Tochi's Hut

In case you've missed it, this is a trip report from my trip to California last week:

1. GCYoMoDo – Part I: San Francisco to Yosemite
2. GCYoMoDo – Part II: Yosemite High Country

Yosemite.  Pronounced yo-SEM-it-ee.  Definitely the coolest name for a national park that I know.  ‘Yosemite’ originally refers to a renegade Indian Tribe that once lived near the valley.  The word itself means “those who kill”.  However, even more awesome is Yosemite National Park’s Chinese name - 優勝美地國家公園.  Wow.  It’s like they named it in Chinese first (not too much creativity there) and then devised the English name.  A very fitting name though!

Sunday.  Start of a new day.  Our destination was Little Yosemite Valley, the most popular campsite, visited by 20% of the park’s campers.  Its popularity is due to its close proximity to Half Dome and Cloud’s Rest.  Instead of heading straight from the valley floor, we decided to first visit Glacier Point, an outlook across from Half Dome, then take the ~6 mile Panoramic Trail back towards Nevada Falls and our campsite.

We were starting in the valley floor today.  As a quick aside, here’s a quote describing Yosemite Valley that I’d read in a Yosemite book and found again online.  John Muir just has a way with words.

“The walls are made up of rocks, mountains in size, partly separated from each other by side canyons…so sheer in front, and so compactly and harmoniously arranged on a level floor, that the Valley…looks like an immense hall or temple lighted from above. But no temple made with hands can compare with Yosemite. Every rock in its walls seems to glow with life…giving welcome to storms and calms alike, seemingly aware, yet heedless, of everything going on about them. Awful in stern, immovable majesty, how softly these rocks are adorned, and how fine and reassuring the company they keep….”  - John Muir

Given yesterday’s brutal experience at Cathedral Lake yesterday. RC and I debated whether to hike up to Glacier Point via the Four Mile Trail or just take the bus up to Glacier Point.  We were not sure when and where the bus leaves or how much it would cost, though we knew that bus reservations were required.  In the end, our determination and the uncertainty of the bus schedule led us to attempt the hike.  We later found out a one-way bus ride would cost $25 per person!  We definitely made the right decision. lol.

Waking up early morning and parking our car at the designated Trailhead parking for campers, we took the shuttle bus to Stop 7 – Yosemite Falls Trailhead.  Saw a bobcat when we got off the bus.  As we cut across the valley floor towards the Four Miles Trailhead, we saw a couple hang gliders who had jumped from the top of El Capitan and were landing in the field beside us.  One of the gliders fumbled into an amusing landing.  :P  Hand gliding is something I want to try.  But on another day…

We replenished water supplies at the Swinging Bridge that does not swing and made our way to the Four Mile trailhead.  The Four Mile trail is actually 4.8 miles.  The elevation gain is a wicked 3200 ft.  We had our full camping gear on our backs – we packed a lot smarter than at McGregor.  Still, the difficulty of the trail was reason to worry.

Despite the early switchbacks, the trail turned out not that bad.  The first section was paved and even the slope would have been manageable by a mountain bike.  I suspect that the sleep we got last night also did wonders to our psyche.  RC asked me to guess at the number of people we will pass on this trail.  I predicted 6 people coming down and 0 going up, thinking that no one else would be stupid enough to hike up this trail.  Anyway, more than 6 people passed us on their way up before we even reached halfway, with zero coming down.  They weren’t carrying full backpacks, of course.  I guess that $25 turned a lot more people away than I expected. :D

This Four Mile trail was recommended as one of the top hikes in Yosemite and it lived up to its fame.  As we progressed further up the trail, we got to see more and more spectacular views of the valley.

We were very fortunate that the sun was behind us, which meant we were hiking in the shade, and the opposite cliff walls and the valley floor were illuminated.

