08-01-2021, 10:25 AM
Sentinel Dome - Taft Point Hike
6.02 Miles
1109’ Up
1099’ Down
I am now 2 for 2 in taking people on a hike in Yosemite and having those people fear they would die. Obviously, I’m not as sophisticated as Angus, although I gave it a shot, and must blab about my adventures.
Scapino and his Twins came to the Lair for a couple of days. He had a free pass to the National Parks and wanted to make good use of the pass by visiting Yosemite, Sequoia, and King’s Canyon National Parks. Scapino spent two nights in Yosemite before coming to Lynch Lair. I figured two nights wasn’t enough time in the park for anyone, so I arranged for a reservation so I could take Scapino and his brood in for one more day. I pointedly asked if the twins would be fit enough to do a five mile hike. Scapino said yes and pointed out that he and the boys climbed to the top of Vernal Falls via the Mist Trail. Since that is a pretty rigorous hike, I figured they would be fine. Why is my figuring always so far off the mark?
One of my favorite hikes is to the top of Sentinel Dome. You get great views from up there. The views from Taft point are pretty good, too and Taft isn’t very from Sentinel Dome. Why not do the loop? I’ve never done the loop but it’s not that long of a hike.
I am unfamiliar with the logistics of getting two young men ready to leave but it takes a lot of effort, much like getting a small battalion on the move. There are backpacks to load, camelbacks to fill, and food to find. Oddly it didn’t include feeding them at the house. Feeding occurred with the help of Judy’s donuts in Oakhurst.
I was going to drive, but Scapino stepped in and said his mini-van would be the better conveyance. I was skeptical, but about ten minutes into the ride, I realized he was absolutely correct. All the things that made the boys comfortable were in the van including the DVD player that held their movies. We did listen to a lot of 70s and 80s rock along the way as well.
Scapino and I threatened the twins with more talk about the log flume that used to run alongside Road 600. It was a topic I had broached the day before and was met with firm eye rolls and loud sighs of discontent. Part of the beauty of Flume talk was trying to explain what exactly is a flume.
It was the perfect temperature for the hike. The air was cool crisp and full of the scents of the pine trees. We got a good spot at the Trail Head just off the Glacier Point Road. Again, we did not immediately exit the car and hit the trail. Shoes had to be put on. Bathroom breaks at the pit toilets had to be navigated. Suntan lotion was applied. I’m sure my bit chomping was annoying.
The distance from the parking lot to the top of Sentinel Dome is a little over a mile hike. Scapino and I tried to impart our park wisdom during the walk and I hope it all didn’t fall on deaf ears. When we stopped about half way there, I figured there were going to be problems. The boys needed some more food and some gatorade from Scapino’s reservoir.
The best part about hiking to Sentinel Dome was that you could see it from the trail. You could point to it and say we are going there. We are hiking up that. This would prove to be important later on.
And then we were on top. I took plenty of pictures. Scapino took plenty of pictures. The boys didn’t seem all that impressed. Clouds started to build over Half Dome and the mountains behind it. I felt the spirit of Ansel Adams all around me. I bored the boys with stories of the Jeffrey Pine. I pointed out the Survey Marker that showed we currently stood at over 8000’. I was having the best time talking to all the other hikers and sharing the joy of being on Sentinel Dome at this perfect time.
Then it was on to Taft Point. Taft lies three miles away from Sentinel Dome. I’d never been on this section of the trail but the survey map showed there wasn’t that much climbing or descending. But there was some. But it was among the trees. The temperature was cool. There were perfect views of a dry Yosemite Falls.
The Younger Twin, for whatever reason, was charging ahead of us at a pretty good clip. Scapino tried to slow him down but Younger Twin had his own agenda. Until he tripped and fell full out on the trail. Then the screaming started. Really loud screaming interspersed with yells of “I hate hiking’. Fortunately the trail was pretty empty, so we didn’t disturb too many other people’s hikes. It took a lot of conversation by Scapino to get him to calm down enough to get him to resume the hike. The problem was we were about equal distance from the car whether we went forward or backward on the trail.
