Bethany’s Yosemite Guide: Places to Stay/Employee Housing

This edition of my guide to Yosemite is the places where people sleep—guests and employees, specifically Aramark employees because I didn’t take pictures of the Ranger’s houses. They’re near Yosemite Village.

Red=guests, Blue=employees

A: The Ahwahnee (Majestic)

The Ahwahnee Hotel was originally built to bring high-spending visitors into the park. The hotel is huge and fancy by typical park standards. The Grand Lounge is two stories tall with a gigantic fireplace that I watch tourists take pictures of all the time. It has a few cabins on the grounds that are used as well, and the biggest of those is where the First Family stayed during their visit. These rooms are pretty pricey (just like everything at the hotel), and I would recommend staying elsewhere since you’re on vacation in a national park…so why stay in a hotel?

 

 

B: Curry Village (Half Dome Village)

Curry Village Housekeeping has tent cabins, bath cabins, and WOBs. WOBs are hard-sided and stand for without bath. Don’t quote me, but I’m pretty sure there are almost a thousand units on the property, including somewhere around 600ish tent cabins. (Tent cabins are what employees stay in as well but in different areas.) Unheated tent cabins come with a double, two twins, or a double and three twins—so anywhere from 1-5 people. Heated tent cabins are a double, two twins, or a double and two twins—so anywhere from 1-4 people. The tent cabin is the cheapest option in Curry, but you’re still paying to sleep in the valley, so expect it to be around $100 still. Bath cabins are just what they sound like—little cabins with bathrooms. There are a bunch that look like the ones in my picture, found in groups of four, each with two double beds. There’s also a building we call Stoneman, and some of the rooms in that building have three double beds because they have a loft area. The bath cabins are fancier than the tent cabins, so naturally, they cost more. (They also take a lot longer to clean.)

C: Housekeeping Camp

Housekeeping Camp costs the same as a tent cabin in Curry, but the structures in Housekeeping Camp don’t have walls. A lot of big groups stay here because you can have fires, as opposed to Curry where you can’t. It never ceases to amaze me how many decorations people bring to decorate their structure in Housekeeping Camp! I’ve gotten to see a lot of cool ones. So pro—campfire, con—no walls.

D: Yosemite Lodge

I don’t know a ton about the Lodge rooms other than that there are a bunch of buildings with a bunch of rooms, and each building is named after a different tree. If you imagine a two-story hotel, you chop it into pieces, and spread it around a central cafeteria, pool, gift shop, and restaurants…than that kind of describes the Lodge. Sorry for my pitiful description.

E: Campgrounds

There are four campgrounds in the valley—Upper Pines, Lower Pines, North Pines, and the Backpacker’s Campground. I didn’t go take a picture of the campground…because it’s a campground. The campgrounds are run by NPS, not by Aramark.

F: Ahwahnee Dorm

The Ahwahnee Dorm (and three tents) is where I live! Tent #1, special right? ;) A lot of the people here work at the Ahwahnee, but not all of us. Most of the rooms inside are double rooms and we have quite a few couples who live here. There’s a communal kitchen, lounge, laundry room, and bathrooms. The Ahwahnee Dorm has the nicest single stall male restroom in the park. (Probably also the only one…) Because there are so many more females than males that live here, the guys share a one-stall/one-sink room and a one-shower/tub room, and the females have a three-stall, three-shower, six-sink room. ;) I think it’s funny.

 My tent is the one on the right with Cassidy's bike resting next to it.

G: Huff/New Housing

Huff, which stands for Housing Under Firefall—named after the fires that used to be thrown off Glacier Point, is the biggest employee housing area in the valley. It contains a combination of tent cabins and WOBs, three communal kitchens/laundry, and three showerhouses. When my coworkers learned that I wasn’t in Huff, they wondered if I requested quiet housing. Nope…just worked out that way. Huff has the reputation of being extremely loud and a bit of a party area. People get in trouble all the time for stupid things there. It’s dead north of the Curry Village bath cabins, and west of the raft rentals and former ice rink. New Housing is west of Huff (on the other side of the Wellness Center), and those buildings are more suite-style with six-ish people sharing a bathroom/kitchen/etc.

 Huff

New Housing

H: Highland Court

Highland Court, aka Train Wreck, is right next to Yosemite Lodge. I don’t remember the entire story of how it got its name, but I’m pretty sure it deals with the boxcar-like buildings they plopped there all helter-skelter like because they needed housing and then left there. Some people also say it’s because of who lives there…typically older people who have been in the park a while that are…well…interesting.

