06-02-2021, 06:14 AM
I'll be in Yosemite at least four times this year. Scapino and his sprogs will dropping by at the end of August. I have a DM Death March™ coming up in July. And I just came back from nearly killing the Dowager Empress.
The DE has been in town for a week and trip into Yosemite is the first adventure she's been on. Granted, she's been quite content to hang out at the Lair, read and do crossword puzzles. But Yosemite has always been the lodestar towards which we journeyed. She had been to Yosemite once in the past. But it was late in the summer when she visited so there were no waterfalls at the time. As everyone knows, Yosemite with waterfalls is the best Yosemite.
To recap, the Dowager Empress is 82 and suffers from COPD. But, I thought I heard her say she was walking on occasion 3 miles. Great. She's in really good shape for 82. I figured we needed to get out of the car and maybe hit one of the trails. Obviously, we would walk up to Yosemite Falls but why not throw in a hike to Mirror Lake as well? Even though I probably haven't done that particular hike since I shepherded the Master Tu retreat up there a decade ago, I recall it as being relatively flat, much like all the trails in Yosemite, right? I even know there was a sneaky access point to the trail from the Ahwahnee parking lot.
Because of the Pandemic, the shuttle buses aren't running. The closest parking you can get to Mirror Lake is either Curry Village or Ahwahnee. And the Ahwahnee is about two mile closer than Curry. Thinking! Smart like. More about the reconfigured roads in Yosemite later.
The idea was to hit a couple of spots before we started our hike. We had a quick stop at Tunnel View but it was early and we looked directly into the sun to see it, so it didn't look as cool as it could. The Bridalveil trail head was completely closed as construction crews redid the parking lot. The view spot to El Capitan was also blocked off because the Forest Service was conducting a controlled burn. Our second stop was Swinging Bridge where we got a nice view of Yosemite Falls although this early in the morning it was still in shadow.
Yes, we had left kind of early to avoid a backup at the gates the park experienced on Monday. When we through the gate, though, the Rangers hadn't even shown up yet to sign people in. And despite my firm belief that you should never go into the park between Memorial Day and Labor Day, the crowds were quite reasonable during the early going. There were plenty of parking spaces at Swinging Bridge and we pulled right in.
After being diverted out of the park by the new road conditions, I eventually made it to the Ahwahnee. There were still plenty of spots there, too. The plan was to hike first and then tour the Ahwahnee. Now, I asked the DE several times if the trail looked like something she could do. And by looking at the first twenty feet or so, she said sure. Oopsy. The trail started off really nicely. There was a little waterfall coming down from the arches about fifteen into our hike. Then we saw some people practicing rock climbing techniques on a boulder. Then, for the next hour or so it was just us, alone amongst the rocks and the trees. The trail was cool in the shade of the fir trees. We walked slow with one or two stops. It took some time but eventually we made it to Mirror Lake. Of course, by now, it's more Mirror Meadow than Mirror Lake. And with the sun right over the top of Half Dome, it was kind of hard to see. But it was still patently absurd to ask which rock formation was Half Dome.
Now, the DE had a bit of a struggle to finish to Mirror Lake. There were bits of uphill that taxed her. We traversed some granite steps that are never fun for anyone. It was nice that I realized that we could use the bike path rather than the hiking path to go part of the way back to the Ahwahnee. But it was nearly enough. The hike back really started to tax. The slight undulations to the trail really cut her down. We found ourselves stopping every 100 feet or so. Plus, she pushed herself harder than she should have because she hated to be slowing us down. It was a close call whether we were going to make it back to the Ahwahnee without assistance. But we took it really slow and finally made it back to the car. All plans to go walk around the Ahwahnee hotel were cancelled. Next stop was the Yosemite Lodge for Lunch and recovery.
All plans for extended walking were cancelled. No walk up to Yosemite Falls. No tour of the Ahwahnee. And because of the new traffic patterns, we couldn't even get close to the visitor center. The road that used to run from the Awhanee to that area is blocked off. If we wanted to visit the Vistor's Center, we had to go to this new Day Use parking Lot about a mile away from the Visitor Center.
So, we drove to the view spots and took pictures. The Dowager Empress loved it. We stopped across the Merced from Bridalveil Falls in a couple of spots. We drove up to Tunnel View again to get a better view. All told it was a successful day, except for the part where we almost killed the DE.
At the end of the day, the Dowager Empress had 12000 steps on her Fitbit. She's usually happy to get 5000.
The DE has been in town for a week and trip into Yosemite is the first adventure she's been on. Granted, she's been quite content to hang out at the Lair, read and do crossword puzzles. But Yosemite has always been the lodestar towards which we journeyed. She had been to Yosemite once in the past. But it was late in the summer when she visited so there were no waterfalls at the time. As everyone knows, Yosemite with waterfalls is the best Yosemite.
To recap, the Dowager Empress is 82 and suffers from COPD. But, I thought I heard her say she was walking on occasion 3 miles. Great. She's in really good shape for 82. I figured we needed to get out of the car and maybe hit one of the trails. Obviously, we would walk up to Yosemite Falls but why not throw in a hike to Mirror Lake as well? Even though I probably haven't done that particular hike since I shepherded the Master Tu retreat up there a decade ago, I recall it as being relatively flat, much like all the trails in Yosemite, right? I even know there was a sneaky access point to the trail from the Ahwahnee parking lot.
Because of the Pandemic, the shuttle buses aren't running. The closest parking you can get to Mirror Lake is either Curry Village or Ahwahnee. And the Ahwahnee is about two mile closer than Curry. Thinking! Smart like. More about the reconfigured roads in Yosemite later.
The idea was to hit a couple of spots before we started our hike. We had a quick stop at Tunnel View but it was early and we looked directly into the sun to see it, so it didn't look as cool as it could. The Bridalveil trail head was completely closed as construction crews redid the parking lot. The view spot to El Capitan was also blocked off because the Forest Service was conducting a controlled burn. Our second stop was Swinging Bridge where we got a nice view of Yosemite Falls although this early in the morning it was still in shadow.
Yes, we had left kind of early to avoid a backup at the gates the park experienced on Monday. When we through the gate, though, the Rangers hadn't even shown up yet to sign people in. And despite my firm belief that you should never go into the park between Memorial Day and Labor Day, the crowds were quite reasonable during the early going. There were plenty of parking spaces at Swinging Bridge and we pulled right in.
After being diverted out of the park by the new road conditions, I eventually made it to the Ahwahnee. There were still plenty of spots there, too. The plan was to hike first and then tour the Ahwahnee. Now, I asked the DE several times if the trail looked like something she could do. And by looking at the first twenty feet or so, she said sure. Oopsy. The trail started off really nicely. There was a little waterfall coming down from the arches about fifteen into our hike. Then we saw some people practicing rock climbing techniques on a boulder. Then, for the next hour or so it was just us, alone amongst the rocks and the trees. The trail was cool in the shade of the fir trees. We walked slow with one or two stops. It took some time but eventually we made it to Mirror Lake. Of course, by now, it's more Mirror Meadow than Mirror Lake. And with the sun right over the top of Half Dome, it was kind of hard to see. But it was still patently absurd to ask which rock formation was Half Dome.
Now, the DE had a bit of a struggle to finish to Mirror Lake. There were bits of uphill that taxed her. We traversed some granite steps that are never fun for anyone. It was nice that I realized that we could use the bike path rather than the hiking path to go part of the way back to the Ahwahnee. But it was nearly enough. The hike back really started to tax. The slight undulations to the trail really cut her down. We found ourselves stopping every 100 feet or so. Plus, she pushed herself harder than she should have because she hated to be slowing us down. It was a close call whether we were going to make it back to the Ahwahnee without assistance. But we took it really slow and finally made it back to the car. All plans to go walk around the Ahwahnee hotel were cancelled. Next stop was the Yosemite Lodge for Lunch and recovery.
All plans for extended walking were cancelled. No walk up to Yosemite Falls. No tour of the Ahwahnee. And because of the new traffic patterns, we couldn't even get close to the visitor center. The road that used to run from the Awhanee to that area is blocked off. If we wanted to visit the Vistor's Center, we had to go to this new Day Use parking Lot about a mile away from the Visitor Center.
So, we drove to the view spots and took pictures. The Dowager Empress loved it. We stopped across the Merced from Bridalveil Falls in a couple of spots. We drove up to Tunnel View again to get a better view. All told it was a successful day, except for the part where we almost killed the DE.
At the end of the day, the Dowager Empress had 12000 steps on her Fitbit. She's usually happy to get 5000.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm
![[Image: 811c605d-9da5-44a9-8fc4-e0afed9f7a38.__C..._V1___.jpg]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/S/aplus-media-library-service-media/811c605d-9da5-44a9-8fc4-e0afed9f7a38.__CR22,0,1455,450_PT0_SX970_V1___.jpg)
![[Image: 452.jpg]](https://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/in_the_heart_of_the_sierras/images/452.jpg)