That moment kind of broke Younger Twin. He was milliseconds away from descending into sadness for the rest of the hike. It was a bad spiral for him. And we would stop every so often and have to calm him. And by we, I mean Scapino. I spent time hanging out with Older Twin. He wanted to know everything about 1980s horror movies like Halloween, Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Alien. I did my best to resurrect my memories of those movies for him.
At one point, we crossed a tiny creek. Only after we had walked away from it, did I realize that it was Sentinel Creek and if we had took a slight detour, we could have stood at the top of Sentinel Falls. But diverting from the trail wasn’t something in the cards at that point.
It helped that we saw a deer standing by the side of the trail. Many other hikers also saw her and we did the shushing gesture to all the other hikers that appeared so they could see the deer before it startled away.
One of the lessons we tried to impart to the boys was that Yosemite is unforgiving if you make mistakes. It’s up to you to know how to navigate the park and it’s intricacies. Naturally, we met a man and his family on the trail returning from Taft Point who didn’t follow this maxim. The father seemed flustered and exacerbated as he asked if he was on the trail back to the trailhead. Because I had studied the map before I left, I knew he was not on the trail to the trailhead. Scapino had a map on his phone that showed the father was not the trail to the trailhead. He got angry because he thought the trails were poorly marked. He complained the sign at the junction just said Road on it. Now, that trail isn’t very long so I was curious how he’d forgotten which trail to take on such a short journey. Later at the junction, I spotted the trail sign. It read “Glacier Point Road” I think that was pretty clear.
Younger Twin fell into the deepest pit of hiking hatred when I told him we had about another hour of hiking to get to Taft Point. He was not having it. I couldn’t really do anything about the time. The hike kept screeching to a halt when we had to calm him down. The length of the trip kept extending because we kept stopping. And unlike Sentinel Dome, I couldn’t point to Taft Point and say we just had to get to there. Even Elder Twin was becoming annoyed with Younger Twin. I did point out that it was Elder Twin’s job to look out for Younger Twin.
That was the final straw for the Younger Twin. He didn’t have another hour in him for this foolishness. He made his displeasure known at the top of his voice. Scapino asked me if I still wanted to go to Taft Point. Of course. You don’t cut short magical days in Yosemite. Scapino was going to talk to Younger Twin to see if he could convince him to continue. Older Twin opted to continue the death march.
Older Twin was getting kind of cranky that every time he asked me how much longer it would take, I said ten or fifteen minutes. Which would have been true if hadn’t wasted so much time stopping. The trip to the point from the junction did only take about fifteen minutes. The trip went quickly as I spent the majority of the time answering questions about horror films for Older Twin. I explained why Freddy was in dreams and why killing children hurt the parents. I explained about the cannibals in Texas Chainsaw Massacre and why I left the film early. I couldn’t really explain Scream because Older Twin didn’t quite grasp satire yet.
Taft Point was great, especially since a large group left Taft Point as we descended to the Point. There was hardly anyone there at all. I took a picture of empty Taft Point in the middle of July in the middle of the day. That has to be impossible. There was a mother daughter pair there when Older Twin and I finally approached the railing. The mother couldn’t do it. She touched the railing and promptly turned around and headed away. I took pictures of the daughter so the daughter would have something to remember the day by. The daughter asked if I wanted a picture with my son. I said Older Twin wasn’t my son, more of an abductee.
Later on we went the mother on the hike back up to the trailhead. The mother complimented me on how agile I looked climbing up the rocks on the path. I told her hiking was like walking on a cloud when you don’t have a huge pack on your back.
We found Scapino and Younger Twin back at the car. I thought Younger Twin might have us leave the park and go get lunch, but he agreed to go to Glacier Point with us. We promised him no more hiking. The clouds over Half Dome and the surrounding area were magnificent. You could clearly see Vernal and Nevada Falls. The Twins were more interested in the ice creams they bought at the gift shop.
It took some arm twisting but Scapino and I made the boys actually continue the hundred more yards to the actual Glacier Point. They seemed more interested in looking at the squirrel than the views.
It amazes me (although, probably shouldn’t) that two people can be at the same spot at the same time and have vastly different experiences.