I: Lost Arrow

Lost Arrow is a bunch of WOBs that they built on a parking lot behind Degnan’s. I know quite a few people that live here because they’ve been here long enough to move out of Huff, but not long enough to move into Tecoya or something.

J: Tecoya

Tecoya is almost all people with seniority—there are five(?) big dorms and a bunch of manager houses. I believe the dorm rooms are singles, but again—not entirely sure. Dorms A and B share a common space, as do C and D. Tecoya is across from the Village Store and I pass it every time I take the bike path from Yosemite Village to the Ahwahnee.

 Half of one of the Tecoya dorms

There aren’t any more options in the valley; however, if you get a wilderness permit, you can camp out in the backcountry. You have to be four miles from the nearest town-area (Yosemite Valley, Tuolumne Meadows, etc.), and one air-mile from the nearest road. Many of the actual camps are on a first-come, first-serve basis and charge you $5-6 for staying there. If you make your camp off a trail, you just need to be 100 feet from the trail and 100 feet from any water sources on a durable surface. A durable surface is rock, duff, and sand/gravel. Don’t set up camp on plants! The Ranger at the Wilderness Center would go over all of that with you before you’re issued your permit, but now you know ahead of time too. :) #LeaveNoTrace

Well, that wraps it up for where to sleep in the valley and also this edition of Bethany’s Yosemite Guide. I’ll post another one when I have time. Have a great day folks and be safe out there/in there/wherever you are! :D

HALF DOME!!!

You want to know what’s challenging? Half Dome.

You want to know what’s challenging when you wake up with legs like Bambi? Everything…including Half Dome.

But let’s start from the beginning. After going to the Visitor Center on my second day in the park, acquiring all of the brochures the guy could find, and also using Yosemitehikes.com, I compiled a Yosemite Bucket List of hikes to do during the three months I was here. I progressed through these things on my weekends until finally, only one remained. Now if you read the title and the first two statements—you should know what that one thing is. However, if you weren’t paying attention…it was Half Dome. Now hiking Half Dome is tricky—and by that I mean both extremely strenuous and permit-wise. After deciding in 2011 that the route was too crowded and unsafe, NPS began a permit system to hike Half Dome.

Don’t quote me on some of this, but if you’ve planned over 6 months in advance, you can try to make a reservation for a day-use permit. Otherwise, in order to get a day-use permit, you have to enter a lottery online or by phone two days in advance, and you’ll be notified that night whether or not you were chosen. Note: you have to pay each time you enter. My days off are Friday/Saturday…good luck Bethany. I was told by basically everyone (Rangers included) that the odds of me getting a day-use Half Dome permit on either of these days were awful and I probably wouldn’t get one. Which leads me to the other kind of Half Dome permit—a wilderness permit.

Half Dome can be added to wilderness permits out of certain trailheads. Happy Isles, Glacier Point, and Sunrise are the three most common that I know of. In fact, I can’t think of another one off the top of my head that you can get one from unless you’re doing the JMT (John Muir Trail…or John Manure Trail). Wilderness permits for these trailheads go very quickly, so when the Wilderness Center opens at 8:00, there is a gigantic line. Some people sleep there overnight so that they’re at the front of the line. No joke. This is a big deal! You have to go the day before you want to leave, show up in the 8:00 line, put your name down, and then return at 11:00 to see where you’re actually going to get placed.

Knowing that the line on Thursday for Friday would be nuts, I decided to try to leave after work on Thursday night, so on Wednesday morning, I went and waited in line—getting there around 7:00. I was fourth in line (which is really good), but the first guy needed twelve for his scout troop. 12 happens to be the number of permits from Happy Isles to LYV (Little Yosemite Valley) that they give each day. Lots of the people behind me were upset, but hey, he waited there fair and square, and who can be mad at a Boy Scout troop? When the person taking names got to me, he circled my name as a park employee and said they would try to work something out for me. People are so nice. :) I also had to work from 10:00-6:30, so they were going to try to work with me on that too. But, since the majority of my coworkers owe me favors, they were fine with me taking an extended fifteen (we get two paid 15s and our mandatory 30 min. clock out lunch break) to bike to the Wilderness Center as soon as I finished cleaning the pool to make it back a little after 11:00. Long story short, I got there at 11:03, they gave me the pass-through option, which means I needed to hike until I passed the Cloud’s Rest/Morraine Dome trail junction—adding about 2 miles to my Thursday night, but ultimately being closer to Half Dome than LYV actually. Coincidentally, I dealt with the same ranger who sent me on the crummy trails, predicting I’d get lost…but this time he did me a big favor instead. Sweet.

So after another extremely toasty day at work (it’s been in the hundreds all week and absolutely miserable), I set out at 7:00 from Half Dome Village, headed over to Happy Isles, and went up the Mist Trail during sunset.

 Sunset from trail to Nevada Fall

Nevada Fall at sunset

After that, I had to use my head lamp because I barely got to the top of Nevada Fall before I was out of light. I passed LYV and continued along the trail, trying to make it to my junction so that I could set up camp for the night. Somewhere around 9:45, maybe ½ a mile to a mile before my junction, I encountered a trio of bears. One cub was up in the tree, one was to the right, and the mama bear was dead center of the trail. I waited for a while and turned my headlight to full power just to see if they’d go away. They didn’t. At this point, I turned around and went the other way. Messing with a mama bear would be stupid, she clearly didn’t realize/care she was in my way. :P So I made a phone call and played, “What would Shelby do?” ;) I ended up going to the LYV Ranger Station, intentionally/unintentionally waking them up, and telling them about the bears on the trail to where my permit allowed me to camp. They weren’t upset at all because apparently that’s their job or something—and they told me just to stay in the LYV campground for the night. So I set up my borrowed hammock (from Peggy…of course), stashed my bear canister, and went to sleep.

I decided to try hammock camping for a few reasons.

1) It's been incredibly warm lately. 2) It is SO MUCH LIGHTER than a tent!

I slept terrible, but not because of the hammock—because my muscles decided to cease working. Cool. Perks of having HYPP. I woke up in the morning walking like Bambi does at first. Naturally…the day I finally get to hike Half Dome. After taking extra medicine, I decided to see whether this was going to happen or whether I would need to try again next week. Well, as usual, it gets better with “light” exercise, food, medicine, and time. So basically, I was burning a million calories as I went up the switchbacks with crummy leg muscles. At the turnoff to the Half Dome trail, I stashed my pack and my bear canister (separately), and only took a drawstring with water, food, and my camera. Going up the cables with a full pack would seriously be insane (and really dangerous) and I didn’t see anyone do it the entire time I was there. That doesn’t mean people don’t—I’m just saying it’s strongly not recommended.

You know what else isn’t recommended? Wearing tennis shoes…aka the only shoes I have left, even though they have a hole in them. Why, you might ask? Because you need shoes that have actual grip/traction for the smooth granite that you’ll be going up. And how much traction do my shoes have left? None. Literally none.

So as I’m approaching the cables, I decide my legs are doing well enough for me to try them because my arms were fine this time, so I could use them to pull myself up. (Which is exactly what I did since my shoes just slid everywhere.) I seriously pulled myself up the series of cables. Talk about an arm workout! Because I had left LYV at 6:15, even in my crappy state, I got to the cables around 8:30—well before the rush for the day would start. Since people have to go up and down the same cable route, you have to take turns, so if you get there when it’s crowded, it’ll take you forever! I got to the summit by 9:00 and was very, very happy! I mean, all ya gotta do is slide down, right? ;)

Now this next statement might surprise some of you. The view from Half Dome is not the best view in the valley. It really isn’t. It’s not the highest, it’s not most people’s favorite—it’s really just impressive because of what you have to do to get there. (Half Dome is 8844 ft. in elevation, compared to Cloud’s Rest at 9930 ft.) Nonetheless, I was enjoying myself up there, especially given the circumstances. Oh, but I did happen to witness four guys that decided to take a nude picture…scarred for life. Even though it was only 9:30ish, I ate my PB&J that I brought for lunch because I was basically starving.

 Getting closer to Subdome and growing semi-nervous

 Seeing the ants on the cables.

 Oh, I guess they're people.

 View east from summit

 

View west from summit

 

Me out on "The Visor" :D

 Screw you muscle disease--I can do whatever I want!!! #Can'tStopMe

Coming down, I turned my feet sideways, grabbed both cables, and slid down. No joke. In a couple places there were crevices that I could find a toehold in, but otherwise…I had nothing. I got stuck behind the same slow couple (the female was really struggling) that I was behind going up. It took about half an hour to get down also. I only slipped once when I was really close to the bottom of the cables, but my right armpit took the only damage with a nice cable abrasion. By the time I got to Subdome, there were tons and tons of people going up! I do not envy any of them on that route when it’s that crowded. I was extremely fortunate (and intelligent) that I went up as early as I did so that I could avoid the crowds and the heat!

