Solo Hiking to Yosemite Valley – PCT 2017: A Hiking Story [24]
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Part 23 ‘Walls of Snow at Mammoth & Donohue Pass’
Day 74 (11/06) – Lyell River and Tuolumne Meadows
I woke up cold one or two times during the night, but for the most part, my post-Donohue Pass campsite was great, getting a lot more sleep than the terrible camp the night before. I ate breakfast and coffee and packed up, leaving at around 6am. Today it was the Lyell Canyon Valley before me, the entrance to the well-known greater Yosemite National Park!
I had to descend the final few hundred feet before reaching the valley below. I was glad I camped above the valley. The early morning hard snow made the steep section easier to hike on, and it was fairly swampy in the meadow below. When I reached the meadow, the snow became patchy and there was… actual trail! Sure a lot of it was underwater with the snow melts by this point, but it was nice to actually see the ground for a change. Not only was it some trail, but most of the day’s hike also ended up being trail – approx 60% trail, 25% water, 15% snow. The water parts were such a tease, as I had to hike to the side of the trail, now just another small creek to add to all the watery features around me!
I passed many side streams, but thankfully the ones I needed to cross were mostly’ jumpable’ (is that a word?). One river involved a log crossing, and the larger crossings had bridges. Log crossings can be pretty sketchy don’t the PCT, but thankfully this one was decent.
About halfway through the day, it began to snow, and the wind picked up. It was patchy snow, with intermittent sun patches, creating the snow version of a sun shower (sun snower?). This had been only the second time in my life I had hiked in the snow (remember, I’m Australian!), and I loved the experience!
Further downstream, the Lyell River really started to swell from its banks. There was a cool section with two wooden bridges to cross before eventually reaching Tuolumne Meadows. Tuolumne Meadows was a recreational base used for hiking and skiing, by the side of Tioga Road. In a normal year, this road would provide access from west to east over the Sierra Nevada Range, but this year the road was still snowed under.
I passed several dilapidated cabins on the way, along with a crushed port-a-loo! Had the buildings collapsed inward from the snow, or were the roofs removed in anticipation? I didn’t know. As I reached Tioga Road, I could see the remarkable Lembert Dome in the background. There was no one around me at all… I was alone. I passed the ranger’s station, visitor centre and post office, but they were all locked.
I walked down the road until I got to a small stone hut that was not locked. It turned out to be a ski cabin, located near the campground and road junction. It was unlocked, there to be used for winter adventurers – ‘what a find I thought!’. The hut contained 10 bunk beds, 2 picnic tables and an internal fireplace. ‘Finally, I’m out of the cold!‘ I said to myself, and prepared some overdue lunch. While eating my cheese and salami wraps, I flipped on the register to find that Frosty (formally ‘Claire’ – one of the girls I started with back on day 1) and a few other PCT hikers had been here too. It wasn’t clear if they stayed yesterday or today, or where they had headed after.
In the previous days, I had made the decision myself, to head off the PCT, and continue down the John Muir Trail (which is mostly part of the PCT, that I had been on since Mount Whitney). The PCT leaves the JMT here at Tuolumne Meadows. I really wanted to see the touristy Yosemite Valley, which was largely why I wanted to head down. Also, I knew the next section of the PCT had dangerous flooded river conditions, in which some hikers before me had really gotten messed up. I wondered which way Frosty and the other hikers went…
Having now eaten, I looked outside – the weather was growing even worse, and was freezing. I decided I might stay here for the night with the looming bad weather outside. A fire would be easy to get going and stay dry, and I can pack up early to start out hiking straight away tomorrow.
Checking the forecast using my inReach satellite device, it told me the snow was meant to continue until tomorrow afternoon sometime and temps went down to -3℃! The near-zero temperatures I was getting used to anyway, as I had camped with frozen water all around me many times. But, it’s harder – and it’s not like you always get a hut opportunity like this on trail!
It felt weird being here, post-apocalyptic even like from a movie or book. There were no signs of life around me, yet, here I was, in this fully functioning ski hut with a large supply of firewood, and basic cooking facilities with no gas or electricity. After hiking alone for several days, I started to become more childish with myself and started thinking aloud. Let’s just say I had a really happy moment in life, enjoying all these weird psychological journies with my mind! I utilised the downtime to also set up my solar panels outside – I needed to absorb any sunlight I could, as I knew I’d run out if I didn’t.