6.02 Miles
1109’ Up
1099’ Down
I am now 2 for 2 in taking people on a hike in Yosemite and having those people fear they would die. Obviously, I’m not as sophisticated as Angus, although I gave it a shot, and must blab about my adventures.
Scapino and his Twins came to the Lair for a couple of days. He had a free pass to the National Parks and wanted to make good use of the pass by visiting Yosemite, Sequoia, and King’s Canyon National Parks. Scapino spent two nights in Yosemite before coming to Lynch Lair. I figured two nights wasn’t enough time in the park for anyone, so I arranged for a reservation so I could take Scapino and his brood in for one more day. I pointedly asked if the twins would be fit enough to do a five mile hike. Scapino said yes and pointed out that he and the boys climbed to the top of Vernal Falls via the Mist Trail. Since that is a pretty rigorous hike, I figured they would be fine. Why is my figuring always so far off the mark?
One of my favorite hikes is to the top of Sentinel Dome. You get great views from up there. The views from Taft point are pretty good, too and Taft isn’t very from Sentinel Dome. Why not do the loop? I’ve never done the loop but it’s not that long of a hike.
I am unfamiliar with the logistics of getting two young men ready to leave but it takes a lot of effort, much like getting a small battalion on the move. There are backpacks to load, camelbacks to fill, and food to find. Oddly it didn’t include feeding them at the house. Feeding occurred with the help of Judy’s donuts in Oakhurst.
I was going to drive, but Scapino stepped in and said his mini-van would be the better conveyance. I was skeptical, but about ten minutes into the ride, I realized he was absolutely correct. All the things that made the boys comfortable were in the van including the DVD player that held their movies. We did listen to a lot of 70s and 80s rock along the way as well.
Scapino and I threatened the twins with more talk about the log flume that used to run alongside Road 600. It was a topic I had broached the day before and was met with firm eye rolls and loud sighs of discontent. Part of the beauty of Flume talk was trying to explain what exactly is a flume.
It was the perfect temperature for the hike. The air was cool crisp and full of the scents of the pine trees. We got a good spot at the Trail Head just off the Glacier Point Road. Again, we did not immediately exit the car and hit the trail. Shoes had to be put on. Bathroom breaks at the pit toilets had to be navigated. Suntan lotion was applied. I’m sure my bit chomping was annoying.
The distance from the parking lot to the top of Sentinel Dome is a little over a mile hike. Scapino and I tried to impart our park wisdom during the walk and I hope it all didn’t fall on deaf ears. When we stopped about half way there, I figured there were going to be problems. The boys needed some more food and some gatorade from Scapino’s reservoir.
The best part about hiking to Sentinel Dome was that you could see it from the trail. You could point to it and say we are going there. We are hiking up that. This would prove to be important later on.
And then we were on top. I took plenty of pictures. Scapino took plenty of pictures. The boys didn’t seem all that impressed. Clouds started to build over Half Dome and the mountains behind it. I felt the spirit of Ansel Adams all around me. I bored the boys with stories of the Jeffrey Pine. I pointed out the Survey Marker that showed we currently stood at over 8000’. I was having the best time talking to all the other hikers and sharing the joy of being on Sentinel Dome at this perfect time.
Then it was on to Taft Point. Taft lies three miles away from Sentinel Dome. I’d never been on this section of the trail but the survey map showed there wasn’t that much climbing or descending. But there was some. But it was among the trees. The temperature was cool. There were perfect views of a dry Yosemite Falls.
The Younger Twin, for whatever reason, was charging ahead of us at a pretty good clip. Scapino tried to slow him down but Younger Twin had his own agenda. Until he tripped and fell full out on the trail. Then the screaming started. Really loud screaming interspersed with yells of “I hate hiking’. Fortunately the trail was pretty empty, so we didn’t disturb too many other people’s hikes. It took a lot of conversation by Scapino to get him to calm down enough to get him to resume the hike. The problem was we were about equal distance from the car whether we went forward or backward on the trail.
