After two weeks sleeping in a tent or on an inflatable mattress on the floor, the king sized bed at the hotel gave us a good night sleep. We slept in a little. When we finally woke up, we made breakfast in the hotel room and prepared sandwiches for lunch.
The campsites in the Yosemite Valley were full again so we decided to drive to a site about an hour north of the Valley called Yosemite Creek. We had attempted to reach this campsite yesterday but the road was closed due to a forest fire. As we made the trip up, we passed the fire which had spread all the way to the edge of the road. For a five mile stretch of the road, the air was filled with smoke and we could see small fires scattered throughout the forest and pieces of smoldering wood. The fire seemed to be restricted to the underbrush and was not active in the trees. The fire fighters and rangers were monitoring the progress of the fire, but were not actively trying to stop its progress.
Our campsite at Yosemite Creek was well clear of the fire and smoke. Our site came equipped with a bear box, where we had to store all of our food and toiletries, basically anything with an odor. Apparently the bears in Yosemite will break into a car to investigate the slightest odor for food. They will even cut down a cord that is suspending food from a tree branch. These bears are clearly different from those in Yellowstone and require different precautions. I wonder how long before they figure out how to open a bear box.
We finished setting up camp by noon and were reading to start a hike. Originally we wanted to do a hike in the valley, but didn't want to take the hour long drive back. We found a trailhead at our campsite that led to Yosemite Falls, a lookout over the valley. Unfortunately, the falls were over six miles away and it was already about 1:00. We decided to start out and see how far we got.
The trail was really beautiful and unlike the parks so far on this trip. We passed large granite formations and crystal clear rivers. There were beautiful pines among the granite hills, at times they looked like giant bonsai trees. Somehow we lost the original trail a mile or two in and followed a makeshift trail marked by small piles of stacked rocks. This part of the trail became much more adventurous as it required us to scramble along the granite hillsides and tip toe across fallen trees that bridged across the rivers. On the way back, we took the official trail as our legs were tired.
Eventually, we made it back to the main trail and began making good time. We Gave ourselves until 3:30 or 4:00 before we would head back, as it would be dark by 7:00. Along the way we encountered two or three other groups, all of them had turned back before reaching Yosemite Falls. As it neared 3:30, it began to look like we might not reach the Falls ourselves until we came upon a sign that indicated that we had about a half mile to go. At that point we were determined and picked up our pace for the final half mile.
When we arrived at the Falls, we were glad that we had pushed on. We found ourselves at the edge of a tall granite peak with magnificent views of the surrounding peaks and the valley below. If you are afraid of heights, this may not be the place for you. We ate a late lunch while admiring the view and then headed back at a fast pace, hoping to make it to camp before nightfall. After 2:30 of determined hiking, we arrived at camp on tired feet. The sun had already set behind the tall granite peaks and within another half hour, it would be dark. The 12 miles round trip had been our longest hike yet and the views at the end had made it well worth the effort.
Before going to bed we cooked chicken ramen and grilled chicken drumsticks for diner. It started to hail twice which made us retreat to bed early.
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