Yosemite - October 2018

This adventure will forever be one of my favorites.

For so many reasons.

It was when we got engaged. It was our first backpacking trip. It was our last trip with Ben.

It’s hard to write about without getting emotional. I can’t believe it’s been five years. It feels like just yesterday and yet like a lifetime ago.

October 2018 - the five of us (Chris, Ben, Selena, Kevin and myself) were going to be in San Francisco for our cousin’s wedding. We planned to spend the weekend with family, spend the week in Yosemite together, and meet up with family again the following weekend. This was the first time we all traveled by ourselves together, our first and only National Park together. Looking back now as I write this, we apparently planned this very last minute, but also spent like no money. Ben reserved our wilderness permits ($30) and I reserved our campsite ($26) on 9/28, literally a week before the trip, and I booked our flights (paid with points) a month before the trip (who was I?!).

Ben had been backpacking before with some of his college buddies. Somehow he convinced us to do it. I think I was the hardest to sell it to - the idea of not being able to shower every day was a big obstacle for me. I don’t even remember if I had anxiety about peeing and pooping in the wilderness, but I do remember anticipating having difficulty with not being able to shower. Since Ben was the only experienced backpacker out of the five of us, we had him choose the trails and apply for permits. We gave him free rein.

What a mistake. Just kidding. Kinda.

The trail he really wanted to do was Clouds Rest, which he was able to get permits for Wednesday (10/10) to Friday (10/12), but we needed something else for one night before that trip, so he added Yosemite Point for Tuesday to Wednesday (10/9-10/10). Ben was easily the most fit out of all of us and he was smart. He probably knew exactly what he was getting into, and we trusted him.

Kevin is a prepper. He and I bought packs (he got a 55L at Marshalls, I got a 60L Gregory Deva from REI), new sleeping bags, sleeping bag liners. I remember in the weeks leading up to this trip, he was doing research on weather and the forecast threatened 11°F at night at the top of Clouds Rest. He told the rest of the crew to prepare. Even though we prepared, I’m not sure anything could have prepared us for how cold it was going to be.

If I were to summarize this trip in just highlights, this is what I’d say: it was really freaking cold at night, it was the best experience of my life, and 4,000 feet up in four miles.

Don’t get me wrong - I have really fond memories of this trip and I’d do it all again if I could. But that one hike, man, was humbling to say the least.

Itinerary

Day 1: Saturday, October 6th

The five of us flew together to San Francisco. The line at the rental car center was so long and took forever. Selena and Kevin waited in line, while Chris, Ben and I sat with all our bags. Ben had pistachios so we snacked on those since we were starving - it was lunch time in California, meaning past lunch time east coast time. When we finally got our car - Ford Flex - we just barely fit. It’s a five-seater, and the trunk space was completely filled with our packs and suitcases. I think our first stop out of the airport was In-N-Out.

We had reserved gear at Last Minute Gear - tents, sleeping pads, bear cans, fuel - so we picked up our gear while we were still in the city. There was a Philz Coffee across the street where we caffeinated ourselves. We went to our Aunt Vivian’s house - they were living in Davis at the time - and then met up with more family for dinner (according to Google Timeline, we went to Ming Dynasty).

Day 2: Sunday, October 7th

The next day was the wedding, we spent the whole day with family. It had been a couple years since we last saw them - Ben and I had visited with our dads and Kevin in 2016, but before that had been 2013 since we were last in CA.

Day 3: Monday, October 8th

Monday morning, we packed the bear cans, packed our packs, went to a Philz Coffee in Davis, said farewell to our cousins and grandma and drove three hours to Yosemite. Before we reached the park, we stopped at a gas station. Chris was hungry, so he went in and got a sandwich - the Three Alarm Pastrami. I wasn’t hungry but tried a bite and it was the best sandwich I’ve ever tasted in my entire life. Toasted bread. Pastrami. Chipotle mayo. Sprouts. It was so good. On our way out of the park at the end of the week, we stopped at that same gas station hoping to get it again, but the grill was closed. We tried our best to replicate it without the toasted bread but it wasn’t the same.

