Suzy
Suzy and Allie
Picnic on Panther Beach
Lauren and Nick
Searching for Sea Shells (Matt took this)
Tiptoeing down the sandy cliff, we crossed a small beach and walked under a sandstone arch formed by the wind and waves. Munching on cheddar cheese, salami and a sourdough baguette, we sat with our back to the cliff watching the waves break and spill within 20 feet of our towels on the empty beach. Nick and I decided to explore the stunning environment…two minutes into our exploration we stumbled across a baby seal resting silently in the shade of the cliff. It observed us pensively, its dark eyes gazing without fear, matching our curiosity for each other. We could have touched the peaceful mammal, but chose to leave it be, comfortably napping just feet from our path. A few days later, while eating Peking duck and Chow Mein at a late-night Chinese food diner in downtown Oakland, the anchorwoman announced that hundreds of malnourished and underweight seals were being found along the coast and turned into Marine Mammal rescue centers—but the cause is unknown.
Haight St, San Francisco
Guitar on Haight St
Construction Signs
Baby Sea Lion, Panther Beach
Allie
Driving home from Santa Cruz late that afternoon, we dropped off Lauren and went to the Sieben’s to have a beer with the famed Aunt Spike. She was as spectacular as I had imagined, telling tales of her pilgrimage from Canterbury to Rome and of future plans as well…possibly even Cusco to Tierra del Fuego. Just imagine traveling Europe at 3 mph. That’s badass. (If you want to check out Aunt Spike’s blog, look for the “follower” on my blog at the top right of the page…she’s under “Winter Pilgrim” and has the photo with the hiking sticks). After spending a couple of hours talking of her adventures as well as our own, we went around the block to Alice’s house. I was thrilled to meet her having only heard praises and seen elated expressions at the mere mention of her name. It didn’t take long to find out why. Alice is spunky and genuinely sweet, quick to put everyone at ease, making me feel at home right away. Though I only spent a couple of hours with her, I look forward to seeing her again.
Cliffs at Panther Beach
Ducks on Mirror Lake at 5 a.m.
View of Vernal Falls
Returning home to Nick’s, Matt and Micah went to bed while Nick and I prepared the food and packed the car for our trip to Yosemite. We would leave at 1. One in the morning, that is. Tents, sleeping bags, food, and other necessities packed, we woke Quarles and Micah, shooing them to the backseat to sleep and picked up Allie who took a Dramamine before hitting the curvy road to eastern California. Nick took the first shift in driving, drinking hot coffee he brewed at the house, while I shuffled the music, keeping him awake with classics like 99 Red Balloons, Spanish techno, Daft Punk, and the Spice Girls (yes, I freely admit that all of those songs came from my iPod, but I also have lots of Tom Petty and the Beatles). Halfway to Yosemite I took over driving—just in time for the curvy roads. I learned very quickly that the van picked up speed in curves (even up to 15 mph faster than I had started) so I had to compensate before going into the curve. But the beauty of driving such curvy roads at 3 a.m. is that I did not pass a single car. So I went a bit…faster…than most would choose to go. Those who were awake probably felt like they were on Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, but for real. Arriving in Yosemite Valley at 4:55 a.m. we immediately walked to Mirror Lake, our path lit by the gentle twilight. The lake—rather a pool in a small river—runs under Half Dome’s majestic flat face and reflects the gray and white granite cliffs of the valley. The banks were lush, evergreens growing further away from the edge of the river with greenery closer to the source of water.
Long Socks and Short Shorts: Zack and Nick Explored Yosemite before departing on the JMT trip.
Blue Jay
Walking back to the car, we dressed for the 8 mile hike on the Mist Trail/John Muir Trail (JMT) and found a picnic table at the head of the trail to eat our simple breakfast: peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at 6:45 a.m. Micah decided to linger in the valley, napping and strolling, rather than join us on our hefty little hike. The first part of the trail was paved and crowded with tourists, most of which appeared never to have been in the wilderness before (not that the first few miles of the trail could be considered wilderness, but that’s beside my point). We skated around them as quickly as possible which wasn’t particularly easy since the trail was fairly steep. Being a bit sleepy at the moment, I’ve forgotten the name of the falls which the gorgeous trail displayed, save Vernal Falls (which is the one at the end of this section of the trail). As soon as we passed the first waterfall, the crowds thinned and the trail narrowed, turning into a mass of roots, hand-built stone steps, and sand. I started to feel that we were on a real trail now and began to feel a true sense of excitement which pushed my exhaustion out of my mind for the time being.
