Day 64

I woke this morning warm and mostly dry. I had some dampness from camping on grass. I had some strange dreams. I had one where I was told Brody’s heart started beating again but only one time. But then I saw a video of him sitting at a table with my cousins and I went to see them all and I thought he was there. But when I arrived it was just a photo of him at his seat. I asked about it and all my cousins looked at me and asked how could I think it was real and that he was gone. I ran away from the table embarrassed that I hadn’t accepted he was gone.

Arugula and I had breakfast and then both separately did a 10 minute meditation. We left and immediately the views were gorgeous. There were ponds and rivers everywhere cutting through meadows and forests. The climbs were very easy in my opinion. I kept stopping and filming. I was asked about my gimbal by some JMT hikers and so I told them about HikerFeed and it felt nice to hear their enthusiasm about it. We went up over Island Pass which wasn’t really a pass. Then we started up Donahue Pass which was a little steep but not bad at all. It was exposed and rocky with tiny bits of snow to walk over. At the top was a ranger who checked our permits. We were officially in Yosemite. I had tried to visit Yosemite three other times and failed. Finally I was here. We sat and chatted with Barnes and Nobles and Banana Legs whom we’d met at Kennedy Meadows. Then we started down.

The hike into the canyon and down from the pass was absolutely gorgeous. Turquoise lakes and waterfalls and meadows of wildflowers and streams and views to the meadow below. Just amazing. We followed a river all the way down a steep climb to a massive meadow below. The meadow was about 8 miles long and gorgeous and lush. We saw lots of deer and marmots. There were also lots of day hikers and JMTers out. I felt exhausted being my second day back but I felt good too. After 20 miles we made it to Tuolomne Meadows and came to the backpacker campground. We met a guy named Bobby John who offered us food later in the evening. We also bet you with little bag and Scoby. We camped near them. All of us plan to go into the valley tomorrow morning. I’ve never seen the iconic Yosemite and why not? We’re here.

Bobby John sat with us while we ate. He shared salmon they cooked on the fire, sweet corn, and some amazing lemonade mixed with a seltzer water arugula was all excited about. It was a great great day. I’m so happy to be back out here.