Tochi's Hut

A trip to the fabled Yosemite National Park was in the works ever since I found out I'd be attending a conference in San Jose about two month ago.  Two months had quickly came and gone. Last Friday, after wrapping up the conference, I took a rental car and picked up RC at Berkeley.  Yosemite trip 2008 had officially begun.

A bit of back history.  This mission's codename was 「GCYoMoDo: Yosemite Full Moons at Half Dome」 (play on DoCoMo).  One of Ansel Adam』s more memorable Yosemite photos was his Moon and Half Dome and the full moon happened to be out on Friday night! What luck.  Duration: 4 days – 3 nights.

Tried to recruit various folks to join this no-so-easy Yosemite mission – not much interest except from RC.  Browsed through many different Flickr photos and trail guides to get an idea of the must-see sights.  We decided early on to camp and tackle some of the more strenuous, but rewarding trails.

As expected, the permit reservations for all the good campsites were fully booked.  However, Yosemite Wilderness Center hands out 40% of the permits for all campsites the day before, first-come-first-serve basis.  A bit risky, but we were going to bet all our eggs in one basket.  We'll camp outside the Wilderness Center the Friday night, to get permits for 2nd and 3rd night.  We'll figure out later what to do later if we cannot get a permit.

So on Friday, RC and I decided to do a quick tour of San Francisco before heading into Yosemite overnight – no point in spending the entire night in Yosemite.  We'd both been to San Fran before, so we did quick stops at Fisherman's Wharf (Anyone remember the shrimp cocktails at A Sabella's? lol) and dinner in Chinatown. 

Afterwards, we decided to try to get some night shots of Golden Gate Bridge.  I had to try out my new Gitzo 2531 tripod with BH-3 ballhead! :)

I have no idea what's up with my luck tonight.  At some weird intersection, I mistook the wrong traffic light, and moved forward into the middle of intersection on a red light before realizing my mistake.   So there was me, stuck in the middle with cars going around me.  What do you know, a cop car pulls up to the leading pole grid position on one of the feeding streets.  I quickly left the intersection the first chance I got, and good thing the cop didn't follow.

After arriving at the lower section of Golden Gate Bridge, but it was so foggy that we could not even see the bridge.  RC got some instructions on good photography spots for the Bay Bridge from a good Samaritan.  On the way out, after a roundabout, I happened to be driving on the wrong side of the road.  I suspect I mistook the bicycle path as the other lane, and the reflectors in the center median as the shoulder.  Anyway, I saw another car approaching in the opposite direction.  The road was windy, so only until we got near each other did I realize we were both in the same lane on a due course for a heads-on collision.  I realized at the last minute, and moved myself back to my lane.  As we passed by each other, I realized the other car was a cop car. :(

Of course, soon after, the cop pulled me over.  First time ever, I've been pulled over. :(  It was totally my fault too.  The cop wasn't very happy that I probably gave him the scare of his life.  He couldn't really believe me that I mistook the wrong side of the road and sarcastically asked me if I drive on the right side of the road in Canada.  Fortunately, a car nearly ran the cop over while passing me, and RC managed to get the cop to chitchat conditions at the Bay Bridge.  The cop let me off with a warning to drive carefully.  whew.  In hindsight, maybe I should have read USA road signs brochure that the Hertz gave all foreign drivers. lol.

We drove to Treasure Island at the good vista spots for the Bay Bridge.  The fog was still a bit heavy, but at least we could see most of the bridge.  First time using my new tripod.  It was quite windy, but my Gitzo stood like a Rock!  Needless to say, I was tremendously happy with the purchase. :)

Around midnight, we decided to head towards Yosemite - about a 4 hour drive from San Francisco.  Overall, it was a pretty smooth ride.  RC managed to catch one mistake where we ended up going 99 north instead of 99 south.  Grabbed some Cokes to keep us awake.

Around 3:30am, we were cruising on Rt 140 that leads into Yosemite.  All of a sudden, we noticed a big car following us.  Not sure where he came from.  After a while, police lights started dancing from the top of his car.

OMG. Not again.  Twice in my lifetime, twice in the same night?!?  This cop was very friendly though.  He mentioned the only cars that drive this late at night are people coming out of bars or people going into Yosemite.  Apparently, at one point I had weave across the double yellow center line, so he decided to pull me over.  He warned that the roads ahead were dangerous, a mistake can land you into the Merced river.  We told him we wanted to get permits and he informed us at this time, there'd probably be no one at the Wilderness center.  Sweet!

After that, we did a few caches, before stopping at the front of the park for some strobist fun.  Set up the camera for a bunch of photos with various highlights using our SB-600』s external flashes.  We got some great pictures, the best one turned out to be too embarrassing to show. lol.  A more composed version of our work is on the right.

We got to the Wilderness Center just past 6am, which opens at 7:30am.  Only 4 people were in line, so we were pretty much guaranteed a permit for Little Yosemite Valley campgrounds, our first (and only) choice!  :D

I was not able to adjust to the West coast time at all during the conference, waking up every day at about 5am.  Being awake for over 24 hours and running around all day was tiring.  I somehow managed to fall asleep in the most uncomfortable of positions while waiting outside the building.  RC managed to wake me up from my much needed slumber by waking someone else up on the other side of the country!  grr.

Anyway, at 7:30am, the center opened, and we got our permit in short order.   Quick stops at the Visitor Center and Indian Teepees site, Curry Village for Breakfast, before heading up to Tioga Road and the high country.

To be continued…