Mist Trail
Family Photo: Mist Trail
Heading up to the second set of falls, the 3 foot wide trail hugged the side of the mountain. The powerful and loving hands of a brave trail crew carved and hoisted these rectangular shaped rocks 1 foot wide and 2 feet long (some even bigger) on a vertical slope in order to enable people like me to enjoy the beauty of the Mist Trail. It seems entirely insane, yet it’s entirely necessary. Without the trail, the popular mountains would succumb to damaging amounts of erosion from the heavy foot traffic it receives each year.
Lots of rare wildlife here.
Mist Trail
It wasn’t long before we discovered the reason for naming the trail the Mist Trail. The second set of falls spilled over the edge of the cliff ahead of us and crashed violently onto the rocks below, releasing a cold spray which welcomingly cooled our laboring bodies. The trail was slick and muddy so the moving was slow, but none of us were in a rush to leave the view of the stunning gorge bejeweled with rainbows and ornamented with rich layers of moss covering the boulders and trees. Exploring the cliff at the top of the falls, we snapped several photos—the best of which were the classy photos of Nick slurping water from my camel back which Quarles was wearing—and marveled over the view which would only improve as we gained elevation to check out the third and last set of falls. The crowds thinned again as people tired from the trek heading up the cliff, unable to comprehend even the consideration of climbing yet another dauntingly steep wall. We, however, kept our quick pace in check, slowing only for views and interesting sights or water.
Tuba Shirt and Shorty Shorts
Mist Trail--the trailhead
Nick and I were the first to reach the top—which has a lot to do with us being completely ridiculous, taking a sick enjoyment in running up mountains. This is a fairly impressive accomplishment when you consider than neither of us had slept since Friday morning and it was mid-day Saturday. However, as soon as we sat on a warm rock to wait for Allie and Matt, I fell asleep. I would have stayed asleep on that rock had Allie not turned back after reaching the top to wake me when she realized that everyone but me had continued walking after their short break. Hidden behind Nick’s dark aviators, the boys hadn’t realized I fell asleep and left, assuming I would follow with my usual zeal, likely to pass them at any given moment.
Mist Trail
Gear Nerd: Zack on the first day of his JMT trip (note how clean he is)
We explored the top of Nevada Falls for about 30 minutes, gazing tirelessly at the wide view of the valley. The falls plunged over the edge with incredible force, sending a spray several hundred feet in the air from whence it came. It was fairly windy and too cold to sit close to the falls, especially with the icy spray, but that didn’t deter me from taking another powernap (this time for 10 minutes) and snacking on a PB&J sandwich before our fast paced trek to the bottom for lunch. Arriving in record time—the hike only took us 3 hours—we threw lunch together over the camp stove and hopped in the car to drive to the Mariposa Redwood Grove. It was only 40 (or so) miles away, but the park speed limits are slow to keep people from hitting each other or the bears on the narrow, winding roads.
Suckling the Camel's Teat
Nick took the wheel, twisting and turning the minivan through the winding roads, the rest of us asleep in minutes. After 30 or so minutes, he too began to fade and decided to pull over to take a quick nap. It wasn’t very quick though. What was going to be a 15 minute nap turned into a deep slumber for all. We accidentally fell asleep on the side of the road for two hours. I recall two thoughts during that entire period. I had one foot on the dashboard and the other on the floor. I was wearing one running shoe—my neon yellow pair. I thought, “Huh, that’s funny. Why am I wearing one shoe?” But I fell asleep before I even thought of a reason, much less taking the time to remove my shoe. Some unknown time later I woke for another 5 seconds, just as bewildered as before, wondering if we had arrived at Glacier Point yet (we were going to the Mariposa Grove….).
Exposing our Inner Bear in the Mariposa Sequoia Grove
Mariposa Grove
We all woke sometime later and continued our trip, Nick still driving, but with a peculiar look on his face. Looking at me, he grinned and told me what he had realized. Last spring, he and Zack had come to Yosemite around the same time. They too had driven through the night and made a marathon trip of the park before Zack’s departure on the JMT. On the way to the Mariposa Grove, Nick had started to fall asleep and pulled over on a turnout on the side of the road to take a quick nap, but overslept. We had just used the same turnout. This might sound insignificant except that there is at least one turnout each couple of miles, so we could have picked from 100. We just happened to pick the same one he had used last time.
