6/21-6/25 - mile 906-942 - 36 miles - day57- 61
This is our story of how we got stuck in Yosemite National Park for 3 days... when we only planned on 1
We left Mammoth on June 21st... the first day of summer! We got a really slow start though and didn't get back to the trail until around noon. Our friend, Mermaid had contacted us the day before and told us her family was throwing a dinner party of sorts at Tuolumne Meadows Campground on the 22nd. Tuolumne Meadows was just 36 miles away from Mammoth which was very possible for us to do in two days but we had to get descent mileage in that first day if we were going to make it. So we booked it out of Mammoth, running past the Devil's Postpile (pretty cool and famous rock formation) and tried to walk fast enough to get ourselves away from the dayhikers that were flooding the trail. We made it 16 miles that day despite our late start but we never really got away from the crowds. Later the next day as we were walking into Tuolumne Meadows the crowds got bigger and bigger the closer we got. And then we arrived at Tuolumne Meadows and holy cow were there a lot of people at this campground. There were tons of families with huge tents complete with blow up mattresses to sleep on cooking hot dogs and steaks on their huge portable grills, and everyone drinking sodas or beers out of their coolers. Now normally crowds of people bother us... it's a weird feeling to be out in nature all alone and then all of a sudden BAM a ton of people are around. But we knew that somewhere in that maze of campsites all filled with people was a campsite that we were welcome at with homemade food. We put our blinders on, found the campsite, and had a great night with Mermaid and her family. There was pasta, chicken, guacamole!, salad, and beverages other than water for us to drink. It was a really great night.
The next morning we woke up and had breakfast with Mermaid's family and then set off for our next adventure: finishing the John Muir Trail. The Pacific Crest Trail links up with the JMT at mile 766 (I think) and the two trails are the same until Tuolumne Meadows. The PCT breaks off and continues north whereas the JMT goes down into Yosemite Valley. We figured we had done nearly all of the JMT and we were so close to finishing it that hey, we might as well go on and just do it. But we ran into problems at the ranger station. We found out that we would need a permit to camp overnight on the JMT and although it was only 22 miles to finish (we thought) it was already 10:30 in the morning and I didn't think I would have fun hiking as fast as I could through the last section of the trail and all the while worrying that we wouldn't finish and would have to camp and then get hit with a $5,000 dollar fine. So MudD went off with our friend, Hummingbird and finish the JMT while I spent the day hanging around Tuolumne Meadows with Mermaid and her family. MudD said that they had a great hike. They didn't end up leaving until 11 am but were able to finish the 31 miles that they did by 8 pm that night! They were even fast enough to climb up Half Dome - a really famous mountain that can be seen from Yosemite Valley. Normally there are tons of people on the trail... and normally everyone needs a permit to hike it but that day there was a storm rolling in so everyone had gone home, including the park ranger, so MudD and Hummingbird scrambled up to the top and they were the only two at the top! It was a great hike they said. But their real problems started after they finished the hike.
So they finished their hike and before getting the usual celebratory pizza and beer, they immediately started to try to hitchhike back to Tuolumne Meadows. Now even though the trail that they took was less than 30 miles long, the drive between the two locations takes at least an hour and half. Also it was getting dark and to be honest, MudD and Hummingbird both look like pretty sketchy guys with their huge beards and their hiker smell. One guy picked them up but could only take them about 15 miles us the road which is where he dropped them off and again, they waited and tried to get a hitch... which they were not able to. So they set up camp by the road and waited till the next morning when they were able to hitch BACK to the valley where they caught the only bus going up to Tuolumne Meadows. If they had been 10 minutes later they would have missed that bus. So up they came to Tuolumne Meadows on that bus ride and it took them 2 hours to get there. Meanwhile, I'm back at Tuolumne Meadows where it is raining and cold. Our friends Hermes and Lotus have just informed that that there is a free place for us to stay in Yosemite Valley and they have a ride down there. So I try to get a hold of the boys but for some reason, Hummingbird's phone is off. I was hoping that maybe they hadn't gotten a ride yet... I had been informed that the bus wouldn't come until the afternoon and so I was under the impression that they were still trying to hitchhike up. Hermes and Lotus had just taken off with their ride when 10 minutes later, MudD and Hummingbird showed up. They were completely exhausted from hiking 31 miles in 9 hours and then being up all night trying to find a ride back. They had no desire to hike out that day. Plus MudD's sleeping bag was wet and since the forecast showed rain for the next two days, we decided the best decision would be to go back to where they had just come from and spend the night in the Valley.
So back to the road we went. They had hitched for hours and not been able to find a ride but it only took us 20 minutes before a woman picked us up and took us all the way there. We found our friends and waited to find out where we were staying... and it happened to be with this awesome park ranger. She was amazing and fantastic. She had met Hermes before and found his blog and opened her house up to us. She not only let us shower and do laundry, but she made us an amazing, home-cooked meal with honestly the best chicken I have ever had. That night we slept great on her comfortable and soft carpet. That night we had intentions of leaving early the next morning but we were so cozy that we slept in... and then we were made breakfast which was just as good, if not better than the meal we had the night before. I really don't know how this woman learned to cook this way but holy cow. The best part were her home-made ginger scones which I then dreamt about every day since.
But all good things must come to an end so we had to leave our park ranger trail angel and head back out into the wild world. We put our thumbs out and it took us 4 hours to get a ride back to Tuolumne Meadows. Again, we had every intention of hiking out that day but by the time we got back, it was nearly 5 and we were all pooped from the travels of the day... so we set up camp once again at Tuolumne Meadows and hoped that the day after we would finally be able to escape from the madness.
No comments:
Post a Comment