Thursday
So there’s this place called Sierra Point that I’ve really
wanted to go up to for a while. You can view four of the falls in the valley at
the same time. It was a former trail maintained by NPS, but a rockslide over
the trail took out many of the stairs and path. So it’s on all the old maps and
the sign at the trailhead just has it covered up. Which means it’s a great
scramble for park employees and other people who know where it’s at! :)
I had only read descriptions of the trail, so I felt more
comfortable if someone showed me. Cue in Val—a really great climber and
scrambler—who likes to go do things before her shift at the raft stand.
Perfect. I work at 10:00, so Val said we’d go at 8:00. In typical Val fashion,
it was 8:20 before we left and I was really nervous about being late to work.
(If you don’t know me all that well, I basically have a phobia of being late to
things and I get really anxious and start panicking.)
We biked over to the Happy Isles trailhead to cut off time,
and then started on the main trail. At the sign about rock slides, you turn
left and scramble up a small talus field. Not too far up, you find the actual
rock stairs from the old trail. You continue along these, some more rocks, some
more rock stairs, repeat…then you round the bend and come to Sierra Point! The
old guard rail is still there and everything. It was gorgeous! It took us a
little over 30 minutes to get up there, so we only got to spend 5-10 minutes up
there—a real bummer. :( There was a guy up there who Val asked to take out
picture, but in a really weird position, so just know that this photo was not
my idea haha.
Nevada and Vernal Falls from Sierra Point
Yosemite Falls from Sierra Point
Illiouette Fall from Sierra Point
Val's picture idea...
It took about 25 minutes to come back down. I still
absolutely hate coming down rocks. Hate it. Hate it hate it hate it! On the
plus side, I hopped on my bike and still got to work at 9:50, just the way I
like it!
Friday
When trying to plan what to do for my weekend, I polled a
solid majority of my coworkers/friends to pick their brains about hikes. Most
of them I’ve already done, so a lot of people weren’t too helpful. One of my
friends, Conor, had a few suggestions that peaked my interest and seemed
plausible. I decided to go with his recommendation of the Ahwahnee Ledges/Slabs
“Trail” and Indian Canyon “Trail.” I put trail in quotes because these are
really scrambles and not NPS trails. I haven’t done a ton of scrambling besides
Middle Earth/Fern Ledge and Sierra Point, so I thought I’d give it a shot.
My first clue to this not going very well should have been
that Conor is injured…he sustained a knee injury somehow, and has been doing
work in the office instead of HP-ing for weeks. He’s really sick of it, but is
still doing physical therapy.
Anyways, last night I read the Summitpost description of the
route, committed it to memory almost word-for-word, and then wrote the
important parts down on a piece of paper just in case. I started up the
Ahwahnee boulders/talus field a little after 7:00 this morning. This part
wasn’t bad at all. I tried the upper access onto the ledge going west. This
ledge was supposed to be the most exposed part of the journey. Unfortunately, I
think I passed my exit because after scrambling up a solid rock face, I found
myself at a rock wall that dropped about twenty feet.
View from the upper access(?) point up the NW-slanted ledge
View of the south side of the valley from where I headed up the ledge
I turned around and came back down (remember, I hate going
down), and tried to go up elsewhere. This was a real pain in the butt, but
eventually I found my way up the ledge and to the “semi-open, semi-flat area
with a great view looking south and down to the valley. A large rock here with
a flat top is a fine indicator you are on route. It's also a fine rest spot..”
I sat on this rock and picked all of the burrs, thistles, and those pesky thorn
things out of my socks, shoes, shorts, and shirt. I also texted Shelby to have
her tell Conor that I needed a personal trail guide. They agreed to send SAR if
I didn’t contact them that I’d gotten back down safely. (I had my whistle and
headlamp so they’d no doubt be able to find me as long as I was conscious.) Then
I ditched my shirt because it was super duper hot up there by that time—the sun
had reached a point where it shone directly down on the ledge. Ugh…hot.
the lovely flat rock I finally found
View of the Ahwahnee from said flat rock
Gorgeous view of valley from flat rock
After verifying the directions again for the next portion, the
portion where the instructions had said the trail would be tricky to find, I
continued on. Then stopped. Got stuck. Turned around. Came down. Went back to
the rock. Repeat x3. Then I laid on the rock, taking a break (mental and
physical). By this time it was 11:00. I reasoned it out with myself that even
if I found the stupid trail again, I’d never make it down through Indian Canyon
with my sanity before nightfall. (Each scramble was supposed to take half a
day.) I decided I’d rather take a blow to my pride than a blow to the head, so
I ate my sandwich and began the journey down.
I once again got to go down a bunch of rock, still not my
favorite—still made me grumpy. (Also by this point, I had to switch to my happy
music because I was so frustrated.) :) Somehow I undershot the exit point this
time and had to climb up some more rock to climb back down the rock and
re-enter the talus field. By the time I got back to my tent, it was almost
2:00.
Map of route from SummitPost—I made it to almost the end of where it stops going left
I have more cuts on me then I can count from either rock or
bushwhacking. At one point, I was stuck somewhere that I could not physically climb
down with my backpack. (Another sore subject—what kind of idiot brings a
completely full backpack with them when they’re scrambling? Leave it to me to
always be prepared for everything.) I had no choice but to try to drop my
backpack on a ledge about five feet below me. I hit the ledge, and it teetered,
and then it fell…and it rolled, and it stopped, and it teetered, and then it
fell…by the time it was done it had fallen about 25 feet. Not a happy camper.
Thankfully, I was then able to slide down and climb down to reach it. Upon
later inspection, I believe besides cuts on my arms and legs, the only thing I
damaged was one of the zippers on the backpack and a scratch on my watch. Not
bad given how many interesting situations I put myself in.
Conor said he hadn’t heard any bad things about this
scramble out of the valley. Now he has.
I need ice cream.
**Update: I didn't get Conor's message until I got back down that if I hadn't done the Ledges Trail on the south side of the valley (up to Glacier Point), I should do that one first because it was much easier. He also said that going down Indian Canyon was a lot more difficult than going up. (He also said afterwards that I shouldn't go running off without letting him fully explain, as he didn't want me to die in the process...) So now I can blame the wifi instead of Conor. ;)
**Update: I didn't get Conor's message until I got back down that if I hadn't done the Ledges Trail on the south side of the valley (up to Glacier Point), I should do that one first because it was much easier. He also said that going down Indian Canyon was a lot more difficult than going up. (He also said afterwards that I shouldn't go running off without letting him fully explain, as he didn't want me to die in the process...) So now I can blame the wifi instead of Conor. ;)
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