Wandering through the grove of sequoias, we chatted quietly, appreciating the calm silence afforded by the respectable trees despite the squabble of languages peppering the trail and disturbing what could be a perfect silence. Yet it wouldn’t be quiet, even if we treaded lightly, saying nothing. The trees were alive with birds singing droopy warbles and squirrels bickering like children in the back seat. Small scrub deer with blasé expressions munched passively on the few greens struggling to survive beneath the canopy, eyeing the gaggles of tourists that shrieked with as much excitement as to match Dorothy’s fear of the lions and tigers and bears (Oh, my!).
Allie in the Mariposa Grove
Mariposa Grove
Sequoias are simply epic. Really, they are. So is that photo of Zack...though he would probably prefer it if I addressed him as “Grizzly Giant,” making sure to complement him on his bushy mountain man beard in which he took so much time and energy to grow (unsuccessfully). Then I would ask him what sort of awesome deal he got on his Icebreaker merino wool shirt. After that I would ask him about his highlighter yellow hat (which he gave to a random boy on the Empire Builder train in August because the kid touched his heart and intrigued him) and likely receive an earful on the horrors of MTR (mountain top removal).
Apparently Nick took about 100 of these before Zack (rather, Grizzly Giant) was satisfied. The results are apparent; the photo is epic.
Back to the sequoias. Again…they’re epic. I could give you a physical description (thick reddish, peeling trunk with thick branches) but that’s lame. Though I’ll mention that they probably reach the stratosphere. That’s what happens when you grow for hundreds of years. (Except Frances. I will stay short forever. But it’s okay. I refer to myself as “Fun Size”…like the candy bars). I digress again. All I mean by this chatter is that you should go see the sequoias yourself. As a travel writer and photographer of sorts I cannot encompass their power and simple beauty with any worthwhile works. Then again, nobody really could.
True Love is found only in sequoia groves.
Extremely rare wildlife can be seen in the Mariposa Grove.
Driving back toward Yosemite Valley after a pit stop at the general store for some Jambalaya and hot dogs (actually tastes really good…for road food), we headed to catch the sunset at Glacier Point. By the time we arrived, we were a little late for a sunset, but the view was still (Ready for yet another awe-inspiring adjective from the synonyms suggestion box?!) radically marvelous! Nick whipped together dinner, sightseers gazing longingly at the boiling rice and hot dogs as if we were grilling steak and potatoes. We might as well have been—we were all hungry enough to be convinced of it if were told so. Upon arriving we had been able to observe the contours of the valley, Yosemite Falls, and Half Dome along with the surrounding Sierras but by the time we finished our meal, it was pitch black and though Half Dome still vaguely loomed in the distance, the stars captured our full attention. There were so many stars that night, it was like trying to count jelly beans in a bulk candy bin.
Sequoia
Nick took the wheel while Allie, Micah, and Matt promptly fell asleep in the back. An hour or so later I took over driving staying awake with two brilliant methods: the power of techno, the Spice Girls, and MGMT and lots of chocolate. We had decided to stop at the first campsite between Lair (where we would visit Kunze the next day) and Yosemite. But after driving 3-4 hours (I lost track of time) on the wildly winding country roads which teeter tauntingly along the edge of cliffs for most of the ride, we realized we had arrived at Lair. Low and behold, there were 50 campgrounds in the area and over 100 sites in each one…we just had to drive until 2:30 am to find them after pulling an all-nighter on Friday. In short, Nick and I were a bit tired.
Sunset on the way to Glacier Point
Glacier Point
Glacier Point
The next morning we met Kunze after a tremendous breakfast at the gas station/grocery down the road from the camp site. Gorging on breakfast burritos packed to the gills with potato, egg, cheese, and bacon and Snickers ice cream bars, we felt like gods basking in the sunshine on the floor of the concrete porch of that homey gas station. Such excellent service! Driving to Lair, we met Kunze and walked to the edge of a large pine encrusted lake (Lake Jackson…or am I confusing it with another lake this trip..?). Finding a secluded spot along its extensive shoreline, we played hacky sack for an hour before napping on a massive boulder, basking in the sunshine which kept us warm despite the chilly lake breeze. After several hours, we walked Kunze back to camp before jumping in the van for the drive back to the Bay area with Matt at the wheel.
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