I kind of moseyed back down, and being the social butterfly that I am (NOT), talked to lots of people on their way up. The way back is always so much more fun than the way there! No two-legged or four-legged creatures stole my pack or my bear can, so I was in business for the ~6.5 mile return to the valley. Arriving at the top of Nevada Fall around 11:30 is terribly packed, so instead of dealing with the clogged Mist Trail and all those tourons, I decided to add a couple miles to my journey and take the JMT down. Usually I like to jog down the paved decline from the Vernal Fall footbridge back to the trailhead, but that proved much more difficult with my backpack than my usual daypack. :P I did it anyways. Then I took the bus back to Half Dome Village and got my post-hike ice cream.

The end of every good hike is ice cream!

(I believe this was a Cookies & Cream/Mint Chocolate Chip shake--thick, of course so that I get four scoops and a little milk.) ;)

YOSEMITE BUCKET LIST COMPLETE!!!!!!!!!

(And just in time because I had to put in my two weeks notice this Wednesday, and it was painful. Except I’m totally ready to be done lifeguarding.)

More Lehmans to Yosemite

As many of you already know, my parents came to visit me/Yosemite this past week! Apparently they missed me. ;) So I had the opportunity to play tour guide for a few days, creating an elaborate itinerary and then showing them around.

They got here on Tuesday afternoon and after checking in, came to visit me at the pool. Unfortunately, my mother decided taking pictures of me while I was working was necessary, but luckily for me, they brought me food…so I guess I can forgive her. After I got off work, we went to YOSAR’s presentation. Although interesting, it wasn’t quite what I expected. I figured it’d be more stories of SARs, but it was more of a how-not-to-get-lost/what-to-do-if-you-do-get-lost kind of presentation. Even though I was just coming off a being lost trip, there wasn’t actually anything I learned that could’ve helped me in my scenario. So basically the whole thing just freaked my mother out for our upcoming activities. Not smart Bethany…not smart.

Wednesday morning we took the bus up to Glacier Point (much to my chagrin since I could’ve hiked Four Mile Trail in the same amount of time), but since they’re old…we took the bus.

from Glacier Point

Then we did the little 3-mile round-trip trail to Sentinel Dome. I hadn’t realized how debilitating my mom’s fear of heights was, so this day didn’t exactly go as smoothly as I had hoped. Sentinel Dome was a bit tricky for her, but she made it to the top anyways. Yay her.

About to go up Sentinel Dome

 

 Proof she made it to the top :)

After returning to Glacier Point, we headed out on the 8.3 mile Panorama Trail back down to the valley. In doing so, we passed Illilouette Fall, Nevada Fall, and Vernal Fall. Along with my mom’s fear of heights, my dad decided that it would be a good time for the sole of his hiking boot to come off. Being the over-prepared person that I am, I had daisy-chained some paracord bootlaces on my keychain in my backpack, which we then used to attempt to hold the sole in place. (It worked well enough to get back to the valley and pick up some shoe goo at the mountain shop.) That was only the second time those laces have actually come in handy this summer; the other was when I used them to make a halter top for a girl whose strapless swimsuit was coming down.

 Illilouette Fall

 

 #whodoesn'thaveparacord

After what felt like a very long time to me, we finally made it back to Half Dome Village. I’m sure I traumatized my mother in the process, especially coming down a crowded Mist Trail (that this point in the season wasn’t very misty). As we all know, I typically get ice cream after my hikes and Wednesday was no exception. While my dad made a phone call outside the pavilion, I went in to the Coffee Corner and ordered three shakes (Strawberry/Cookies and Cream, Chocolate/Mint Chocolate Chip, and Chocolate/Cookies and Cream). Well Sam charged my $0.59 and Ian gave me a cup with all the leftovers too…so that averaged out to fifteen cents apiece—not bad. Then we went to the Grill, I gave Susan the leftover cup, and she gave us our food for free. :) Supper for 3 under a dollar in Yosemite—didn’t think it was possible! But I guess it is if you’re me. :D

After supper, we went to the chapel for Wednesday evening church service. Then we went to Miles’ Starry Skies program. He did a great job, as usual!

