Yosemite-2006

Everyone has seen the typical images of Yosemite; the El Cap, Half Dome, & Yosemite Falls pictures…..but no one has seen them with US in them!!!

We started our short little trip with two nights in a campground. The Yosemite experience in a campground is like no other. Between the kids running through our site and the surrounding people cutting wood, it was anything but peaceful.

We were able to get a little solitude around the giant sequoias

The first day in the Valley was the opportunity to see some falls and fight some crowds. Strangely, this actually included carrying a dirty diaper down from the base of one of the falls. Can someone tell me why anyone would a) change a baby at the base of the falls & b) leave the diaper there???? We tried not to let it dampen our spirits.

Day two found us waking up early and running away from the campground before everyone else woke up to get a little climbing in at the base of El Cap. Nothing too radical or exciting, just some easy fun climbing with an incredible view.

Once the temps got too high, we headed out and went for a few more short tourist hikes on the Mist trail. Its always amusing to see how unprepared some people are when they go for a hike: no water, flip flops; I swear, we were wondering when someone was going to pass out.

Finally, day 3 took us out of the Valley and into silence. We left early and headed out from the Sunrise Lakes parking lot, where there were hundreds of cars. Fortunately we didn’t see nearly as many people as I thought. We enjoyed a decent amount of solitude and incredible weather.

took our time reaching Clouds Rest (by far the best view along the trail). Looking back we wonder why we only took 3 pictures????

The descent off the backside is really a quad burner and I was glad to reach our quiet little campsite. We were able to get away from the majority of people. Having our dinner, overlooking Half Dome, we heard someone yelling from below “hey guys there’s a bear wondering around”, the sound of fear in the womans voice still makes us laugh. Sure enough, the smallest little black bear comes wondering by us, barely even caring that we were there. Ahh city folk, they are so fearful of what they’ve never experienced. Later on that evening we actually saw a few people throwing rocks at the bear as it was digging up a rotted stump looking for insects or something to eat….I mean it was nowhere near camp!!!!!

The next morning we tried to get going early to beat most people on the trail, but caught up to a few that wouldn’t let us pass. We got another bear show with a mom and 2 cubs alongside the trail

Scenic hiking on pretty mellow terrain is always so nice and relaxing.

I was able to save Suzanne’s life from a falling tree….

Having only 2 nights in the backcountry is tough, you get out there and as soon as you find yourself giving in, you’re on your way out. We took total advantage of our last night by having several hours at our camp. We relaxed, explored, read, knapped, etc. Finally watching as the sun set from one of the greatest and easiest vantage points.