The B+W photo on the left is my first impersonation of an Ansel Adams Yosemite photography.  His pictures are often defined by the strong clashes of light and darkness, which I didn’t really create in my photo.  Perhaps if I play with more B+W conversion techniques, I’ll be able to put forth a better rendition. :)

One thing I love about having a GPS receiver is that you can track your route, distance and elevation changes for post-hike analysis.  The bad thing is that in the field, you know exactly how far you’ve gone, or worse, how much more you have to go.  As a result, I usually just leave the GPSr on in my backpack and not worry about it.  Time flows a lot faster if you only guess how much distance is left.  My estimates always fall on the short end, so I can always claim “we’re almost there!!”. :P Here's our track log for most of Four Mile Hike, as shown in Google Earth.  You can see the valley floor where we started and Half Dome in the distance.  You can also get a sense of where I was standing while taking that B+W photo. :)

At a point when I thought we were done all the switchbacks, we came upon a ledge and saw that there was still a ways to go.  Despite the remaining elevation being nothing compared to what we’ve climbed thus far, just seeing it was really demoralizing.  The time was nearing noon as well, so the sun was beating down on us and we still had more switchbacks.  Wow, I started feeling my legs tiring out at that time.  As we neared the end, more and more people coming down the trail.  Some of them were eating ice cream.   I turned to RC and exclaimed, “We totally deserved some!”

So we finally arrived at Glacier Point, a great and very popular outlook spot to Half Dome.  We lounged around a bit taking some photographs. We had already seen most of the valley on the way up, so the view from Glacier Point lost its wow factor on me. Nevertheless, the valley is still a sight to behold.

AL commented I do not take enough random people pictures from my trips.  Personally, I find it awkward taking candid photos of people I do not know.  Anyway, here’s one from the top of Glacier Point.  I was a little worried that the Dad might drop his daughter as he was climbing around the rocks. The baby girl was quite mesmerized by Half Dome.  So chubby! *squeeze*.

Glacier Point is so popular that it has a gift shop along with a snack bar at the top.  We ate a hot dog (got 2 of the remaining 3 dogs) and an ice cream bar (“but I do like Crunch” flavour) and refilled our water supply before moving onward. Ran into a gentlemen who randomly asked whether we had hiked up to Glacier Point. Turns out he is originally from Toronto (hung out by Bay and Bloor) but now resides in the States.

The second half of our trip would take us down the Panoramic Trail, which leads down and across the far valley and up the other side towards Half Dome.  Our campgrounds tonight lies just be behind the right base of Half Dome from the above Google Earth vantage.  I selected this trail to please RC, because we would be passing by not just one, but TWO waterfalls.

Now, this Panoramic Trail is longer than the Four Mile trail, but we were going downhill for most part, which more than makes up for the extra distance.  As a short aside, one of the things I love about Yosemite trails are the metal trail signs with the letters etched out.  These things are built to last. :D

We ran into various parties on our way down towards Illilouette Fall.  Of note were a couple, who were arched over on the ground sweating profusely.   We gave them some encouragement that they were within an hour from Glacier Point.  I felt sorry enough that I even offered them some water (knowing I can refill at the waterfalls up ahead).  Another couple had the guy carrying ALL the gear for the party.  I had commented to RC about the poor guy, when RC replied saying the woman seemed to be suffering even more.  lol.  We also met up with a group of really cheerful middle-aged ladies, who just returned from Half Dome.  They enthusiastically told us about sliding down the river by Illilouette Fall to refresh ourselves from the summer heat. 

Well, what did you expect us to do?  Of course we had to take them up on their advice.  Furthermore, our responsibilities as photographers dictate that we must record the moment for eternity.  So RC and I discussed plans on how we can capture our river sliding action.

When we got to Illilouette Fall, we discovered a naked guy swimming in the pool.  WTF.  RC and I got set up further upstream.  Fortunately, after a few minutes, the guy was gracious enough to cloth himself.   I set up my camera down by the end of the falls, while RC, who had heard that Gitzo tripods can be taken into water, decided to become a true member of the Gitzo-In-Water club.  He extended the legs and lowered the entire tripod as low as possible and carefully stepped out onto the water.  I was busy unpacking some gear when I heard a splash behind me.   Turned around and saw RC sitting in the water and, as if in slow motion, pulled a dripping Nikon D80 out of the water.  Gulp.  I starred in horror.  My mind could not comprehend what my eyes were seeing.  How?  I thought the arcatech ballhead was bulletproof.  Heck, it even has the protruding pin thingy! Quickly dug out my towel and we tried to dry RC’s camera off. 

