The Adventures of...: Days 66-67

Day 66, 25 miles, endpoint Yosemite Valley

We left our awesome ridgeline campground and began a long, long descent through the Yosemite Wilderness towards the main area of the National Park. It was nice scenery, but nothing amazing. We didn't see any other hikers until we were very near the park headquarters, at least 20 miles between yesterday and today. The solitude was very relaxing.

We planned to hike 17-19 miles, get within 5 or so miles of the park, camp, and finish the hike in the morning. However, as we neared the park and started seeing more people, we realized there was nowhere we were allowed to camp. We thought about taking a side trail out a different direction, but this would have added many more miles and taken us away from our destination in the valley. Essentially we were forced to finish the hike all the way in to Yosemite Valley and the heart of Yosemite Village in the National Park. Ugh. We definitely hiked a lot more miles than we were planning on.

We got into the park as it was getting dark and tried to figure out where the backpacker camp was that we had heard of. We saw a shuttle bus and hopped on; the driver told us where the camp was, but also told us where a store was--we decided to get food before camping. Priorities.

The park was completely dark when we got off the shuttle and found the store. We picked up soda and beer, and ordered a large pizza from the pizza joint next door. As we were devouring our pizza in record time, Phil and Julia walked by, also having just made the hike in. We got some more beer while they ate their pizza and a couple of hours passed by. We figured it was probably time to camp.

This turned out to be easier said than done. The park was pitch dark, the shuttle buses were done running, and we had a *few* beers in our system. The other problem was that the backpackers camp was not listed on any map. We stumbled around, trying to recall the directions the bus driver had given us earlier in the day. We crept through a campground past sleeping people in tents, circled around a few times, figured all was lost and we wouldn't have any place to sleep, then finally found the creek and footbridge that led to the backpackers camp.

We set up camp as quietly as we could and laid down just past midnight. We're not even really sure where we put our tent or what we will find in the morning. But we do plan to explore the park and enjoy a rest day, that much I know!

Trail views

These rocks really became tedious to walk down.

Huge granite rocks.

Snake... are these the dangerous ones? We saw a rattler right before this one.

Trail views.

Half Dome from the pizza joint.

Day 67, 0 miles, endpoint still in Yosemite National Park

We took care of the usual chores this morning (laundry, showers, and grocery shopping--and yes, the Park has all of these amenities), then explored the Valley. We went to the museum and the Ansel Adams Gallery, the latter Josh especially liked. The gallery had some original Ansel Adams photographs on display, one with a price tag of $28,000. Ansel Adams spent a lot of time photographing the Yosemite area, so it was cool seeing some of his iconic photos and then seeing the real locations.

We walked around the valley floor, where you can see waterfalls, enormous granite cliffs, and green meadows. Half Dome, the stately geological formation that is the symbol of Yosemite (literally: the park logo is an outline of Half Dome) can be seen almost everywhere.

We ate lunch at the zoo of the Yosemite Village, which was packed with families, people speaking in foreign languages, and screaming babies. At VVR we met a father and son who were about to start a hike in the Sierras for a vacation. The son, who had been to Yosemite before, told us we had to go, and that it was iconic place. He warned us, though, that it was like Disneyland, and I see now what he meant. The crowds here are crazy; it is hard to walk around in some areas, and everywhere you turn are more people. It is a bit of sensory overload when you don't see another person for 20 miles of hiking, only to drop down to an area where you are suddenly packed in tightly with so many others.

We left the madness of the village and hopped on a shuttle to El Capitan, the world famous climbing rock. Once there, Josh used his telephoto camera lens and sure enough, we were able to spot climbers up on the giant vertical rock face. I don't know much about climbing, but if you are a rock climber, apparently this is the place to be.

We returned to the village and ran into Phil and Julia, who were on their way to see the Awhanee Hotel, the fancy, pricey hotel in the Village. The Awhanee is not only ritzy, it was also the hotel that inspired the set of the movie "The Shining." We learned on the way there that the movie studio couldn't actually film on location, so they built the set to look just like the Yosemite hotel.

The hotel was beautiful as expected, with an edge of creepiness, as it felt like we were walking through the Overlook Hotel. The multiple rooms on the main floor all had soaring ceilings and enormous fireplaces that spanned entire walls. The decor was the familiar Southwest/Santa Fe looking decals and giant candle chandeliers of the movie. Outside, there were views of granite cliff walls where people sat at tables and drank eight dollar beers (I checked the drink menu). Back inside, curious, Phil asked about room prices at the front desk. We were told a "view challenged" room started at $470, and prices went up from there.

We got more pizza and beer for dinner with Phil and Julia, and called it a night.