On Thursday, I borrowed Montana’s vehicle and we went up to Hetch Hetchy. This time didn’t take me nearly as long as last time. ;) David was at the entrance station and was telling my parents all kinds of things about me. When he started by saying I was a legend, I got a definite glare from my mother because she assumed he meant in a bad way (aka a moron that got lost). Wrong. He said that he would go hiking with me anywhere without a map because I successfully self-navigated myself out of the wild, that they were in good hands, and that they had one of the best guides around. I’m confident I was red as a tomato by the time he was done.

Side note: my friend Santiago told me a couple days after my adventure that a couple got lost out there in the same vicinity that I was. They (the HH Rangers) were about to go out on a SAR for them when they were found. I wanted to point this out to all my extremely concerned relatives because hiking by myself was not the problem—the nonexistent trail is the problem!

After getting to the O’Shaughnessy Dam, we took the ~5.5 mile round-trip to Wapama Falls. I intended to go here on my last excursion to Hetch Hetchy, but fell short time-wise, so instead I drug my parents along. :) I thought the trail was extremely easy and the waterfall was awesome! My mother did not approve, but my dad and I decided to do some scrambling up the rocks by the falls. (All of the rocks were dry, I swear—we’re not stupid!)

 Wapama Falls from footbridge

 Hetch Hetchy Reservoir and Kolana Rock, viewed from Wapama Falls

 Hetch Hetchy Reservoir from Wapama Falls

Wapama Falls from our rock we scrambled up to

 And there's Shelley--right where we left her ;)

On the way back, I insisted we get our picture taken at the Big Oak Flat entrance station—the same place that I took the family’s picture last weekend.

I also took them to Bridalveil Fall, Tunnel View, and an overlook on Tioga Road—things that wouldn’t have been possible without a vehicle to take you. So thanks Tuna!!!

On Friday, we took the bus up to the Tuolumne area. If you haven’t figured it out, my goal was to get them to each of the three main sections of the park—Yosemite Valley, Tuolumne, and Hetch Hetchy. To counter the weekend masses and traffic, we started with the most popular place in the middle of the week, then went to Hetch Hetchy via vehicle, and then came back on the bus from Tuolumne on Friday (because buses get special lanes). A lot of thought went into the schedule…

Up in Tuolumne, since we had a limited amount of time (there was no way I was having them hike back down to the valley), I chose the Lembert Dome/Dog Lake hike. It’s only about 4.5 miles, so we had a bit of cushion before we needed to get back on the bus. On the way up, the bus stops at Olmstead Point, so my friend Stephanie the bus driver took our picture.

Olmstead Point

Lembert Dome was definitely the easiest dome that I’ve done. The granite is rougher up in the Tuolumne area than the smooth granite down in the valley, and also this dome was sort of ridged so that there was basically a natural slanted staircase up the dome. My dad and I went adventuring up to the top while my mother stayed down below where she was more comfortable.

View of the Tuolumne area from Lembert Dome

 My dad and I at the tip-top of Lembert Dome

 My dad and I at the tip-top of Lembert Dome

Dog Lake was nice, but not that impressive comparatively to something as gorgeous as Tenaya Lake or May Lake.

Dog Lake

We had some free time Friday evening, so we decided to go view the film Across the Range that was shown at the Yosemite Conservation Heritage Center. The Sierra Club holds speakers there on Friday and Saturday nights, and this guy narrated his film of him crossing the Great Western Divide. I expected to fall asleep, but was pleasantly surprised at how interesting it was. It really just made me want to go on a backpacking trip in the Sierras…maybe someday. The film also ended with a sweet Bryan Adams song about home that I’m really struggling to find—so if anybody knows it, let me know!

That night we went and go ice cream sundaes from the Coffee Corner, delicious as usual. Ice cream is the best!!!

On Saturday morning after breakfast, we played cards in their tent cabin. It worked out great because I won right before they had to leave on YARTS to Fresno for their flight. ;) Adios and thanks for coming!!! :D

Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen!

***Update: The Bryan Adams song is "I Will Always Return" from the movie Spirit. :)

Take the Road Less Traveled—OR DON’T: My Hetch Hetchy Backpacking Adventure

Going to Hetch Hetchy has been a goal of mine for a long time now, probably ever since we talked about it in my first-year seminar class at Coe. I finally had the opportunity to make it happen now that I’m in Yosemite for the summer, so I ordered a backpack, borrowed some supplies, and packed everything up for a little over two-day backpacking trip.

