Meanderings Of An Abject Fool

56 miles from Yosemite and a good camp with showers near reservoir, hello mayflies, not crowded and due to a rather large disappointment the perfect spot.

Bright and early as per usual today was going to be my long hike day at least the Mist trail and perhaps some of the Muir as well. The following day was to be shorter hike and check out welcome center. After that sleep to prepare for a visit with Pat she’d just a hop skip and jump from camp and the Telo after all gotta see folk about car. I mean it is the purpose not the only but for me important.

Per the net, parking is not great and best to start early. That in my case is no problem. dark when I head out and few cars.

Up and down round and round again and again I’m starting to understand “as the crow flies” but I’m not sure they get up this high. Stop by nearest town after my fuel tank shows only 1/4 tank left I hate that but this was closest one after leaving camp. Full tank less anxiety and I start seeing it.

Finally it happens I arrive. Give the gate my America the Beautiful pass and driver’s license and I’m through in the park… and waiting for line to move and waiting and yup waiting. Admittedly it a large park but approximately 45 minutes later I’m now fairly close to parking and I’ve gone perhaps a mile. Chances are I’ve missed the opportunity to get the great parking about 1 mile from trailhead but at this point I have no choice and can’t turnaround so I continue.

I image what happened to me happened to someone else only much earlier. How much earlier about the time I arrived. Entering the parking lot not only are there no spots there’s no anything. People have made their own spots not concerned with the area others in the area or any form of logistics whatsoever. I’m inching way through the narrow path through the lot when a car starts right in a spot in front of me. The driver frantic to leave immediately goes missing me by inches, I would later do the same thing and I’m sure this scenario plays out often and throughout the day.

In any case I lock up and I’m walking bout mile mile and half to trailhead.

Before getting to the heart of the matter here’s early trail pictures with little comment. It will be coming soon enough.

Okay the pretty out of the way let’s see the truth of it. In first picture you’ll notice the trail I loosely use that term. Much like the reservoir path in my current(excluding car and tent) it’s more like a golf cart road than a trail. Perhaps it changes I never made it that far and if I did I doubt it.

So I’m following those ahead, it’s more like a long line to a sporting event than a hike. Actually it’s the very antithesis of hike.

I get bout 2 miles in on the same concrete and I noticed many taking photos not of the landscape but of each other. Then I heard it. Two perhaps 20 somethings maybe late teens are talking and taking photos. When one says to the other “ you need to go back to car and get that tight half shirt you’re gonna look great on your page” while in background there’s an enormous wall of granite barely noticed.

That’s it for me I thought and turned around and headed back.

Frustrated and yes Crestfallen (choose your own word for the mixture of depression and surprise ) I’m going back to car.

It’s not over on way back down weaving through the throng of people I see a perhaps 50 year old extremely jacked man with no shirt and a baby on his back who screams to his 20 something girlfriend or whatever to get a shot of him and the baby on the wall he jumps up on and she takes a picture.

I’m a mile from car and couldn’t get there fast enough. I decide once there I’m going to go to visitor center and get that out of way as I’m feeling like not coming back tomorrow. It’s more of a Walmart than a park center selling everything possible I’m sure a kitchen sink as well. I buy usual sticker and run to car.

It takes an hour to leave park I fill up again I’m not getting low on gas again. I leave it to Google Maps (big mistake) to take me home..big mistake they don’t take elevation into the equation.

Google sent me up and down Sonora Pass the second largest pass in California at 9600 ft. During the trip through Wyoming Montana Idaho I’d see a max gradient of 5 maybe 7%. At one point this hit 25%!!! Excluding me I only saw bikers on pocket rockets going way faster than a reasonable dare devil would. Evil Knievel wouldn’t barrel house it down this pass at those speeds.

As I would find out about 1k feet from top my little car that couldn’t sent signal saying slowing down as car overheating. Pulled into on of the turnarounds let it cool and hit top and down from there. Hairpin turns all the way down. Ten miles to top with an elevation gain of 9600 ft!!!!

Hindsight funny at the time not so much camp sleep wake up and write this.

Mexican and Telo coming.