Yosemite National Park and No-Lights Driving

My 11th National Park of the trip. It had been incredible so far and was only getting better.

In my last post pertaining to my Fall 2010 road trip, I informed you that I had my headlight switch had burnt-out. So I raced back to my campsite at Wawona campground, arriving just before nightfall, and set up the back of my truck to spend a lovely night among the trees and fresh air of Yosemite. I made a dinner of tuna-mac, played some guitar, and bundled up against the chill in the mountain air. There was a group that was camped next to me, in a rather large 1-ton, 4-door truck and looked like they planned to sleep in a laughable lean-to style tent on an inflatable mattress in the bed of the truck. It turned out they were a group of Naval Corpsmen on leave and seeing the sights of Yosemite. They invited me over to their campfire and I had a good time hanging with new friends that night.

El Capitan at dusk.

The next morning I rose early and tried to leave camp as soon as it got light enough to drive. I got into the valley and saw some big black tail bucks and climbers hanging out on El Capitan, including professional athletes Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson. I found a place to park, still difficult at 8 in the morning, and headed off to find a place to hike. I clambered up the trail toward upper Yosemite Falls and got some good views of the watery precipice in the morning light. It was a lucky time of year, there had been some fall snow and as that was melting the waterfalls became spectacular. (I'm told that they tend to dry up a bit toward the end of the summer/beginning of the fall.)

My first view into the Valley at dusk, just before my discovery of not having headlights and my scramble back to Wawona Campground. It was a beautiful evening to say the least.

I jogged back down the trail from the Falls with the "clock ticking" knowing that I would need to get to my uncle's house in Windsor before it got dark. Even so, I took a tour of Camp IV, the famous climbers' camp complete with some famous boulders within the compound. I swung by the view of Lower Yosemite Falls on the way to the bookstore to do "the tourist thing" and get some souvenirs for my family.

Half Dome over my left shoulder in the distance.  

While in Yosemite, I had to keep remembering to close my mouth. The landscape truly had jaw-dropping beauty. I appreciated it for its natural wonder, but viewing the valley through the eyes of a climber it was incredible! I was practically drooling... Someday in my future I want to visit Yosemite with a climbing rack and rope in hand and a comrade in arms alongside me. Those granite walls will haunt my dreams until that day.

Upper Yosemite Falls.

The rest of the day went by like a blur, although the landscape of the California foothills was gorgeous in its own right. I don't think I had ever seen an avacado tree before, and there were lots of them. In my mad dash to Santa Rosa I drove through the Bay area, across the bridge from San Francisco to Oakland, and continued north. If time had allowed, I would have loved to drive across the Golden Gate Bridge, but alas that's one more icon that I'll have to visit in the future. My pickup and I arrived in Windsor and the countryside where my family live, limping along right at sunset. I literally found their driveway with the light from my emergency flashers! What a relief though, to be welcomed to a strange place by my loving aunt, uncle, and cousins after some stressful driving.

Pretty stoked in front of Lower Yosemite Falls.