When I went into the Wilderness Center here in the valley to get my permit, the ranger told me the route I was taking was on unmaintained trails. He said it’d probably be a little overgrown and there’d be some trees across the trail. He and the other ranger working said there hadn’t been any patrols out there in a while, so they wanted me to do a trail condition report when I got back. They seemed pretty interested in my trip, and told me to come talk to them right away when I got back.

This whole unmaintained business set off little warning bells in my head, and it made me more nervous for my first backpacking trip, especially since I was doing it solo. Regardless, I was still really excited to go to Hetch Hetchy and go backpacking!

I bought a 55L Teton Scout 3400 and filled it with my sleeping bag, tent, water bottles, a couple clothes…and then the giant bear canister. It was so light until I added that dang bear canister! When I had it finished it weighed about 30 lbs.

Shelby dropped me off at the White Wolf trailhead after work on Thursday night. (Shelby’s a real pal!) We got there around 8:00 and I started off on the trail. I needed to hike about 3 miles until I was one air-mile away from the road. That put me just past Harden Lake. I ended up going about another mile past Harden Lake before setting up camp for the night. So far, the trail had been really easy—a service road and then an obvious trail, especially since I was using my headlamp. Peggy let me borrow her tent, so I was good-to-go on that front. It was pretty chilly, so I actually had to wear a sweatshirt, Abby’s sweatpants, my stocking hat, AND be in my sleeping bag with a blanket. Crazy Tuolumne area.

Campsite Day 1, NW of Harden Lake

I packed up and headed out around 6:30 on Friday morning, calculating my miles and hoping to be to Hetchy Hetchy a little after noon. About a mile past my camp, the trail started getting pretty overgrown and there were some stretches underwater. It became kind of slow-going. Somewhere between 1.5-2 miles past camp (so 2.5-3 miles past Harden Lake), the trail died completely. This was 7:30 in the morning.

Before the trail disappeared forever...

I tried to pick my way through the brush in the direction that I thought the trail was going, and probably made my life a whole lot worse in the process. I ended up climbing up, through, and around a whole ton of stuff and it was terrible. I decided to battle my way up onto a peak so I could try to see the trail. I should mention that a rim fire two years ago took out most of the trees and vegetation, so right now all that’s there is a bunch of fallen, charred logs and brush (including thistles and thorny plants). Well, when I got to the top of that peak, I saw what I reasoned to be Smith’s Peak in my NE direction. I figured if I could get there, I might be able to find the trail again, so that became my new game plan.

Unfortunately, getting there was not so easy, and since I had to go down to get there, I could no longer see it. I kept making my way in that direction and then came upon a creek. There was a creek on the map, so I figured if I used that, then it might take me in the direction I needed to go. I soon realized there were dozens of creeks like this, so this wasn’t the one on the map. Around that time, I came across a mama bear and her cub. The worst bear combination possible. And I’m lost. And by myself. So I did what the rangers suggest and I clapped my hands and shouted…and the mama bear got up on her hind legs and looked real ticked. So I went with Plan B and became very still and silent. The mama bear turned and ran away, and I scrambled across the creek, hoping she didn’t follow me. Yosemite Bear Encounter #1 in the books.

Another few hours past and I decided that given that I was still very far away from Smith Peak, I would instead change tactics and move in a WNW direction until I eventually ran into the road sometime that night. By this point, I had put myself on a water ration of one swig every few hours, and my legs were more red than white in most places…because who wears pants? (Rangers do…that’s who.)

I ate my pb&j for lunch while looking at my map. Then it suddenly dawned on me that bears can smell peanut butter from four miles away, and I most definitely hadn’t put four miles between that big mama bear and I—so I stuffed the last two bites of sandwich into my mouth, put my map back into my pack and headed out again.

I was having serious mental issues at times with this whole thing. I brought a whistle, but I was in the middle of nowhere and had no way to call YOSAR if I indeed did end up needing to be extracted (phone=dead/not activated). Also, no one would know I was missing until Sunday morning at work, even though my bus driver friend who was planning on picking me up at Tamarack Flat on Saturday afternoon to take me down to the valley would be puzzled if I wasn’t there. Serious stress…

After a while had gone by and I had changed socks after I picked all of the thorns out of my shoes (I did this numerous times.), I sat down at a rock next to a creek and started praying. Judge me all you want, I truly don’t care, but at this point I needed way more guidance than the sun, my map, and my brain. I only had one liter left of water and I didn’t know when I’d be by a stream again, so I used one of Shelby’s little tablet things to fill another liter. Not fifteen minutes later, I stumbled onto the trail. It took me 7.5 hours to find the trail again; it took God 15 minutes. (This was 3:00.) Believe what you want, but I don’t think that’s a coincidence—He’s really watching over us all.

