Backpacking in Yosemite 2019
Introduction
All I can think is DM must really hate me. He drags me off into the wilderness on some sort of “Adventure”. I freeze my nuts off. I poop in the woods. I lug thirty pounds of gear for endless miles that ruin my feet and strain my back. I eat terrible food. And I don’t get to bathe. For a solid hour, I hiked down hill over granite blocks, my eyes focused on my feet. I spent another endless hour walking through a desolate wasteland of burnt out trees under a burning sun. What kind of friend does that to another friend? A bad friend.
All I can think is DM must love me. He got my sorry ass off the couch and out to some of the most beautiful places on earth. The mountains soared. The brooks babbled. The cleans scents of nature surrounded us. For days there was nothing but us and our thoughts. I remember walking for an hour by myself through a sierra meadow surrounded by grey granite mountains. We hiked forever through a canyon with the Merced River next to us, cascading over one cataract after another. It still ended too soon. What kind of friend does that? A good friend.
Back in late June/ Early July, Dm emailed me to invite me to go backpacking with him, Mrs. DM, their Cub and their Cub’s friend hereafter known as Jersey. They were going to trek for five days through the Grand Canyon of Tuolomne Meadows. It sounded like an epic adventure. It also scared me.
I’m old. I’m fat. I’m out of shape. I like my creature comforts. I haven’t backpacked in at least forty years. There was a myriad of reasons to say no. Inexplicably, after about of week of rumination, I agreed to go.
I figured in the intervening two months, I would walk every day up and down my hills to get in shape. Eventually, I would start wearing my pack on these jaunts to get used to carrying the pack load. I did none of these things. I did walk the hills but not in the distances we would be hiking. I went out with the backpack twice, but not with a full load.
Yes, I did buy all new gear for the trip. A friend of the Queen’s runs a youtube channel about the latest and greatest camping gear. She forwarded me a link of what to buy. If I were Warren Buffet I could have bought a few of the items on the list. To be fair, I did buy the backpack they recommended. The rest of the stuff I got from going through listings on Amazon. I’m especially proud of my spork-knife I got at the Big-5.
I also spent the intervening days pondering the idea that I had made yet another tragic mistake. I didn’t want to be the guy on the hike that everybody hates because he can’t keep up or is always complaining about everything. But I was in the perfect position to be just that guy.
The days passed. Amazon packages arrived with amazing frequency. I acquired a sleeping pad, a sleeping bag, a Luci light for the tent. I got a tent and huge plastic bear vault to store my food in that reminded me of those 5 gallon water cooler bottles. The only thing I didn’t have to buy for the trip were my hiking boots.
One of the mysteries for the trip was what actual route we would take. Originally, we were going to hike up the Grand Canyon of the Tuolomne, but the heavy snows during the winter had wiped out two of the bridges along the trail. If we wanted to use that trail, we would have to ford the river through three feet deep water. That wasn’t really an encouraging option.
The back-up plan was to hike to the Vogelsang High Camp and then down into the valley along the Merced river. Looking at my guide book to hikes in Yosemite (another purchase) I noticed the Vogelsang trail went near a trail to Ireland Lake. I foolishly tossed out the idea we should go there if we went to Vogelsang.
I think my biggest fear for the trip was getting enough food. So, I bought a lot and completely jam packed my bear vault.
![[Image: bearvault.jpg]](http://brotherhoodofdoom.com/Images_Global/greg/bearvault.jpg)
Naturally, there were problems, the biggest of which was my car going insane the day before I needed it to drive up to Yosemite. We also lost the Cub. She would not be joining us for the hike. But her maybe boyfriend, Jersey, would still be hiking.
What the what? I would never attend anything with girlfriend’s parents without my girlfriend in attendance. Much less go on a five day hike with them. Too weird. And yet that was the plan.
Finally the days until the hike were down to zero and I had to go. My pack was stuffed. I had tons of camera gear but not nearly enough camera gear for my purposes. I had a couple of shirts and some thermal underwear. The weather report called for clear skies but maybe chilly.
I was ready as I would ever be.
Introduction
All I can think is DM must really hate me. He drags me off into the wilderness on some sort of “Adventure”. I freeze my nuts off. I poop in the woods. I lug thirty pounds of gear for endless miles that ruin my feet and strain my back. I eat terrible food. And I don’t get to bathe. For a solid hour, I hiked down hill over granite blocks, my eyes focused on my feet. I spent another endless hour walking through a desolate wasteland of burnt out trees under a burning sun. What kind of friend does that to another friend? A bad friend.
All I can think is DM must love me. He got my sorry ass off the couch and out to some of the most beautiful places on earth. The mountains soared. The brooks babbled. The cleans scents of nature surrounded us. For days there was nothing but us and our thoughts. I remember walking for an hour by myself through a sierra meadow surrounded by grey granite mountains. We hiked forever through a canyon with the Merced River next to us, cascading over one cataract after another. It still ended too soon. What kind of friend does that? A good friend.
Back in late June/ Early July, Dm emailed me to invite me to go backpacking with him, Mrs. DM, their Cub and their Cub’s friend hereafter known as Jersey. They were going to trek for five days through the Grand Canyon of Tuolomne Meadows. It sounded like an epic adventure. It also scared me.
I’m old. I’m fat. I’m out of shape. I like my creature comforts. I haven’t backpacked in at least forty years. There was a myriad of reasons to say no. Inexplicably, after about of week of rumination, I agreed to go.
I figured in the intervening two months, I would walk every day up and down my hills to get in shape. Eventually, I would start wearing my pack on these jaunts to get used to carrying the pack load. I did none of these things. I did walk the hills but not in the distances we would be hiking. I went out with the backpack twice, but not with a full load.
Yes, I did buy all new gear for the trip. A friend of the Queen’s runs a youtube channel about the latest and greatest camping gear. She forwarded me a link of what to buy. If I were Warren Buffet I could have bought a few of the items on the list. To be fair, I did buy the backpack they recommended. The rest of the stuff I got from going through listings on Amazon. I’m especially proud of my spork-knife I got at the Big-5.
I also spent the intervening days pondering the idea that I had made yet another tragic mistake. I didn’t want to be the guy on the hike that everybody hates because he can’t keep up or is always complaining about everything. But I was in the perfect position to be just that guy.
The days passed. Amazon packages arrived with amazing frequency. I acquired a sleeping pad, a sleeping bag, a Luci light for the tent. I got a tent and huge plastic bear vault to store my food in that reminded me of those 5 gallon water cooler bottles. The only thing I didn’t have to buy for the trip were my hiking boots.
One of the mysteries for the trip was what actual route we would take. Originally, we were going to hike up the Grand Canyon of the Tuolomne, but the heavy snows during the winter had wiped out two of the bridges along the trail. If we wanted to use that trail, we would have to ford the river through three feet deep water. That wasn’t really an encouraging option.
The back-up plan was to hike to the Vogelsang High Camp and then down into the valley along the Merced river. Looking at my guide book to hikes in Yosemite (another purchase) I noticed the Vogelsang trail went near a trail to Ireland Lake. I foolishly tossed out the idea we should go there if we went to Vogelsang.
I think my biggest fear for the trip was getting enough food. So, I bought a lot and completely jam packed my bear vault.
Naturally, there were problems, the biggest of which was my car going insane the day before I needed it to drive up to Yosemite. We also lost the Cub. She would not be joining us for the hike. But her maybe boyfriend, Jersey, would still be hiking.
What the what? I would never attend anything with girlfriend’s parents without my girlfriend in attendance. Much less go on a five day hike with them. Too weird. And yet that was the plan.
Finally the days until the hike were down to zero and I had to go. My pack was stuffed. I had tons of camera gear but not nearly enough camera gear for my purposes. I had a couple of shirts and some thermal underwear. The weather report called for clear skies but maybe chilly.
I was ready as I would ever be.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm