Yosemite III

10/15/08
After two nights of that I was back on the road, taking the long way around to Yosemite via a very scenic CA-49 through Mariposa to Oakhurst  and then up toward Yosemite on CA-41. Rather than entering the park, though, I turned into Sierra National Forest for a campsite at Nelder Grove: free and quiet camping amid a small stand of Giant Sequoias. Nelder himself was an old 49er who set up a small cabin in the woods here. John Muir bumped into him when he was examining the Sequoias. It was four miles "as the crow flies" from Yosemite, and while I knew that was deceptive, I wanted to find out how long the actual commute to Yosemite Valley would be, as it sure would be a swell base camp.

Well, it turned out to be a long, long drive. I spent the day mostly getting the lay of the land: Visitor Center, Ansel Adams studio, ride around on the painfully slow shuttle bus. My God I had an empty head, not unpleasantly so either. Then back to the Nelder Grove, reading Netherland by headlamp in my car, alone in the dark campground in the middle of the woods, laughing my head off. I opened the window for air and wondered where the moon was.

Before packing out the next morning I took an early morning stroll through Nelder Grove. This forest was once heavily worked, so the Giant Trees are scattered more sparsely than in the more protected groves. Still the survivors are great and the surrounding regeneration adds a lushness not possible under a canopy dominated by Giant Sequoias. It was hunting season and I did hear gunshots so I donned my brightest red sweatshirt and kept close to the main loop.


Then back into the park and a campsite at Wawona Campground, now reduced to one loop, not much more than an RV parking lot. Even here in mid-October, Yosemite logistics were problematic. Crowds are smaller than in summer of course, but the park responds to the lessening crowds and approaching winter by closing campgrounds, so that in this week’s brilliant autumn weather the campgrounds were overcrowded and people were setting up camp wherever there was space between legal sites. The Wawona Visitors Center was closed. The Thomas Hill Studio was closed. The park was using the last good weather to get in some road repairs, further undermining the benefits of a late season visit. South Loop through the valley was closed and construction caused long backups on Wawona Road. But most frustrating for me was the dry clear air of fall was apparently perfect for setting prescribed fires, so that by late morning smoke was pouring into the valley, eliminating the glitz of the brilliant Indian Summer. My long awaited and I thought brilliantly timed visit to Yosemite Valley was not the triumph I’d hoped.

Still....It was Yosemite.

Mariposa Grove
I had figured I was done with the giant sequoias, but the Mariposa Grove was right there so why not, and I was soon turned on again, for five and a half hours. Not the largest of trees - only two of the thirty largest, but really, who cares? The forest was fine and above all the low October light in the late afternoon was perfect - there’s nothing like it.

Glacier Point
What can I say: Half Dome is iconic. I stared at it intermittently for hours. From Glacier Point it is a monk. From this lower point you lose the face and it becomes a shrouded woman, the Virgin Mary maybe, in a Tony Angell sculpture.　

Yosemite Falls

Upper Merced
Camped the next night at Hodgden Campground, warm and lovely, and took the day off.  Up early the next morningfor the 45-minute drive to Yosemite Valley. I food shopped, donned hiking gear, had cookies and coffee, and took the shuttle to Happy Islands Trailhead, by which time it was 10:30. Steep steps. Vernal and Narada Falls were nothing like what how they look in springtime pictures, but at least they were running. The wall behind Vernal Falls revealed evidence of what was missing, but it was particularly lovely at its base. Narada Falls was tough to get an angle on.

Vernal Falls

Vernal Falls

Vernal Falls

Soon I was on a plateau about to take on Little Yosemite Valley. Some clouds, some blue sky, cool to nice temperature, and no depressing smoke thus far. I sat in the sand along a real slow portion of the Upper Merced and felt darn good. Lower Yosemite Valley threatened to send me back into the woods, so I ascended a ridge and drifted along it until I was satisfied with the view of Half Dome or on top of Liberty Dome, whichever came first. I wondered if anyone else had ever commented on the silouettte of a mountain lion on the wall of Half Dome.

Half Dome

As I sat there the air began graying and I realized it wasn't clouds. The days’s smoke infusion was upon me. I figured it would come, I thought it would come even earlier, and I decided to see if I could wait it out. My spot was swell, views all around, but the smoke remained an issue. I ran out of patience and hiked back. Looking at the granite cliffs I was struck by how Obata woodcuts, which always seemed somewhat surrreal to me, actually capture the real sense of slope. I returned via The John Muir Trail leg, and that was very nice too. Helluva loop.

I had some vegetable lasagna in a restaurant in Yosemite Valley, a treat not available so near most mountain trailheads, and then drove back to the campground in the dark listening to Phil Woods. An RV was parked in my space! I acted infuriated but a young German fellow responded calmly and rationally and we ended up sharing the spot, he and his in their RV, me down in the tent pad.