I only had a guess as to what path I was now following, but I didn’t really care—it was a path! I followed it for a few miles and then reached a sign, an actual sign! And even better, there were humans by the sign! They probably thought I was a nut, but I was so excited to see people again!!! After that, it was only 2.5 miles to Hetch Hetchy! I was sooooooo excited, I was going to make it to Hetch Hetchy after all!

First glimpse of Hetch Hetchy from trail

I got down the 1.2 mile trail down to the road, and a ranger is just driving by. He sees me and asks if I need help; I told him that I was just deciding which way to go to get there. After he tells me Hetch Hetchy is to my right, he looks closer and goes, “You look exhausted.” I said, “That’s what being lost for 7.5 hours does to someone.” Long story short, after much protest, he gave me a ride (a “courtesy escort”) to the backpackers’ campground at Hetchy Hetchy. Ranger Ivanhoe to the rescue. :) I got to Hetchy Hetchy around 4:30, well after I intended, but still with enough time to walk to the O’Shaughnessy Dam and Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. Wapama Fall was still going strong, but unfortunately Tueeulala had already dried up for the season. The sister valley to Yosemite Valley was beautiful, and one can only imagine what it would be like today if it hadn’t been dammed. Humans were being humans though, doing what humans do best, and putting themselves first—above everything else on the planet. It’s unfathomable to me that a dam was placed in a national park and no amount of protest from preservationists like John Muir could do anything about it. What a crazy, crazy world.

 

O'Shaughnessy Dam 

 

 Hetch Hetchy Reservoir

 

View facing West off the dam 

O'Shaughnessy Dam and Hetch Hetchy Reservoir

In order to be one air-mile from the road, I would’ve had to hike another like eight miles that night, which just wasn’t happening. I checked with the ranger at the ranger station there to see if he had heard anything about the trail to Tamarack Flat. He hadn’t heard anything negative he said, so he figured it was fine. No news is good news, right? I ate the gourmet meal of raisins, beef jerky pieces, a mint chocolate power bar, a beef stick, and trail mix. I stayed in the campground there and went to bed around 8:00. Long day. I was so warm that even in my cut-off and shorts, I still had to sleep on top of my sleeping bag. The temperature difference throughout Yosemite is nuts.

Left leg after Day 1, didn't bother to take a picture after Day 2...too terrible

I pulled out over 30 thorns that were embedded in the bottom of my shoe on Friday night.

I had calculated that at a super slow pace of 30 min/mile with a little bit of cushion, I needed to leave before 5:30 in order to get to Tamarack Flat by the time Stephanie’s bus went by around 2:40. I set my alarm for 4:00, and was headed out by 5:00. The first little-over-a-mile was a piece of cake; it was all on the road, so my headlamp and I had no problems. Then the sun was coming out enough that I didn’t really need my headlamp anymore, right as I was turning onto the trail going up switchback city. It was there that I had Yosemite Bear Encounter #2, a small little bear that scrambled off as soon as it saw me. No problems.

 

 Sunrise above Hetch Hetchy Saturday morning

I took a right at the fork and headed east around the loop to take me to the trail to Aspen Valley. This trail was semi-overgrown and then extremely overgrown. The brush was taller than I was and it basically made a wall around me. I was staring at the ground, tracking footprints to try to make it through. I had difficulties with the trail numerous times, but only lost it once. That lasted about 15-20 minutes, and then I found it again. Whew—I was about to have a panic attack that I was going to repeat yesterday’s experience! The trail cleared out a little and I made it to the next trail junction without a hitch, then I took a service road for about .3 miles until I had to turn off that onto the trail to Aspen Valley. Warning bell: I had to search for the sign to the trail to Aspen Valley because it was almost entirely covered by the brush—the only reason I knew it was there somewhere was because of the sign going in the other direction.

I made it about a mile or so (roughly) in that direction, picking my way slowly and following footprints. By this point, I was extremely nervous that I was going to be late and miss the bus, stranding myself in the Tuolumne area. Well, I lost the trail as I needed to cross the creek on the map, and after searching for it, I knew that I couldn’t mentally or physically handle another experience like yesterday, so I turned around to retrace my steps. Well, I failed miserably at that too and couldn’t find the path going back. Again, I headed in the NW direction so that I’d eventually stumble upon that service road.

Picking my way across the peaks again was not my idea of a good time—my legs were already shot from the day before and I was not in the mood. I was also guzzling water today because I hadn’t drank very much yesterday. I went through both my 24 oz. bottles fairly quickly and only had my liter left. At some point, I hit a stream and drank a whole ton of water without filtering it first. I didn’t really care at that point, and I haven’t felt any repercussions yet (it’s 9:00 pm). So we’ll see.

I also stumbled across these giant tarp things, held in the ground by those big metal stakes that we use for snow fences. No idea what they were for—some kind of research?

Weird research thing?

Super luckily for me, my plan worked and I wandered back onto the service road. I took that path back to the path that I had been on before, then took a left to go west to the Mather Ranger Station. I had concocted a new plan, and none of it involved me hiking to Tamarack Flat.

I got to Mather Ranger Station, the entrance to the Hetch Hetchy area, around 12:20. The rangers there were super duper nice! Ranger Santiago something-or-other took one look at me and took me with him to his tent to get me a glass of water because there was no public potable water in the area. He and his older coworker David were coming up with plans to get me back to the valley. I talked to them both for a while. They both said that in all their years here, they have NEVER made it from Smith Meadow to Harden Lake without getting lost. They said they put in a request last year to either have it removed from the map or redone. Why that didn’t appear in Ranger Joe’s database search, I do not know. Santiago was very upset that he didn’t call up to them first before sending someone out there. He also said that the trail past Bald Mountain and Aspen Valley is terrible, and he doesn’t recommend anyone go out there either. Good to know, right? :P

If they couldn’t find me a ride, Santiago was going to drive me to the Big Oak Flat Station on the 120 so that I could find a ride from there. I really didn’t want to trouble them, but they both said they didn’t mind—they just thought their female supervisor might snicker at them and ask why they were giving me special treatment. I really didn’t want that…

So then I broke my promise that I made to my parents and a solid majority of my other family members. I figured they’d rather have me hitchhike than have YOSAR have to come get me. Although technically illegal for him to be the one to ask, Ranger Santiago secured me a ride to Big Oak Flat with this nice family that was headed that way. I thanked both rangers profusely for all their help, and wished them both the best of luck. The family that I rode with was from California and had been to the park quite a few times. The dad said that he hitchhiked from trailhead to trailhead whenever he was backpacking, so he felt like he was paying back part of that by helping me. We all had a really interesting conversation, and they were super nice. We even stopped at the iconic Yosemite National Park sign so that I could take their family picture. :)

From Big Oak Flat, I caught a ride to the valley with three people, two of which were going to be hiking the JMT (John Muir Trail) for the next 21 days. Again, really interesting people, and one previous hitchhiker while backpacking. The traffic was absolutely atrocious, as one can imagine on a Saturday, so once we got into the park, we were at a semi-standstill. They were headed to Curry Village, but I hopped out at the stop sign to take me over to the Wilderness Center. I had a stupid trail condition report to have filed.

Ranger Joe was not at all surprised when I told him my story, and he made notes of what I said the report. The ranger with him at the desk said, “Oh yuck,” when we told him the area I’d been in. IF EVERYONE KNOWS IT SUCKS—WHY NOT DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT?!? So in the report under “Work Needed,” he wrote, “trail work.” You can say that again.

I then went back to my tent, showered, attempted to scrub my legs, gave up, and then started on first aid. I’m pretty sure I used ¼ of the tub of triple antibiotic ointment on my legs. They’re so bad. I don’t have any hydrogen peroxide though, so there’s a good chance a couple of the deep ones are going to get infected. Shucks. Then I was craving two things—a cheeseburger from the Lodge cafeteria and ice cream from the Coffee Corner. Check and check.

Random little tidbit—I met a guy on the bus tonight who works at Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids!

All in all, it was not the trip I had planned. It definitely accomplished the wilderness-y part of wilderness experience though! Ranger Santiago gave me his number before I left and told me to call him if I was ever in the area and wanted information on real backpacking trails. First backpacking trip—complete!