My First trip to yosemite! What a shambles the organisation was. We had about 8 people keen, but everyone had their own agendas. So we ended up with three mini trips. Greg and Steve wanted to leave friday afternoon, early, and were going to return saturday night. I wanted to go saturday morning, and return late sunday night. Adam and Jenna were going, but no-one had any idea when they were going, or even if they would go. The other distinction was that Nick, Mike and Myself wanted to go up Half Dome. Anastasia was along for the ride and was tough enough for anything. So we borrowed Greg's cisco car, an impressive Buick Regal. (Our cisco car had been returned by now, and mike didn't feel comfortable that his car would make the distance.) The buick was awesome, a total old persons car, but cool nonetheless. Stereo controls built into the steering wheel, split cabin climate control, v6 herbs for takeoff and landing. A real cruiser. We took off, early from my place, with the boot full of shit and headed up through livermore and out through stockton. I got tired and Nick took over for the drive down into the valley, and demonstrated why automatics should never be driven in the hills. At least, not by people who always drive automatics. Nice guy and all, but you've gotta use a lower gear dude. We got out just before one of the tunnels for our first look at the valley. Couldn't see much from here, but we could see a couple of groups of climbers on the wall above the road. (Cookie cliffs I believe) Headed on down into the valley for a better look, and also with the foolish goal of getting a campsite. Who were we kidding, the rangers actually even laughed at us. We had a great look at the valley, and went to camp 4 to see if greg and steve were around (They were on the waiting list there) Didn't find them, so went on up to bridalveil campground, on the southern valley rim, on the road to glacier point. Set up camp, quite a few sites remaining up here, then went off to check out glacier point. (It's just as well we did set up camp first, after glacier point we went down to bridal veil falls, down in the valley proper again, and by the time we came back up the camp was full)
Glacier Point was excellent, a truly fantastic lookout, I'd say one of the best ones I've ever stood on in my life. It and Govett's leap in the Blue Mountains would be it. Not much more to say about it.
From there it was down into the valley again, (putting some miles on in doing so, it was 30 miles from glacier point back down to the valley, and we had to do most of that again in the afternoon to get back up to the camp.) We were going to go and check out bridalveil falls, which was the only waterfall in the main valley with water still on it. And even it only had a wisp. The wind would often blow the entire stream back up vertically for a few seconds, before letting it fall to the ground again. An excellent track, heaps of people, and a quite cold swimming hole near the bottom of the falls. Somewhere here I ended up minding gear, while Mike and Nick disappeared off up higher to get closer to the base. (The falls actually fall onto the top of some talus, and then there is quite a steep talus field down to the track. The track is very nice, but you don't get very close to the falls) Oh well. A long drive back up to camp, the new whisperlite's first field trial, some eating, then sleep, we've got a big day tomorrow on halfdome!
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The Big Stone |
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Anastasia and the valley |
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Royal Arches |
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From another lookout... |
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... on the road to Glacier Point |
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The view up valley from Glacier Point
(Feat Royal Arches, Washington Column, North Dome and Half Dome) |
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Liberty Cap, The Quarter Domes
Nevada falls (upper) and Vernal Falls |
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Mike and Half Dome |
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Closer look at Royal Arches and Washington Column |
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