Granite Goddesses

I spent my time in San Francisco relaxing, reading and hanging out with my good friend Jo!!! It was so refreshing to see a familiar face and our time together was too short. I spent my last night in San Fran in my new friend Óscar’s house before beginning my trek to Yosemite Valley. I took the ferry across the bay and had a pretty easy ride the first two days. The roads were smooth and flat but the views were definitely lacking. On my third day out of San Francisco I started hitting the foothills of the Sierras. I camped just outside the park so I would have a short 30km or so ride into the park. But in that 30km I had to climb about 1000 meters, yayyyyy…. But it was definitely worth the effort; when I got my glimpse of El Capitan through the trees I cried and I cried again when I saw Half Dome. It was just so pretty and something I had been dreaming about seeing my whole life. I was finally here! I set up camp in Camp 4, which is the “climber camp”. Pretty much all of the greats have stayed here and it was wonderful to be staying in a place with so much history. Not Far from my camp was the Columbia Boulder and the problem Midnight Lightning with the famous lightning bold drawn on in chalk!

I hiked most of the Valley Loop Trail on my first full day in the park; I started by making my way to El Cap and took an approach trail to the base of the Nose. I of course touched the stone. I was so excited to just be here and touching freaking El Cap! I ended up climbing about halfway to the first clip in my Chacos so it’s pretty much like I did the whole thing, right?

The following day I rested, my legs reminded me that they indeed need to rest and after biking pretty hard for four days then hiking the Valley I decided to listen to them. It was nice just hanging out by a fire, drinking tea, and reading. I had planned on hiking out to Mirror Lake the next day but immediately upon leaving Camp 4 I turned left on a whim and headed up the Upper Yosemite Falls Trail. This trail is pretty much the opposite of my original plan of an easy, relaxing day hike. This trail is pretty much nothing but hiking up steep switch backs for around 1000 vertical meters if you go all the way to Yosemite Point, which is definitely worth it. Not long after starting the hike I made friends with Jacqueline and Max and hiked the rest of the day with them. It was lovely to talk and walk with them. On our way down we ran into lots of groups hoping to get to the top and we had to let a few of them know they would likely be hiking down in the dark if they pushed to the top due to their late start. It was like being on Everest and telling people to turn back from the summit because it was after 1pm. Upper Yosemite Falls Trail = Everest. There I said it!

I was surprisingly sore from that hike the next day, but I still ended up doing the hike I originally intended for the previous day. I hiked out to Mirror Lake and saw Half Dome up close and got so nice views of Mount Watkins. I was such a beautiful day to be in the park. I spent my last full day in the Park inside mostly resting my still sore legs. Hey legs, what the hell?!? I thought you were in shape from all the cycling! But it worked out for the best since the weather was pretty bad, chilly and rainy so I just hung out and edited photos. My ride out of the park was mostly down hill and easy, but sadly my saddle broke but luckily Brooks is good with warranties and I just have to bike to a Brooks dealer and I’ll get a new one!

Words and photos cannot fully express the true grandeur of the Valley. Being surrounded by these massive granite goddesses touches you in a way that you must experience to fully understand. I will be back one day.