Anyway, once we got in the park, we stopped at the Yosemite NP sign for obligatory photos. We got our first glimpses of Half Dome and stopped at a pull off to admire her. Our first stop was the Yosemite Valley Visitor Center and Wilderness Center to pick up our backcountry permits. There was no place open for us to buy firewood, so we sent a team to scavenge for sticks to make a camp fire while the others began setting up camp (site #310 at Crane Flat). We made instant noodles with spam for dinner using the light of our headlamps. I remember we sat around the fire until what felt like the wee hours of the morning, watching the embers dance, and when we finally put the fire out to go to bed, it got really chilly.

Day 4: Tuesday, October 9th

I made everyone get up early so we could watch the sunrise at Tunnel View. We actually ended up driving past it by accident - going into the tunnel - because it was so dark and we couldn’t see. Eventually we got to the right place. We did not see the vista from the tunnel itself because of the darkness, but it is named because of the view you get as you exit the Wawona tunnel. We were some of the first people there. It was really cold. There’s a great picture of a cold Chris at Tunnel View waiting for the sun to rise. Tunnel View gives that iconic Yosemite vista of Yosemite Valley, El Cap, Half Dome, Bridalveil Falls and, if you know what you’re looking for, Clouds Rest way in the distance.

We took a drive into the valley to get up close and personal with El Cap and hiked to Bridalveil Falls, a quick half mile round trip adventure. Back at our campsite, we had some breakfast and packed up camp, ready to embark on our first real adventure!

We parked our car in a small lot on the side of the road, and had to walk along the road a short while, into a flat paved wooded trail. Now that our packs were fully loaded, Ben taught us how to tighten our straps so that most of the weight was on our hips and not our shoulders.

The Upper Yosemite Falls Trail leads to the top of Yosemite Falls - North America’s tallest waterfall, 2,425 feet above the valley floor - with an additional route to Yosemite Point which overlooks Half Dome. It is four miles to Yosemite Point with about 4,000 feet in elevation gain. Like I said, we trusted Ben. We followed his lead. I don’t remember if I looked up the trail ahead of time. I feel like Kevin probably would have, and would have expressed his concerns, and I probably would’ve said “it’ll be fine.” Pretty much the entire trail is switchbacks. One mile in, we reached Columbia Rock, with views of the Valley, Half Dome and Sentinel Rock. Ben’s tagline this trip was “we’re about half way there” - which was his answer every time any of us asked, no matter how far we actually were. There was a short flat, maybe even slight downhill, as we approached what would have been a spectacular view of the falls. Being as it was October - and maybe a drought? - we could see where the water normally falls but there was maybe just a trickle. The second half of the hike is arduous and soul sucking. More switchbacks. Basically up the side of the cliff the waterfall rushes over. It was hard, especially with 30-40 pounds on our backs - we didn’t weigh our packs, but I’m guessing. We were beginners and didn’t have lightweight gear.

We made it to the top of Yosemite Falls in the late afternoon, with time to set up camp and prepare dinner. Actually, we weren’t quite at the top of the falls yet, but we had set up camp in a flat clearing. Ben' had MREs, so we made them for dinner - MREs are heavy, but there’s a lot of calories in them and you don’t need fuel to make ‘em! Two of the ones we had were Chili and Macaroni, and Penne Paste with Vegetable Crumbles in Spicy Tomato Sauce. They come with snacks too, which we saved for later.

Day 5: Wednesday, October 10th

Our goal was to catch sunrise at Yosemite Point. another mile from camp. At one point, I didn’t know if we’d make it in time - the sun always rises faster than I expect it to - and wondered if we should watch sunrise and then continue on, but we made it! It was phenomenal. The sun rose over Half Dome. It was so beautiful, I don’t even remember feeling cold.

