Married to a Mountain Man

I am married to a mountain man. That means we spend time in the mountains. So I hike. And I camp. But I don’t hike into the wilderness, sleep in the wilderness, and then hike around and out of the wilderness. Alex does all of the above.

I had yet to reach Alex’s high level of mountain man-ness until last weekend when we backpacked in Yosemite National Park’s backcountry.

The trip to Yosemite’s North Dome was planned for May, but extenuating circumstances (try torn ACL) delayed the hike to late August. It happened, and now you will hear the story.

We spent a good portion of Thursday night planning and packing for the two day, one night excursion. Many supplies are needed, including a tent, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, bear canister, 3-4 meals worth of foods, cool weather clothes, warm weather clothes, headlamps, sunscreen, and 100 other doodads that you never knew you needed. All of these must be neatly packed into a backpack or two.

Good thing he has all the stuff and I am organized.

We packed our stuff Thursday, and packed Prudence Friday. And then we drove due North about 2 ½ hours to the famed Yosemite Valley nestled in Yosemite National Park. This is one of our favorite places in California. Words really cannot describe the rugged beauty.

So upon arrival, we picked up our backcountry pass at the Wilderness Center in Yosemite Village and hopped on the shuttle that would take us to the Upper Yosemite Falls Trailhead. Yosemite is, as described above, indescribably beautiful. It is also very accessible to all types of adventurers, from backpackers, to climbers, to cyclists, to families, to non-athletic people. The beauty is accessible to everyone, if you will just show up. And maybe plan out your trip a bit, because reservations at the hotels and campsites alike fill up quickly. Just google Yosemite. 

We started the hike at about 5 PM Pacific Standard Time, which is pretty late to start an 8 mile trek up 4,000 feet of elevation. But we are young and unafraid.

The Upper Yosemite Falls Trail was rigorous. You climb over 3,000 feet in 3 short miles. That means lots of switchbacks and scrambling up boulders. I am pretty sure Alex omitted the rigorous description when describing the hike ahead of time. But it was too late to turn back. We worked the mountain pretty good, arriving at the top of the falls in about 2 hours. I later discovered, via the Yosemite quarterly paper, that the “rigorous” Upper Yosemite Falls Trail should take “3 or 4 hours” to climb. Not too shabby!

We spent a few minutes looking over the falls and hiked another mile to Yosemite Point. By this time, it was about 8 PM and pretty dark. And we had just done a rigorous hike in half the expected time. And I was walking with a crippled man/recovering ACL tear.

So we made the decision to stop, eat, and pitch our tent. It was a great decision.

We ate a meal of random contents, like bagged tuna, crackers, granola bars, Tollhouse bars, and nectarines. Hey, tuna in a literally tastes gourmet after a hike. And so do Saltine crackers. There’s just something about hiking and eating and everything tasting delicious.

After dinner, we settled into our two-person tent and fluffy down sleep bags and fell asleep. Not fast asleep, but asleep. My body fell asleep, and I was totally at ease, but the thought of a bear eating my food (or me!) kept me in a fairly light sleep all night. And when I did fall into deep sleep, the sun came up.

Go figure.

We rose with the sun, and although we didn’t get to see the sunrise on North Dome as originally planned, the view was incredible. We packed up and headed off. Now we had 12 more miles to hike instead of 8 more miles. But it was like 6 AM and we were not planning to climb as intensely as last night. And I packed instant coffee!

We followed the trail to the edge of North Dome and made it in about 2 hours’ time. We then hiked up to the top of North Dome and rested and ate breakfast. Alex was super happy. This was what he had been waiting for! After nearly 5 months of post-surgery lethargy, North Dome!

When you hear the term, it’s all downhill from here, you really don’t have perspective until you have climbed a mountain and then get to go down that mountain. It was, quite literally, all downhill from North Dome. Which is a good thing if you have healthy knees and ankles, but not a good thing if you are post-knee or ankle surgery.

The first several miles were gentle and friendly. I might have been skipping and laughing at one point. The last 4 miles, down the Mirror Lake Trail, were hellacious. Crumbling rocks, unending switchbacks, and limited water supply slowed our previously fast pace to a mere crawl.

Boy was I happy to see Prudence on Saturday afternoon. And so was Alex. OK, it didn’t help that we ended up walking an additional mile or two through Yosemite Valley because the shuttle buses were super full and we are impatient.

But we did it! And, despite a grueling start and finish, we completed a two-day hike with no injuries and awe-inspiring images etched into our brains.

And as with most of our adventures, I would highly recommend this hike. Or a trip to Yosemite National Park, at the very least. You will not regret your decision.

Grace and peace.