almost all the others.

 View from Sentinel Dome

 Yosemite Falls from Sentinel Dome

Half Dome from Sentinel Dome

So here’s what I have for you if you’re only in Yosemite a day and are an intermediate hiker—take the shuttle to the top of Glacier Point (buy tickets at the Valley Lodge), hike to Sentinel Dome (3 miles RT), take Panorama Trail back down to the valley (8 miles). Then you’ll still have time to take the shuttle around to various spots and get views of Yosemite Falls, Half Dome, and El Capitan. (If you’re a more ambitious hiker, take Four Mile Trail instead of the shuttle—this adds 4.8 miles to your total.)

So after Sentinel Dome, I continued on the Pohono Trail to Taft Point, where I ate my typical hiking meal—pb&j, grapes, and a granola bar.

 The Fissures

View from Taft Point

After Taft Point, the trail was extremely boring. One of my classic rock playlists ended and I switched to showtunes. That’s the only thing worth mentioning for about four miles of the trail right here. I passed Bridalveil Creek, which feeds Bridalveil Fall.

Bridalveil Creek

Then you walk a long way again to Dewey Point, Crocker Point, Stanford Point, and Inspiration Point. Again, the hike is extremely boring and there’s barely anyone on the trail. I saw less than a dozen people all day except for after I left Taft Point before I got to Tunnel View.

View of Ribbon Fall and El Cap from Dewey Point

It was somewhere in there around 2:00 that my feet started to hurt…a lot. In the constant struggle to decide between my hiking boots or my running shoes, I chose my hiking boots today because one of my ankles wasn’t feeling the greatest (probably a volleyball injury). Let’s just say that I confirmed the theory that my hiking boots are too small. My pinky toes started to hurt and I could tell they had blistered. At one point I felt a couple of the blisters on my heels rip open. I’m usually a suck-it-up buttercup type of person, but I actually resorted to taking ibuprofen to help with some of the pain. If my feet had known what was in store for them, they would’ve committed suicide before the torture got too bad. Mistake #3-infinity.

I got to Tunnel View (by the Wawona Tunnel), and the view from there was fantastic! It’s a great view of El Cap, Bridalveil, and Half Dome. Oh, and it’s crawling with tourists and tour buses. But don’t let all the tourons ruin it for you. As usual, I provided my excellent photograph taking skills for all the families that wanted to actually be in their pictures together. Happens all the time and I don’t mind at all.

 Bridalveil Fall from Tunnel View

 

I couldn’t remember where the trail to Bridalveil was, so I just took the road. That was lots of fun. Not. Anyways, about two miles later I got to Bridalveil Fall. It wasn’t hailing so that was fantastic! Again, crawling with tourists because the walk to the viewpoint is only 1000 feet and it’s paved, so anyone and everyone can make it there. The stupid tourons that don’t read the “Don’t climb on the rocks because you’re under a waterfall and they’re really slippery” signs were upsetting me, so I didn’t stay there long. Also, it was getting kind of late. My pace had slowed considerably due to the feet problems.

 Bridalveil Fall

About a mile and a half later on the Valley Loop trail, I could no longer walk in my boots. I honestly believed that I could walk faster barefoot than in those shoes anymore. I took off my hiking boots to find a blister covering my entire heel, entire ball of my foot, and on each of my toes. The blisters on my pinky toes were honestly bigger than the toe itself. World of pain. I still had 4 or 5 miles to go to the chapel where my bike was locked up. Instead of about an hour thirty to an hour forty, it took me multiple hours. I felt like I was barely moving. On a pipe dream, I texted Shelby around 6:30 and asked if she could do me a huge favor. (I didn’t know if she’d actually get my message or not.) A bit later, Shelby came riding up on her bike with an extra pair of shoes, her size 7.5 Crocs, and walked the last 1-2 miles back with me to the Chapel. My savior! I told her I owed her ice cream for a week. Friends are great! (I also told her I’d never participate in giving her a bad time about her Crocs again.) ;)

So then I returned (by bike) to my cabin, 13 hours later. One of my neighbor people had offered me sausage and gravy over biscuits for supper tonight, and I 100% took her up on that. I was so hungry!!! Also, I watched President Obama’s 20 vehicle convoy come from the helicopters that landed in the meadow to the Ahwahnee. I got back in time to see that, so now I can say I was less than 50 yards away from the President. Cool.

Later, Abby and I watched Slumdog Millionaire while I put my feet up and tried to nurse my blisters back to health. I definitely fell asleep during parts of the movie, even though I love it. I was just too tired.

Positives today: The Couch, Four Mile PR, Sentinel Dome, Tunnel View, Bridalveil Fall, Shelby :)

Negatives today: lack of sleep, size 8.5 hiking boots, almost all of the Pohono Trail, epic blisters

Update: All's well except the pinky toes and a couple spots on the heel. Making progress.