We had ambitious plans for the week. Monday we were going to hike the 4 mile trail to Glacier Point and then the Panorama trail to get back down. Tuesday, we were going to rest and switch from the Awahnee to the Yosemite Lodge in a bit of frugality. Wednesday, we would drive over to Tuolome Meadows and hike to Glen Aulin falls. We’d finish the week by ascending the North side of the Canyon, climbing to the top of Yosemite Falls.
An ambitious schedule to be sure, but the Queen had signed off on all of it. In fact, she was the one who suggested rather than taking the bus to Glacier Point and hiking down, we climb up the 4 Mile trail to Glacier. This, in the face of knowing that 13 years ago, it was torturous to hike down the very same trail. And we are older now. I think 13 years older. How torturous? I’ll show you the tape some time.
We had agreed to train to do all these hikes, but then life got in the way of all our good intentions. We did do one 12 mile hike up to Echo Canyon, which I figured would at least prep our bodies for an extended hike. But that was in August and that was the last big hike we did.
So, we were mentally prepared, kind of. But our plans were in place.
You know how to make God laugh, right? Well he laughed hard.
Sunday night a big winter storm rolled through. The forecast called for up to 4 inches of rain in the next 36 hours. In Los Angeles, a big storm that causes hundreds accidents usually only drops a 1/4 of an inch of rain. Uh, oh.
But the Queen and I are flexible. I cancelled the Monday hike while the Queen ordered up an in-room massage from the concierge for the following day.
Rain fell against the windows, as we dined in the huge Awahnee Dining room. Deer gamboled (Do deer gambole?) across the grounds, making breakfast of the only lawn in the valley. I opted for the daily buffet, not to be confused with the ginormous Sunday brunch. I stole strawberries and muffins for the Queen.
This was the first encounter with the dining room and it came off poorly and was a harbinger of bad dining experiences to come. Although, we were the first ones into the room, a lot of food on the line was already cold. Sure, a lot of bacon is good. A lot of cold bacon is not. The only thing that saved it was an attentive wait staff, although a bit snoopy. I got so I didn’t want to say anything if I could see our servers in the vicinity.
After breakfast, we took the tram to the Village store to partake in that age old ritual of knick-knack acquisition. The trip failed as no lucre changed hands at this time.
Since we were in Yosemite and it wasn’t raining all that hard, we opted to walk back to the Awahnee. It was quite pleasant. New waterfalls cascaded down the Valley walls. We stood in the spot in the Awahnee meadow where Ansel Adams took one of his memorable shots of Half-Dome. Half-Dome and most of the upper reaches of the valley were wreathed in clouds. The Queen and I used our cel phones to take some crappy pictures.
If you are a photographer, cel phones make you lazy. Sure, I could open up my back pack and dig out the five pounds or metal and glass and fiddle with the controls until I get something. Or, I could just whip out the phone and blast away, filling my micro SD card with marginal photos. I noticed during the trip I had to make myself take out the big camera.
As we continued back, I noticed two waterfalls falling near the Awahnee, coming down the rocks. I let the Queen continue back for her massage while I hunted for the base of these heretofore to me new waterfalls.
They were an easy to find. They came down and flowed over the Loop trail. Trail improvements complete with stones to avoid the water signified that this water had flown before. I climbed to both waterfalls bases, took pictures and video, and uploaded it to Facebook. In the cel phone camera’s defense, I can’t do that with the big camera. Well, I can, I just have to use the cel phone as an intermediary to do it.
Back in the room, the Queen was prepping for her massage. In my mind was the discourse about the logic of letting a strange man come in and rub my wife, while I headed for other parts. Well, I did get to shoot the humble brag photos before I departed. That made up for my lack sense, didn’t it?
You know how you’re being manipulated by the DM but you go ahead and do the things he wants no matter how foolish they make you look? Because well, I don’t know why. I knew I was being manipulated but I carried on.
After I uploaded the photos to Facebook, I got the message back from DM that I should go out in the rain and experience the real Yosemite. He wove some tale of how he had been out in the wilderness before the flood that launched Noah, hanging out under a rock reveling in all the magical waterfalls around him. The implications was that if I had any stones at all, I’d be out in the elements, too, rather than loafing in comfort near the fireplace. Did I mention the Awahnee does a free tea service for it’s guests from 4:30 until 6:00?
In order to be a real man, I had to go back out. It didn’t matter it was already my plan to make myself scarce while the oils and lotions were applied to the Queen’s naked flesh. Although it seemed like DM’s plan, it was my intention.
With my waterproof Gopro and a less than waterproof cel phone in hand, I headed back up the loop trail to Mirror Lake. The big camera could stay warm and dry in it’s backpack.
I have a lot of trepidation when I return to Yosemite that it won’t be as spectacular as all the other times I’ve been there. Maybe this will be the time I’ll be blasé about the whole experience. Maybe this will be the time that I won’t need to take another photo of Half-Dome because, god knows, I have hundreds back at home on the hard drive.
Well, the walk in the rain to Mirror Lake reminded me how much I love Yosemite. First off, I was all alone, not a soul to be seen. It was like I had the park to myself. Black Maples lined the path, their leaves turning to a bright yellow. Water droplets danced on the lake, while water roared passed the rocks in the creek. I could see water streaming down from Half-Dome at multiple points. Yes, DM, goddamn it, it was magical.
This was also the point where I gave into the selfie. I don’t like them. It’s narcissism at it’s finest. Who cares where I am, look at me in the picture. What’s the matter? Are you so socially inept can’t you find somebody to take a picture of you.
Did I mention I was all alone? Did I mention that I couldn’t have DM just besmirching my character without some response? Well, I didn’t but I am now. Attention must be paid, dammit.
So, I lined up my Big Ugly Mug with three waterfalls coming down Half-Dome in the background. That will show him. DM talked about magical waterfalls. I had proof of them. It was also fun to use the GoPro, in it’s waterproof housing, to take movies of all the pouring rain.
Here is a photo tip, when shooting in the rain, make sure you wipe of the plastic in front of the camera lens before you take a photo. Otherwise, you get lets of really blurry shots taken through water drops. I have hours of footage to show you why that is a bad idea.
I wandered and I enjoyed life. The anger in my breast cooled for a moment. It flared into life as a motorized cart passed me, cleaning the bicycle path. On the one hand, the noise infuriated me. On the other, it was a really cool little cart with a big sweeper on the front.
Back in the Awahnee, I found the Queen in the Solarium reading a book and watching more deer on the lawn outside. We texted Deborah and Brian to find out their plans. Their plan turned out to be sitting in the Awahnee great room in front of the fire about seventy feet away from us.
We dined in the Dining Room. This meal went passably. I’m still annoyed by the cost of the food, but we had good company.
The Queen and I braved the rain for a walk to lower Yosemite Falls. We took the loop trail over and sure enough we bumped into Deb and Brian. I guess Yosemite just guides you to people you know.
The Lower falls roared away. The selfie problem was taking a firm hold, but we did get some people to take a shot of the Queen and I, so it hadn’t fully taken root at this point. Even the Queen was taking selfies.
For dinner, we dined in the bar. I only had to send my food back once. It seems when you order a pastrami and cheese, you would think you would get cheese.