Day 65

Today was a wonderful day. I woke up around 5am and struggled to get much sleep between then and 7am when I’d set my alarm. Today we had plans to go to Yosemite Valley. I’d never been before. We went and waited at the store until it opened at 9. Arugula needed to get her package but once they opened they said they couldn’t retrieve their package till later in the day. We got snacks and headed out to try for a hitch. Within 10 minutes a large sprinter bus pulled aside and let us in. It was a family with a husband, wife, and four kids probably in their teens. They offered to take us to the valley. It was an hour and a half ride down. They played a narrator that guided us through the park. I struggled to not get carsick and managed to do okay despite being in the 5th row of seats.

We were dropped in front of a gorgeous waterfall with a massive granite face. Maybe El Capitan? We walked around and I felt in awe of these iconic views I’d always wanted to see. I’d tried to come to Yosemite 3 other times and failed so it was great to get here. We had lunch and ice cream and then swam for a while in a river that overlooked Half Dome. It was wonderful.

We hitched a ride in the back of the pickup about 15 minutes out of the park. Then we got another ride about 20 minutes toward Tuolomne. Then we got another ride by soon to be JMT hikers in a ForeRunner. They were very friendly and chatty. It was about an hour drive. When we arrived we saw Bright Side, Eco, Slayer, and Sissifiss. There were loads of hikers I didn’t know also. We broke down camp since we’d left it setup for the day, made dinner, and headed out. Little Bag and SCOBY were doing 5 miles. We decided on far less and ended up with about 4 after all the road walk and side trails. I ran into a girl named Sarah who now goes by Dirt Pit. She said “are you Forrest?!” and told me I was the one who gave her my knee brace in Julian. She said it helped a lot and she’s fine now. That made me happy. I always wondered how she was.

We ended at a gorgeous campsite. It overlooked granite domes and is a giant meadow with a river running through it. Arugula and I laid out and looked at the stars and fading light and chatted. A great and relaxing end to the day.