This won't be as lengthy or detailed as many others have posted. Just a few key points. I'll gradually add links to pics over the next few days (at least that's the plan, lol). The hike: UYF trail w/OMG, Eagle Peak, El Cap, Ribbon Meadow, OBOFR w/OM, Rockslides. 29 May 2012
-Yosemite Falls: flowing better than expected. Each time it looks different, never gets old. OMG is always a treat, but the morning sun ruins the view towards Half Dome. The "up" direction is much, much more pleasant than the down. That water source 80% of the way up (the one that flows onto the trail) was flowing in all its glory, much to my delight.
-Eagle Peak: still one of the longest "0.3 mile" spur trails in the park. I thought about carving out a reflection "3," over the y-axis. Making it say the more accurate 0.8 instead. For how long will that sign stay there? Views always breathtaking, a 9 out of 10 in my book. Nevada Fall still strong. Observed a YOSAR helicopter, hoped it was merely a training session. No bench marker anywhere, grrrrrrr.
-El Cap: that big cairn at the summit no longer exists. Couldn't locate the bench marker. This is always hit and miss with me, now batting .500 here. Tried to go out as much as possible, still couldn't get a glimpse of Bridalveil. Leaning Tower wants to hide it. Only fall visible: top of Cascade (I think). A good half dozen backpackers camped there that night, perhaps more. Passed a few more on the way down to the OBOFR junction.
-El Cap Gully: didn't get a good look. wasn't motivated enough to bushwhack through all that overgrown stuff to the exit point.
-Ribbon Creek: pretty strong flow considering the fact that the fall looked nearly dry.
-Ribbon Meadow: marshy
-OBOFR: The trees are just merciless, almost as if they are following orders of some higher power to make this as difficult as possible to travel on, j/k. Much of it is still decent. Still a bit baffling that it was wide enough to fit two carriages. Mosquitoes decided to show up and get a couple of bites in at the rainbow rail. Useless lifeforms imo & get my vote for extinction. Fun to see the shadow of El Cap on the southern wall. Stupid low battery light started flashing on the camera, a harbinger of sorts in hindsight because...
-Rockslides: got a bit lost, had some trouble locating the road at the bottom. Obviously took a wrong turn (not sure if too early or too late). Quite a bit of unplanned, off-route scrambling practice. Wasn't particularly fun towards the end of a long day, but there was no choice really, lol. Diagonally traversed in SE direction before finally seeing the road. It was mostly straightforward from then. Broke out the emergency lamps/lights for the final 4 or 5 sections. Cannot stress the importance of being prepared for situations like this. It was interesting seeing some of the upper portions (switchbacks) of the road sneaking through the boulders.
-Finished in darkness. Saw many blinking lights on the El Cap wall, as well as from the summit.
That's pretty much it. 5-10 minutes of your life that you'll never get back, lol. Thx for reading.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/04/2012 09:07PM by Ohnivy-Drak.