Backpacking Yosemite!
The Sierra Nevada mountains have always been on my list of hikes to do one day. Yosemite is right in the middle of these impressive peaks, or at least a portion of them are. Anyways this was once again a last minute plan/idea that came to fruition on Wednesday morning September 24th, this has been a theme on this trip!
I had arrived in Yosemite late Monday evening and got a last minute campsite at Tamarack Flat campground in the park for 2 nights. I did this to try and make sense of the park and what I wanted to do with the time I had here. There is so much to see and do in Yosemite and nothing is it not quick to get to one side of the park to other. So Tuesday morning I got up early and made my way to the valley floor where all the happenings happen. I did a short hike then hopped on my bike and went to the Wilderness Center where permits for the backcountry are issued. I chatted with one of the Forest Rangers about how the permits work and how to obtain one then came up with a trip plan. He was super cool with me and tried to get me a permit a day before which isn’t allowed apparently, he still tried anyways though! There are 2 ways to get a permit for the backcountry in Yosemite. One, you reserve it at least 3 nights prior to your trip date and, two you walk in day of and hope there is a permit available for the trail head you’re hoping for. This is what I did.
Wednesday morning I got up with the sun at around 6:30 am. I quickly tore down my tent and packed all my things back in the car before making my way east towards Toulumne Meadows. This is where I would be starting my hike and where I could obtain a permit. They open at 8 so I got there right as they opened to give myself the best chance possible for the permit. There were 4 other folks who were also getting permits, some had reserved it ahead of time though. Most people reserve these permits 6 months to a year in advance since they can be so popular in peak seasons. After a brief talk with the rangers about Leave No Trace and bear etiquette in the Yosemite backcountry they issued my permit after I gave them a brief summary of my trip plan. What was awesome about the Yosemite permit situation is that the only thing that matters is the day you start and what trail head you enter from, as well as your exit date and trail head. But no specific spots you need to camp or anything. This was super ideal for me since it was my first time in this terrain and wasn’t sure how fast I would be able to move.
Being in such a rush Wednesday morning I hadn’t even started to begin packing for this trip. I had thought about food a bit and got some junk food from the little village store in Yosemite Valley. But other than that everything was still packed into the THULE on top of the car. So in the parking lot of the Wilderness Center I unloaded most of the THULE and loaded up my 48L backpack which was a bit overfull with the bear canister that I rented from the Wilderness Center. I’m not sure how much my pack weighed to start but if I had to guess it was probably in the 40-45 pound range with 4 days of food and maybe too much camera gear. If that’s a thing? Definitely not a thing in my book!
Day #1
I started right from the Wilderness Center towards Raferty Creek trail leading to Vogelslang Camp. I was enjoying the hike so far up to Vogelslang, long approach with minimal climbing. Out here pack mules or horses are used to haul gear to these camps and tools for trail maintenance, hence why there are so many switchbacks unlike the east coast. About a dozen of these pack horses passed me just below Vogelslang Camp, a pretty cool thing to witness having never seen it before. Vogelslang Pass was the highlight of the day for me! Absolutely phenomenal views deep into the Sierras with alpine lakes hiding in the valleys. I spent probably about an hour in this area taking photos and shooting some video, couldn’t get enough. I wasn’t exactly sure where I would end up today but the goal for tomorrow was to summit Half Dome so I wanted to be within a days hike of that. All the climbing was mostly done for the day now, all downhill and flat terrain to wherever I end up. In my mind I had plans of going up to an alpine lake to camp but some rainy weather was rolling in and if I could be in the trees I would enjoy that a bit more. So I pushed further past the alpine lake to Merced Lake which was an established campsite. Also having a pit toilet would be a luxury. To my disappointment the toilets were closed for the season and had to shit in the woods. Here you’ve gotta pack out your toilet paper which really is not fun. Something new for me but did the right thing and threw that shit in a double ziplock bag and went on my way. There were only a few other people at the campsite but further away from me so it was super quiet and peaceful. Dinner was box mac and cheese, always a go to when backpacking, quick, easy and lightweight.
Day #2
It didn’t rain too much overnight but enough to get the tent wet and make for a miserable morning pack up with cold wet hands. For breakfast I had a bagel with peanut butter. This was going to be the extent of my breakfast for the next 3 days! Packed a while sleeve of bagels and half a jar of peanut butter. Super easy and quick which is definitely my style when camping. Once packed up and moving the walk along the lake was absolutely beautiful. Glassy water, perfect reflection, and morning fog with the suns glow hitting it just perfectly. As I was walking towards Half Dome I met the ranger who was staffing Merced Lake and he gave me an updated weather report which wasn’t looking good for Half Dome. Thunderstorms starting late morning and going through the evening until about 8pm. Half Dome is one of those peaks you don’t want to do when it’s wet and definitely not when there’s thunderstorms. At my next snack stop I took out the map, 100% paper maps this trip since I wasn’t able to download any offline maps before hand, that’s what I get for proper planning, or lack of! Actually really enjoyed only having paper maps and no cell service, something about a paper map in your hands is just so nice! Anyways, the next designated campsite was Little Yosemite Valley which is about three miles from the summit of Half Dome. This would be perfect, only ten miles from Merced Lake though so a short day. At this point I was kind of hoofing it to get there and try to beat the rain and be saved from setting up the tent in the rain, never fun. I arrived at about one in the afternoon and set up the already wet tent immediately before the rain came in as I heard thunder in the distance. I got cozy for the afternoon and just hung out in the warmth and comfort of my tent for a while before it was time to make some dinner. Tonight I had planned to have pasta with some garlic salt, butter, Italian seasoning and some parmesan cheese. Except that I forgot everything besides the butter so it was quite plain but still was nice to have some hot food. I also made some bedtime tea which was a nice touch before going to bed. I fell asleep listening to rain drops hit the tent and claps of thunder in the distance.
Day #3
After a sleepless night in the cold damp tent I woke up around 5 am before it was light out and packed everything up, ate my usual bagel with peanut butter and headed towards Half Dome summit. Luckily the rain had stopped at some point in the night and it was now clear skies and somewhat dry out. I made my way up Half Dome, just the approach to the steep stuff was a decent amount of climbing in itself. I was enjoying the morning light filtering through the trees casting long shadows across the valley. Once at the start of the climb up to the summit there's a bunch of steep switchbacks before you get to the infamous cables leading to the peak. I saw those cables and definitely was a bit nervous about it. I’m not usually one to be nervous about hiking scary steep trails but it looked steep as shit. After a quick break for some mini donuts I started up and boy was it steep as shit. Definitely more than I had anticipated no doubt about it. I tried to take some pictures and some video on the way up but it was so steep I felt like I needed to have both hands on the cables at all times. As I was heading up I was constantly thinking about how I was going to get down. After getting some tips from the forest ranger a couple days ago I decided going down backwards would be easier and safer (rangers advice) thanks to him it went really smooth. One way up and one way down that is less than a sidewalk width wide to pass other hikers. Not ideal but everyone was super nice and considerate to each other going the opposite direction. Once down the ranger checked my permit since there was no one to check before going up. Too early in the morning I suppose. At this point it was about 9 am and I was ready to be done with the hike but had enough food for one more night if I wanted and my permit allowed for it. If I wanted to finish this day I would’ve finished with about 26 miles which didn’t really sound like a ton of fun nor did I have a place to stay this night, so I chose to spend one more night in the backcountry. After a 19 mile day I made camp a little ways away from an alpine lake which was most definitely the nicest campsite I had the entire trip. I cooked dinner and watched the sunset as I ate a nice crescent moon was out just above the sunset glow that made for some cool sunset shots. Crawled into the tent and went to sleep quite quickly with sore legs and shoulders from carrying the backpack.
Day #4
Woke up just passed sunrise but the sun hadn’t crested the ridge quite yet so I was still able to get the morning glow that ended up being one of the prettiest views I had in Yosemite! I made some chai tea and a dehydrated meal for breakfast to have something warm since it was a bit chilly. I packed up my gear and then went down to the lake and walked around spending so much time taking pictures and videos, probably close to an hour on the lake shore just admiring the view and trying to get the shots that I had dreamed up in my mind. Once I finished up here, I got underway towards the car. Only about 7 miles today which was nice since I would have most of the day to chill out and figure out a plan for the night. It’s always so nice to chat with other hikers about their story and what their doing. The guy I met on the way out was hiking the JMT, we chatted for a few miles before he left for the visitor center to charge some electronics. I always enjoy these conversations I share with these people, everyone seems to have a different reason for doing it and is always giving out advice on everything and everything. This is one thing I do enjoy about going solo, you get the chance to converse with people rather than just a quick “hey, have a good day” when you’re with friends or in a group of people. After a few hours of hiking and chatting I made it back to the car just before noon. Unpacked my smelly bag and made some food with whatever I had, wasn’t much that’s for sure!
Yosemite was absolutely beautiful and I won’t ever be able to put into words how scenic and beautiful it is. When I go back to Yosemite I can’t wait to explore more and see the powerful waterfalls that plunge deep into the valley.
That’s all for now!
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