We got off to a late start, hitting the trail at Happy Isles after eating a quick early lunch. It was, apparently, spring break for many, and with the unseasonably warm weather the crowds made it seem more like a summer day than the end of March. Lots of people. The falls were flowing
but nowhere near what you would expect in a normal spring. Arriving at the campground at Little Yosemite Valley, we chose one of the spots closer to the river, and, as it turned out, too close to a campspot that had one of the two fire rings, which was shortly thereafter occupied by a group of about half a dozen gentlemen who were apparently there for a party weekend.
As we were getting our dinner going, another fellow, hiking solo, walked by and asked in an English accent..."So, I can just camp anywhere around here? I just arrived from Sydney, Australia at SFO at 9 this morning, drove up, and here I am". Well, here was a guy we needed to know more about, so we pointed him to a nearby camp spot and invited him to join us for dinner, during which he told us his story...he was on his way to attending a conference in San Francisco and took the opportunity to leave a bit early to spend a couple of days in Yosemite. So after a relatively sleepless direct flight from Sydney, he rented a car at SFO, stopped somewhere along the way to pick up a few camping necessities, arrived in Yosemite Valley, secured a wilderness permit and headed up the Mist Trail. he was wondering what he should do on his next couple of days, and we managed to convince him to stick with us and that we would show him a good time.
The party boys at the nearby firepit spot had a nice fire and their boom box going that night, but they seemed to shut down at a reasonable hour, and I always bring earplugs in my kit, in case I happen to be sharing a tent with a snorer, so I slept well. Our new English/Australian friend, Apobateman, was understandably a bit groggy in the morning, but after breakfast El Heffe, Apobateman and I headed up the trail towards Half Dome, while Fantastic Mr. Fox headed off to Clouds Rest solo for the day.
Arriving at the base of the cables, we met up with Chick-on, who had most graciously agreed to take a side trip from his Diving Board trip with Basilbop and JKW, to hold our hands while we went up the downed cables, even providing an extra harness and loop for prussik to Apobateman. There were a couple of folks heading up already, and one coming down. Chick-on helped us with a quick gear check and prussik instruction
and we were off
Having done Half Dome a number of times, I found the going with the cables down no scarier or more difficult than doing it with the cables up, and the fact that we were tied in helped overcome any mental issues.
Soon enough, we were at the top, joining a couple of other folks who were also there.
Chick-on beat a hasty retreat so as to join Basilbop and JKW on their way to Echo Valley. We thanked him, and after a brief stay on top to take the usual pictures, to check out the top of snake dike, to top off our water bottles with the little bit of snow that remained in the sheltered areas
and to scout out our route for the rest of the day
we headed down.
The view down from the top of the cables showed a gathering number of folks, and if I had to guess there might have been around 75 people who did the cables that day, amazing for the end of March but probably not surprising given the weather, the fact that it was spring break, and the ability to avoid the permit process. We saw all sorts of folks, those going up protected, those without protection, the older (one fellow said he was 67) and the younger (an infant strapped to his father's chest...I kid you not...the mother said they were climbers who had done the face of Half Dome so we cut them some slack). One guy who summited earlier than us said that he watched a wingsuit-clad guy jump off. So it was just another crazy day on Half Dome!
Once on the subdome we re-checked the visual of the proposed route
and headed cross country to eighth and quarter domes, which had been on my list of to-do's for a while. El Heffe then headed up to Clouds Rest, while Apobateman and I went straight down the open granite ridglet towards the intersection of the Half Dome Trail and the JMT
On the way, Apobateman spotted a bear running in front of us...quite a thrill, especially considering that we had had a long bear discussion the night before, him telling us that his daughter was terrified that he would be eaten by bears, while I told him that the bears were still probably in hibernation and our chances of seeing one was close to nil.
We arrived a camp around 5:30, Fantastic Mr Fox about half an hour later, and El Heffe about 7. It was a good day for all.
That night was a crazy one, even for the LYV campsite. The party boys were up with their boom box until 2, I am told (thank god for my earplugs), the only consolation being that one of their neighbors told us that a coyote chewed through one of their backpacks to get to some beef jerky while they were partying (instant karma?). The place was packed. and this was one of my favorite setups that I saw as I toured around early the next morning
And, horror of horrors, the solar powered toilets were completely out of toilet paper by about 9 on Sunday morning!
On Sunday we decided to split up...El Heffe had wanted to do the Panorama Trail, which he had not yet done, and we thought it a good idea to get the Australian up to Glacier Point, so they headed that way, while Fantastic Mr. Fox and I headed down to the car at Happy Isles and drove up to Glacier point, where we arrived within 5 minutes of the others. After eating lunch at the amphitheater and enjoying the view
we drove back down to Curry to get Apobateman's car and to clean up at the Curry showers. Apobateman secured a site at Upper Pines, and we decided to head over to the Ahwahnee at about 4 for a celebratory drink before driving back to the Bay Area. Well, the traffic was backup up almost all the way to Curry, so we ended up having dinner at the Ahwahnee bar so as to let the traffic move along. It was a fine way to end a great weekend, and I think that were successful n showing our new found friend from down under a great time!