One of the traditions Ben had started the previous year was to bring a suit with him to take photos in these stellar places. He and I had gone to the Great Smoky Mountains in June of 2017, and even though we weren’t backpacking, he brought his pack on our day hikes. When I asked what he had in it, he said a suit (which was actually a hand-me-down suit from my dad). We thought it was a cool idea, so we did it for this trip. We got changed - this is how I remember that it was, in fact, cold - into the clothes we had worn to our cousin’s wedding just a couple days prior. And that’s when it happened. Kevin proposed! It was perfect. We were the only people at Yosemite Point, the sun was rising over Half Dome and we were on an adventure of a lifetime. Obviously, I said yes, we took a couple of pictures in our fancy clothes on the top of the mountain, and then we changed because I was freezing. We spent almost an hour and a half enjoying that magical morning on Yosemite Point (we had gotten there around 7:30 and started heading down after 8:45). Kevin, Ben and Selena stopped at the creek on their way back to camp to filter water, and Chris and I continued onward to camp to start getting breakfast ready and packing up camp.

We started hiking down around noon. We were feeling good - how could we now, newly engaged! - with maybe some sort knees with all the downhill climbing, but fulfilled. I remember Selena saying that she wouldn’t be unhappy if we decided to car camp instead of going on our next backpacking adventure. Yosemite Falls was hard, but Ben assured us that Clouds Rest would be better. I was nervous, but down for it.

It was 16:30 when we go to the car. Because it had been so cold, we stopped at the Village Store. I bought a fleece sweater (like a Patagonia Better Sweater, but not as thick) and Selena bought a full on down winter coat. We drove up to Tioga Road to the Sunrise Lakes Trailhead. I remember some of us were feeling lightheaded during the drive, and I think I had a headache. To this day, I’m not sure if it was carsickness, altitude sickness, dehydration, exhaustion or maybe a combination. By the time we parked the car, excitement and adrenaline kicked back in and we were ready to go.

It was 20:00 when we started the hike, like already getting dark. We had no lodging options, so we figured we’d go as far as we could and set up camp. The first section of the trail was pretty flat. I was tired and hungry. I was eating peanut M&M’s from my hip pocket (where I keep snacks). Suddenly, we’re going steeply uphill and it doesn’t seem like there’s another flat. Chris and Ben left their packs to go scouting up the trail a little ways to see what was up ahead while Kevin, Selena and I rested with their packs. We had reached the switchbacks, so we decided to turn around and set up camp. We’d tackle the switchbacks in the morning. There was a small clearing to the side of the trail that we had passed, so we set up camp there. You’re supposed to camp 100 feet off trail, but there was no other option. In the dark - it was like 23:00 - we thought we were close to 100 feet away, but the next morning we saw that we were closer to the trail than we thought. Also, when we thought we were headed away from the trail to pee (in the dark), we were actually headed toward the trail on the other side since trail kind of wrapped around our little camp - oops!

This night, I was exhausted. I sat on the ground and did not have energy to move. Chris and Ben told me I had to move, that I shouldn’t sit on the ground because it’d suck all the heat out of my body. I remember sitting there with my legs out in front of me like a little kid. Eventually I did get up and sat on a rock. I also forced myself to eat. I wasn’t hungry, I just wanted to sleep. This was also the night Kevin soiled his pants. For this part of the backpacking trip, we were having freeze-dried meals because they pack nicely into the bear cans, are easy to prepare (just add hot water) and have good caloric density. I had Mountain House Chili Mac. Kevin was having Backpacker’s Pantry Pad Thai, the instructions for which require that you shake the bag after adding hot water. Well, turns out the resealable zip didn’t fully zip, and pad thai got all over Kevin’s jeans (also, why was he hiking in jeans?).

When you’re in the backcountry and bear country, all smellables have to go into the bear can - that includes things like toothpaste and hand sanitizer. Now, that also included Kevin’s pants. We had two bear cans for the five of us for a two night trip, and we (and by “we,” I mean “Chris and Ben”) had already professionally Tetris-ed our meals and smellables into the bear cans - and there was little room to spare. Somehow, I don’t know how, they managed to fit Kevin’s pants into one of them. Luckily, too, Kevin had brought spare pants. Shortly after this, I happily went to bed.

Day 6: Thursday, October 11th

I woke up thinking I was in an oven. The sun was up and I was baking in our tent. I scrambled as quickly as I could to get out of the tent and take off some of the layers I had put on to keep me warm in the cold night. I want to say it was like 10AM, but there’s no way that’s right (is there?). We had breakfast and coffee. I remember taking the most glorious backcountry poo that morning. I also remember Selena going up, away from camp and “away” from the trail to go poo, but from our vantage point, we could see hikers and we knew - and tried to notify her but she didn’t hear us - that she was right next to the trail.

According to the timestamps on our photos, we apparently started hiking at 13:00 and tackled the switchbacks for what felt like forever, especially after the grueling couple of days prior hiking Yosemite Point. We took a little detour to Sunrise Lake and it started snowing! We had Sunrise Lake all to ourselves even though it was the middle of the afternoon - it was 14:45 when we reached the lake - and to me is the epitome of a backcountry lake (even though it is still front country). We filtered water, rested a bit. Chris was the only one brave enough to go into the water. There were campsites around the lake, so we even considered calling it quits and just staying there for the night. Shortly after 17:00, we continued onward and upward. Once we were back on the trail, we encountered a couple who really encouraged us to make it to the top. The sun was setting, so we knew we wouldn’t make it that night. As it got dark, we took out our headlamps. I remember there was a hill to our right, off the trail. Chris and Ben went up the hill to scout once more for a campsite.

I remember this night was really cold. I’m never able to open the bear can, but this night, Ben’s fingers were so cold that he was struggling to open it too. I remember dreading putting the fire out because of how cold it was even just backing away from the fire. I remember waking up in the middle of the night trying to get warm. By this point in the trip, Ben and I had traded sleeping bags - he had a really nice and warm blue and orange Big Agnes bag, but even still, it was cold.

Day 7: Friday, October 12th

We woke up early so that we could catch sunrise from Clouds Rest. We didn’t make it there for sunrise, but it was still early. We still had quite a ways to go until we reached the ridge. We reached the ridge at 8AM. The summit of Clouds Rest is at almost 10,000 feet in elevation, 1,000 feet above Half Dome. There really is nothing like it. Literal panoramic views as you stand on the ridge. You’re on top of the world. Awe-inspiring.

Chris, Ben and Selena stayed at the summit until 10AM. Kevin is afraid of heights and we went up the ridge quite a bit, but not all the way to the end. He and I turned around and headed back to camp to prepare breakfast and start breaking down camp.

Hiking down was much easier. We were back at the trailhead before 15:00, so it took us 3-3.5 hours to hike down. Overall, the trail isn’t hard - I think we were just mentally defeated from Yosemite Point. Clouds Rest is 13.5 miles roundtrip with an elevation gain of about 3,000 feet. People do it as a day hike. It took us a long time because we took a lot of breaks, got late starts to the day and took a leisurely pace.

We spent a little more time in the park, drove up to Tuolumne Meadows, but didn’t do much exploring on foot (we were tired).

On our drive out of the park, as I mentioned earlier, we made a stop back at that gas station in attempts to satisfy our Three Alarm Pastrami craving. This stop shows up on my Google Timeline as Miner’s Mart in Big Oak Flats.

We had booked an AirBNB in San Francisco (Daly City). We each showered twice and removed all the dirt and grime we had accumulated after four days in the backcountry.

Day 8: Saturday, October 13th

What better way to start the day than with In-N-Out. We returned our rental gear to Last Minute Gear in SF. In San Francisco, we rented bikes and rode around and partially across the Golden Gate Bridge, stopping often for photo ops.

We met up with our family again in the afternoon and went to Pier 39 and Fisherman’s Wharf, we saw Alcatraz (from shore) and sea lions.

That night we caught our flight back home.

Concluding Thoughts

I didn’t realize how leisurely we took it until writing this and consulting photos for timestamps. In my memory, we were hiking tirelessly all day long.

In Yosemite, there are designated campsites with a fire ring. You can only camp and have fires in these areas.

We did “MRE Reviews” - a one bite review of the different MRE products, such as Squeeze Cheese.

I miss Ben. I’m so grateful that he inspired us and believed in us. I never would have gone backpacking if it weren’t for him. He made us feel safe and gave us the confidence to accomplish this.

Part of me wants to visit Yosemite again because it was so fun and so beautiful, and there’s a reason why it’s consistently one of America’s top ten most visited NPs. Part of me is afraid to visit again, afraid that I might “re-write” over the memories I have from this trip.