A Writer's Adventures Backpacking in Yosemite: Longest Day Ever (But Only in Our Minds)

Yosemite Park Hike: Day 3 Miles Hiked: 5.2, 5 hours
Today we got to hike back down “My Mountain.” It is slower going than the hike up (I have to watch my steps more carefully) but not nearly so tiring. It felt like the longest hike so far (we actually passed our first night’s campsite before finding one for tonight), but mileage says otherwise (this is probably because we meandered around more on the hike up but we simply came straight down on the way out).

As much as I’m enjoying the surroundings and this experience, I am glad to be headed back out tomorrow. I feel dirty, smelly and gross at this point. The top three things I’m looking forward to most on my return:
3. Bathroom (ability to wash and dry my hands at any time!)
2. Deodorant (starting to think it’d be worth being eaten by a bear)
1. SHOWER! (the special bathing wipes my dad brought only work so well (surprisingly well, in fact) but at a point it all becomes an exercise in futility and merely seems that I am moving the dirt around rather than actually removing it)
See? Communing with nature does make you aware of the important things in life. I don’t miss my computer or internet or TV. I do wish I had another book as I finished the one I was allowed to bring (the lightest book I had: Then Comes Seduction by Mary Balogh) earlier this afternoon while Dad went fishing.

Today’s campsite (which took Dad forever to find; as I mentioned before, we passed the campsite we used the first night, so we’ve only got a couple hours of hiking left for tomorrow) is probably the best yet. There’s a large flat rock that not only shields us from the path, but has a great view of the river and valley; making it the perfect place to reflect (or read and nap).

The wind is gusting today, making it cold, even in the sun. It also seems to be making me thirstier. And it makes fly fishing harder. Even Dad has declared failure for today (he caught an even bigger tree than on the first day!). The wind always seems to come up when I get the release right, making my line blow back in on itself. I can see how it would be very relaxing once one had mastered it, but it is not so for me yet. The wind roars through the valley like a wild beast; I can hear it coming before it reaches me, and then continuing on down the valley before it circles around and returns.

Later. We’ve moved to another campsite, maybe 100 feet from the first. The first site was great in the afternoon, but it was in the path of the worst wind and more shaded, so it got colder earlier, before the sun had even sunk below the mountain tops. Our new site has the best fire ring of any we’ve found. It’s nice being back in the lower part of the valley, near Tuolomne Meadows as the mosquitoes are back to normal levels. Tonight for some reason I have the stupid “Soft Kitty” song from Big Bang Theory stuck in my head and it’s driving me nuts.

I finally stayed up late enough for all the stars to come out (the sun goes down early because of the mountains, but it doesn’t get fully dark until nearly 10 pm). It was like being in a planetarium. The edge of the sky along the mountain tops is a little lighter than the rest and the whole thing is circular like a dome and I’m the center of it all. I’ve always loved star-gazing, though I’m lucky if I can even find the big and little dippers (we did!) and Orion’s belt. (Sadly, Orion is not in the sky at this time of year, we did find Leo…possibly. I maintain we did as it is my sign.) It brings everything back into perspective. It relaxes me and makes me feel as if my problems are not as huge as they sometimes seem.

Spotted Today: Mountain Chickadee, Lazli Bunting Bluebird (possibly, we’re not sure, though it was definitely a bluebird), Deer (and I actually had my camera!), Painted Lady or California Tortoiseshell Butterflies (couldn’t get a close enough look at them to tell which they were for sure), Belding’s ground squirrel.