That moment kind of broke Younger Twin. He was milliseconds away from descending into sadness for the rest of the hike. It was a bad spiral for him. And we would stop every so often and have to calm him. And by we, I mean Scapino. I spent time hanging out with Older Twin. He wanted to know everything about 1980s horror movies like Halloween, Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Alien. I did my best to resurrect my memories of those movies for him.
At one point, we crossed a tiny creek. Only after we had walked away from it, did I realize that it was Sentinel Creek and if we had took a slight detour, we could have stood at the top of Sentinel Falls. But diverting from the trail wasn’t something in the cards at that point.
It helped that we saw a deer standing by the side of the trail. Many other hikers also saw her and we did the shushing gesture to all the other hikers that appeared so they could see the deer before it startled away.
One of the lessons we tried to impart to the boys was that Yosemite is unforgiving if you make mistakes. It’s up to you to know how to navigate the park and it’s intricacies. Naturally, we met a man and his family on the trail returning from Taft Point who didn’t follow this maxim. The father seemed flustered and exacerbated as he asked if he was on the trail back to the trailhead. Because I had studied the map before I left, I knew he was not on the trail to the trailhead. Scapino had a map on his phone that showed the father was not the trail to the trailhead. He got angry because he thought the trails were poorly marked. He complained the sign at the junction just said Road on it. Now, that trail isn’t very long so I was curious how he’d forgotten which trail to take on such a short journey. Later at the junction, I spotted the trail sign. It read “Glacier Point Road” I think that was pretty clear.
Younger Twin fell into the deepest pit of hiking hatred when I told him we had about another hour of hiking to get to Taft Point. He was not having it. I couldn’t really do anything about the time. The hike kept screeching to a halt when we had to calm him down. The length of the trip kept extending because we kept stopping. And unlike Sentinel Dome, I couldn’t point to Taft Point and say we just had to get to there. Even Elder Twin was becoming annoyed with Younger Twin. I did point out that it was Elder Twin’s job to look out for Younger Twin.
That was the final straw for the Younger Twin. He didn’t have another hour in him for this foolishness. He made his displeasure known at the top of his voice. Scapino asked me if I still wanted to go to Taft Point. Of course. You don’t cut short magical days in Yosemite. Scapino was going to talk to Younger Twin to see if he could convince him to continue. Older Twin opted to continue the death march.
Older Twin was getting kind of cranky that every time he asked me how much longer it would take, I said ten or fifteen minutes. Which would have been true if hadn’t wasted so much time stopping. The trip to the point from the junction did only take about fifteen minutes. The trip went quickly as I spent the majority of the time answering questions about horror films for Older Twin. I explained why Freddy was in dreams and why killing children hurt the parents. I explained about the cannibals in Texas Chainsaw Massacre and why I left the film early. I couldn’t really explain Scream because Older Twin didn’t quite grasp satire yet.
Taft Point was great, especially since a large group left Taft Point as we descended to the Point. There was hardly anyone there at all. I took a picture of empty Taft Point in the middle of July in the middle of the day. That has to be impossible. There was a mother daughter pair there when Older Twin and I finally approached the railing. The mother couldn’t do it. She touched the railing and promptly turned around and headed away. I took pictures of the daughter so the daughter would have something to remember the day by. The daughter asked if I wanted a picture with my son. I said Older Twin wasn’t my son, more of an abductee.
Later on we went the mother on the hike back up to the trailhead. The mother complimented me on how agile I looked climbing up the rocks on the path. I told her hiking was like walking on a cloud when you don’t have a huge pack on your back.
We found Scapino and Younger Twin back at the car. I thought Younger Twin might have us leave the park and go get lunch, but he agreed to go to Glacier Point with us. We promised him no more hiking. The clouds over Half Dome and the surrounding area were magnificent. You could clearly see Vernal and Nevada Falls. The Twins were more interested in the ice creams they bought at the gift shop.
It took some arm twisting but Scapino and I made the boys actually continue the hundred more yards to the actual Glacier Point. They seemed more interested in looking at the squirrel than the views.
It amazes me (although, probably shouldn’t) that two people can be at the same spot at the same time and have vastly different experiences.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm