07-11-2021, 07:46 AM
Still stiff and dehydrated but not experiencing those dizzy spells. The agony is fading and the magic moments remain.
Here’s Stacy’s original plan (which we sort of stuck with):
We arrived at the backpackers camp without incident and secured the awesome Group B site. Of the 20 or so sites, only 3 were occupied. You’re only permitted to be in the BP camp for one day while entering or exiting the trail. They lock down Hetch Hetchy from 5pm - 8am, so we had the entire dam completely to ourselves.
It was in the high 90s with no rain in sight. We dropped out warmies and rain gear (although regrettably I did keep my thermals just to add to my burden).
Our squad was Stacy, Tara, Alex (T’s high school pal who we introduced to backpacking and has joined is for several trips since), Bri (T’s apt mate for the last two years and who she’ll be moving to SF with - this was her first backpacking trip and her first camping trip was the weekend prior - one night at Joshua Tree).
Greg joined us the next morning, arriving right on time as I knew he would. He drove up just as T&I were at the parking lot dropping some stuff off at Darth CRV. Perfect timing. At my request, Greg let me borrow his iPhone charger (no reception at all but that’s my camera nowadays) - I never used it. It just added to my burden more. Kinda wish I could blame Greg for that but the fault was entirely my own.
I moved my hand sanitizer to the bear box instead of leaving it in the car. There was a report of a mom & 3 cubs at Vernon and lots of bears and rattlesnakes.
We crossed the dam and headed up to Wapama Falls with lots of tourists. Once we cleared the Falls, it was only backpackers - few and far between.
Here’s Stacy’s original plan (which we sort of stuck with):
Quote:Fourth of July
Arrive at the Hetch Hetchy Backpacker's camp, maybe do a warm up day hike to Smith Peak? It's only 13 miles (ha ha).
Day 1 -- July 5th
Start journey at 9am from the O'Shaughnessy Dam (3815ft)
Hike 6.3 miles to Rancheria Falls (4640ft)
Day 2 -- July 6th
Uphill 3.5 miles to the Tiltill Creek crossing (5500ft)
Day 3 -- July 7th
Go 6.5 miles to Lake Vernon (6568ft)
Day 4 -- July 8th
Hike 4.5 miles to Laurel Lake (6490ft), may add an extra mile to hike around lake
Day 5 -- July 9th -- back to O'Shaughnessy Dam (3815ft) and drive home
Option #1 -- 7.4 miles mostly downhill on busy trail
Option #2 -- 10.3 miles, possibly more scenic, fewer people
We arrived at the backpackers camp without incident and secured the awesome Group B site. Of the 20 or so sites, only 3 were occupied. You’re only permitted to be in the BP camp for one day while entering or exiting the trail. They lock down Hetch Hetchy from 5pm - 8am, so we had the entire dam completely to ourselves.
It was in the high 90s with no rain in sight. We dropped out warmies and rain gear (although regrettably I did keep my thermals just to add to my burden).
Our squad was Stacy, Tara, Alex (T’s high school pal who we introduced to backpacking and has joined is for several trips since), Bri (T’s apt mate for the last two years and who she’ll be moving to SF with - this was her first backpacking trip and her first camping trip was the weekend prior - one night at Joshua Tree).
Greg joined us the next morning, arriving right on time as I knew he would. He drove up just as T&I were at the parking lot dropping some stuff off at Darth CRV. Perfect timing. At my request, Greg let me borrow his iPhone charger (no reception at all but that’s my camera nowadays) - I never used it. It just added to my burden more. Kinda wish I could blame Greg for that but the fault was entirely my own.
I moved my hand sanitizer to the bear box instead of leaving it in the car. There was a report of a mom & 3 cubs at Vernon and lots of bears and rattlesnakes.
We crossed the dam and headed up to Wapama Falls with lots of tourists. Once we cleared the Falls, it was only backpackers - few and far between.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse