Yosemite

[Drunk Monk]

We arrived safely at Crane Flats amidst numerous bear warnings and past the fire, which really wasn't that bad.  We picked up 2 extra bear canisters, 1 additional back country pass and extra half dome passes.  It was my family, plus Tara's bf Alex and a classmate Akio.  Alex had only backpacked once before with his school class.  Akio had never backpacked and his mom sent him up with a janky borrowed pack that needed to be de-beared.  She packed shampoo and conditioner, aka useless bear magnets, because you can't shampoo and condition on the trail.  There was a cute pom in the next site over, and a big ol' bear trap at the trailhead.  I watched a butterfly die, it just fluttered about before me until it stopped, which I tried not to interpret as an omen.

The next morning I drove everyone to Tenaya Lake, and then drove back to stow my car at Crane Flat, then hitchhiked back to Tenaya - a two-hour operation.  I hate hitchhiking.  I always feel so judged.  All the hippie kids were really nice, pausing as they passed to say 'sorry, full up' but the rest looked at me like I was homeless.  Then a solo reporter picked me up, an environmental journalist form Oakland no less, on his way to high country to meet with some researchers.  We had a great chat and exchanged biz cards.

Stacy had already released the others to hike on ahead, so she and I hit the trail to Sunrise High Camp.  None of the High Camps opened this year, and Tuolumne  was set to open the following week, which meant the shuttle wasn't operative.  Our plan was to make our way to Little Yosemite over the next few days, then do Half Dome, then come down via the falls, and take Yart back to Crane Flats.  Tenaya to Sunrise is about 5+ miles, with a climb of about 1300 feet. Sunrise is at 9400.  Didn't seem like much on the map but in full pack, it kicked my ass.  I'm so out of shape for backpacking. It was a death hike.  And despite Stacy's denial, there was snow.  SNOW!  I don't backpack in snow.  But it goes past some stunningly beautiful lakes and the streams were very full.  Gorgeous.  

Then there were the mosquitoes.  Holy crap.  A swarm of biblical magnitude.  We started to notice them as we approached the lakes, but we kept moving so it didn't seem so bad.  So much water, a short season because it was defrosting now, so lots of breeding pools.  I have never seen so many bugs.  When we stopped, we became dinner.  Terrifying.  We were too tired at that point to move on so we set up our tents as quick as we could, just the shells, dove into them, and spent the next half hour killing what came in with us.  Then we bundled up as best as we could and went out to set up the rest of camp and place the bear cans in the High Camp bear lockers.  As I was finishing up, preparing to enter the tent, I was seized by a wicked calf cramp that hurled me to the granite in pain.  I could only lay there while the mosquitoes feasted, until my leg loosened up enough to crawl in the tent.

This is a pic of my backpack that I posted on sitonmyfacebook.  All those flecks are mosquitoes.  Everything looked like this when were in Sunrise.



Want to know what happens next?  Stay tuned for the next chapter.