After a GREAT breakfast at Woods Creek Cafe in Jamestown, I headed to Yosemite:
I LOVE THIS POSTCARD:
Guess who's ready to HIT THE DAY!!:
Once again, Yosemite Valley is ICONIC:
Because I knew in late May that I was going to Northern California, I wanted to add-in an extra few days for Yosemite. In my e-book 75 Hikes To Do Before You Die:
there is only a single entry for Yosemite - North Rim, Yosemite National Park, California:
which is 4 days hiking, 3 nights camping. It sounds PERFECT!!
So I made a Wilderness Permit Reservation with the Yosemite Park Rangers ("in at Rockslides on Sunday, out at Mirror Lake on Wednesday"), which also allows my car to be at the Rockslides trailhead for that time period:
My pack was heavy, and it was a hot sunny day, but the "trail" went along fine through the woods:
When I cross the rockslides, I get a beautiful view back at El Capitan:
and the view across at Bridalveil Falls:
The Sierra Mountains had TWICE the "normal" rainfall/snowfall last winter, so the waterfalls are Roaring!
Unfortunately at some point this afternoon, reality set in - the Old Big Oak Flat Road Trail is not an "official" trail. Now, I'm used to "unofficial" roads in the White Mountains - we have old logging roads cutting through the trails, and if they intersect another part of the trail (very seldom), they can be used as a shortcut. "Unofficial trail" means something VERY DIFFERENT out west:
Looking DOWN one of the ROCKSLIDES field:
I could have handled the obstructions-in-the-forest and the unstable-dangerous-rockslides, but after crossing one slide, I LOST THE TRAIL::
Bushwacking through the woods is a BAD IDEA. Climbing up-and-down rockslides is a BAD IDEA. The best idea is to retreat and camp near the tiny stream that I crossed, which gave me water (I used my filter to purify it!)
Went to "bed" after the setting sun made the opposite side of the valley GLOW:
THANK YOU GOD for water, and for hopefully keeping my feet on your path!
Music for today was albums from my iPod. Because I didn't get to it yesterday, I wanted to start today with a bang!:
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin, 1969 first album
then my old "Big Tapes" rolled right into:
Buffalo Springfield - Retrospective, 1969
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