We set off early for Yosemite. As we neared its elevations we could slowly make out the misty bumps in the far distance that grew and grew. We began to climb, and the road narrowed and became twistier, which of course made my companion happier. After paying $10 each admission, we were inside, a world of cascading steams, rivers, waterfalls that is the yosemite valley, which is surrounded by the most staggering mountains, almost sheer, for the most part clothed in trees, and above the tree line smooth granite caps, the highest more thn 5,000 feet above sea level.
We had arrived earl, about midday. We had booked a sort of canvass room/ framed tent to sleep in, but we couldn't book into it until 5 pm. Our plan was to find a place to leave our kit (a bear box: perfect!), surreptitiously change from biking clothes into suitable shorts, and then head off into the mountains equipped with Budweiser and sun cream.
J had chosen the walk, the Yosemite Falls. We could actually see them from the car park, a powerful gush of white water emerging from near the top of one of the highest peeks. I assumed that we would walk a quarter of the way up, say hello, take a snap or two and then nip down again in time for registration and refreshment.
We climbed all the way to the top. It was two hours up and two hours down. It was steep, very steep, the trail was an untidy, rocky mish-mash of large granite stones, sometimes covered with a thin film of light grit, which made the descent slippery. There will I hope be pics to go with this that can better describe the falls: a noisy, thunderous, powerful gush of water that had run its course to the edge of the summit and had nowhere else to go but down, hurtling in a cascading jumble of white foam. At the top we were able to get close to the start, along a precarious ledge, truly spectacular.
Coming down was slippy and hard because we were tired but needed to concentrate on our footing.. To keep our minds alert we revisited our Peterhead oil-rigging days and played 'When I went Shopping'. As the shopping list got longer, so the items purchased, as usual, became more unreal. American hikers passing us looked puzzled when they heard offerings such as '...a grizzly bear with all but one of its teeth extracted' or '...a 28 mm Vivitar lens'.
For once the American idiom has it right: awesome!
We made good use of mountain streams on the way up as well as down, but towards the bottom I was badly dehydrated. I fell in with a young man who came from SF, who gave me a spare bottle of water he had, as we exchanged habitats. He told me two pieces of news that I was not expecting:
(A) he was an Arsenal fan, and
(B) Arsenal won the FA Cup Final in a thrilling match against Hull by the skin of their teeth. I am neither an Arsenal fan nor a follower of football, but, as he nattered on, I forgave my companion. And so May 2014 was the year I got the result of the Cup Final coming down Yosemite Falls.
Bus back to Cam Curry, registration and locating our canvas cabin, parking the bikes under the trees all followed. It was rudimentary and only had one bed - a double. We showered and felt a bit better. Our limbs were creaking but over a beer and pizza, J told me that our steep ascent was a climb of over 2800ft. He also asked how I felt about being taken out of my comfort zone. Some things are best enjoyed in retrospect but I must say that, although it was tough, arriving at that summit and seeing the views on a clear sunny day made it one of the most enjoyable parts of the trip for me.
Which is more than can be said for the ceiling. I slept badly because, by contrast with the days, the nights are really cold. I also was missing the part of my comfort zone that includes a bathroom within easy reach!. J slept on the floor (on his camping lilo) and apparently a bit better than I did.
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