An impromptu zero day in Yosemite Valley. The park itself is such an amazing place. We were told not to go as crowds are crazy and getting around would be a hassle. I’m glad we expected that as we experienced a much easier and relaxing time in the park. We woke up at the gas station and got a hitch in from two ladies visiting from San Diego. The ride was amazing as well with views of both Half Dome and El Capitan. The scale of these rock faces cannot be comprehended. Pictures can’t do it justice and unless you’re standing near the base of these faces, you don’t truly realize how large these walls are.

For most of the afternoon, Mackenzie, Rummage, Icy and I waded in the river that runs through the park and people watched. People were tubing and car camping all around the backpackers campsite. There were some awesome set ups that struck envy in a lot of us. Luxury canping. We had already claimed our camp spots luckily as the campsites filled up quick in the afternoon so we spent most of the time relaxing and enjoying the down time. Towards the evening, we went to the village store to grab some food to cook over the fire pit. Burgers, sausages, corn and onions with a salad. A pretty fine meal in such a beautiful park.

Sir James showed up a bit late after hiking the half dome trail. We drank beer and enjoyed the campfire until around 10 PM. We’re planning on getting up somewhat early to take the bus to a gas station at the junction out of the park. Two climbers that live in the valley work at the gas station bodega and have been giving us free ice cream and coffees. Well enjoy a quick pit stop before heading back out on trail.

Happy views…

It was quite surreal waking up in Yosemite Valley this morning. Had one not looked up for a while, it was easy to forget where they were. We got up and moving a little before eight to get an early shuttle to our hiker bus that brings us back out of the valley to the gas station we stayed the other night.

Once on the bus, we drove out of the park and got to see El Capitan once again. It’s such a magnificent view and the scale of it seems impossible. Getting a hitch from the gas station to the trail head proved a bit more difficult. We waited a bit as Spoons and Rummage were able to get a hitch with two Dutch individuals in an RV and they only had two seats. Mackenzie and I finally got a ride from two individuals from Hawaii visiting the park and doing some hikes outside of Yosemite Valley. All in, it took us about three and a half hours. We also had to walk a bit from a different trailhead to get back to the PCT but finally.

At the junction, we stopped at the Sierra Club and Soda Springs. Soda Springs is a natural carbonated spring… sparking water on tap from Mother Earth. We then checked out the Sierra Club, a place where John Muir and others met to showcase the Sierra and protect the land. A wonderfully built structure.

We then hiked to a waterfall to ‘shower’ and continued on our hike. Eventually, we came upon these incredible meadows with massive granite boulders. It was such an amazing scene and one of my favorite sections of the hike so far. That brought us to dinner where we ate by a running river and had some beers that we packed out. It was getting late so we pushed on quickly after dinner and made it to our campsite all set up around 9:45. Ready for sleep yet we’re all feeling great.

Happy Trails…