Unfortunately, cameras, even Nikon branded ones, do not take the water very well.  RC camera showed a few signs of life before blinking CLOCK and failing all together.  Boy, were we bummed.  I was not sure if RC still wanted to slide in the river (it looked very tempting), but given the situation, I would have been okay with just moving on.  RC took his loss a lot better than I expected.  Since we were here already, might as well make the best of the time.

So off we went.  We were clothed, just in case there were sharp stuff in the rocks.  And let me tell you, these rocks were slippery!  Here’s me sliding…

Here’s me at the end…

And here’s me jumping into the water.  Many thanks for RC for these awesome captures.  I haven’t had this much water fun in wilderness in a LONG time. :)

A group of Chinese kids dropped by to take a look at our commotion.  I tried to convince two of them to slide down, but to no avail.  They must have thought the two of us were crazy.  lol.

It was almost 6pm by the time we decided to pack up.  The sun was about to set too, meaning we’ll have a much harder time drying off.   Carefully packed up our gear and off we went again.

Illilouette Fall is actually the lowest point in our segment of the Panoramic Trail, so we had some uphill switchbacks to climb.  We were quite refreshed from the swim, so it was nice hiking to dry off.

We hurried along the trail towards Nevada Fall, trying to make up as much ground as we can before the sun sets.  We stopped only a few times to take photographs.  The sun wasn’t aligned too well, RC didn’t have his camera, and I didn’t feel too comfortable being the only one shooting.  It’s amazing how much faster we can go when we take less photos. lol.  I do have one picture that I like in particular.  This is RC, the lone ranger, at the top of the trail, backlit by the evening sky.

Soon, we passed by that group of Chinese kids, who had left Illilouette at least 30 minutes earlier than us.   As we neared Nevada Fall, we ran into a big party heading in the opposite direction.  We were curious why people were heading back on the Panoramic Trail at this late hour.  They apparently were trying to find their way to the valley, and we told them they were heading to Glacier Point instead.  They thanked us profusely for correcting their mistake.

After we got to Nevada Fall, we pulled out our trusty map, only to realize that this big party was indeed heading in the right direction earlier.  We just never noticed the fork for the trail back to the valley.  DOH!   Boy, did we feel stupid.  RC went and apologized to the party and we parted our merry ways.

Did a quick virtual cache in the fading light from the lookout at the top of Nevada Fall.  Had to get our headlamps out at this point to make the final mile trek into Little Yosemite Valley.  We arrived at the campgrounds well after 9pm.  It took a while to find a camp that had an empty bear box. 

We ended up sharing a bear box with a very friendly and helpful camping neighbour.  This neighbour told us where the facilities were and the conditions at Half Dome.  They even led us to the stream to wash dishes and refill our water bottles.  In the dark, we really had no chance of finding this water source.   What a life saver!

As everyone was busy by the stream filling our bottles, we heard a sudden splash.  What was that?  I thought it was a big fish at first.  5 headlamps/flashlights shone out into the water and we saw a baby deer running towards our side of the river.   It was running quite fast and almost directly at our party that one of the guys could have reached out and touched her.  We then heard more noises from the far side of the river.  Again, the headlamps shone out and this time, we saw two red glowing eyes and could barely make out the shape of a bear!  Wow, so cool.  The bear cautiously walked along the edge of the water for a few minutes before retreating back in the woods.  This is the closest encounter with a bear in true wilderness (not the side of a road) I’ve encountered.  It was immediately clear we just experienced a very special moment of nature.  :)

RC asked me later on why we weren’t scared of the bear.  I really don’t know.  It just never occurred to me to be scared.  I was more fascinated than anything else.  I think if the bear started galloping towards us like the deer did, I’d be telling a very different story.  haha.

We were too tired afterwards and ended up only making one pack of freeze-dried food for dinner.  We set up the tent quickly and retired for the night.  Had to wake up early for the ultimate hike tomorrow.