For dinner, I made a mashed potato with cheese and venison jerky (which I got off Canary before she went off trail), followed by hot chocolate. It’s so cosy to have your own sustainable home to yourself. I seriously felt like I was in The Walking Dead, and needed to hold up to avoid the zombies… or bears in this case – being in the heart of Black Bear country. The sudden craving to watch ‘Into the Wild’ popped up, which just happened to be the only movie 0n my phone. I had downloaded it to watch with Rex one night camping out, as she hadn’t seen it yet. However, anytime we tried to watch it, the sun was beaming through the tent too bright, and by the time the sun had set, it would be ‘hiker-midnight’ and sleepy time haha.
‘Today, was a such great day!’ I told myself before drifting off to sleep.
Distance hiked: 10.5 miles
Total PCT hiked: 942.5 miles
Day 75 (12/06) – Heading Down to Yosemite Valley
In the morning, I prepared some coffee and oats in the warm hut – the fire now was well and truly out, but still radiated some heat from the coals.
The snow had stopped falling by now, and when I went outside, I was surprised to see the changed landscape from the thin dusting of snow. It was only light here, but I’d soon find out ahead it was 3-4 inches in places higher up!
Navigating to, and along, the John Muir trail was tougher than I expected. The powder snow removed any visible signs of the trail, and made it hard to see hills due to the definition and glare. It was still overcast and cloudy, and I couldn’t see many peaks aside from ones really close by. On days like this, a GPS topo map is essential as there are no landmarks or even accurate contours to help guide you. Trees also block your line of sight, and at times, I thought I was going in the right direction, but in fact, I wasn’t and needed to rejoin the ‘trail’ via different routes.
Not too far into the day, I met some hikers doing the John Muir Trail (or JMT, which I now had deviated from the PCT onto). They were hiking in the opposite direction to me. Having camped (only an hour away from the hut), they were more heavily snowed upon and hadn’t packed up camp yet. I told them about the hut that was only 2 miles ahead, sadly they never knew about it – I would have had a nice warm fire going for them, having known!
There were bear tracks everywhere in this section, some fresh in the previous evening’s powder snowfall. The strategy to scare a Black Bear away was to look big, be loud, and wave your arms like a madman! Easy right? I can’t say I wasn’t about to poo my pants if I saw one though!
Eventually, I made it down from the upper section, leading to the lower valley. Finally, I could see the famous huge granite boulders and bluffs dominating the vista before me. I camped in a forest burn area, just before the turn-off to Half Dome, still unsure if I was going to climb it or not.
As I cooked dinner, a deer came and ate by my tent – the deer meant bears weren’t around, which made me feel safe. I knew from the footprints and Yosemite’s reputation, that bears were everywhere here, so sometimes seeing a harmless friend nearby was reassuring. ‘I wonder if the deer thinks the same when being around me’ I thought.
Distance hiked: 11 miles
(Off PCT, on the JMT)
Day 76 (13/06) – Being a Tourist in Yosemite Valley
The morning was super chilly, and getting up at 4am as I originally planned was off the cards – after all, my life was time free – why should I get up early?
My shoes and socks were frosted over, like cardboard. I was thinking about climbing Half Dome still, but what happens if I get caught without the permit? A fine? How will they find out? So many unknowns to consider, but it just hurts my head thinking about it.
When I got to the Half Dome trail junction, I saw a notice about bears and marmots breaking into packs left (the trail was only 2 miles long – slackpacking made sense). I decided to come back to it later, and pushed on. About a mile downhill after was Little Yosemite Campground. ‘I could stay here overnight’, I thought to myself. It was so early though and I really just wanted a shower and a proper meal first, so I pressed on to the valley below.
Not having realised it at the time, I needed to descend 2000 feet to reach the valley. I passed two major waterfalls in the area – Nevada and Vernal Falls on the Merced River. I didn’t spend much time as I intended to return to this section. The food and shower cravings were really bad at this point – nothing was stopping me from getting pizza or burgers now!
At about 7-8am the first day-hikers started to pass me, heading up to Half Dome or the waterfalls. ‘Day hikers… they are so different to me now‘ I thought to myself. The aroma of soap, cologne, perfume or straight deodorant becomes thick, as I as pass each person – almost all thru-hikers sacrifice these luxuries due to their pointlessness on trail. It was here that I felt a bit like a dog with my acute sense of smell.
The selfie sticks and cameras came out at every opportunity, regardless of the shot at hand. Shirtless gym guys with hip-hop blaring from their phones, girls wearing tight jeans and makeup. You could tell I was at a super touristy location! I wonder what they thought as I walked past them – ‘Ew, what a stinky, dirty homeless man’ probably haha.
After several hours I reached the valley below. I jumped on a shuttle bus (hey…. I walk a lot these days!), and made my way for the backpackers campground. It was quite nice and tucked away at the back of the flowing river. It was early, enabling me to pick a prime spot in the corner by the stream.
The rest of the day was spent exploring the valley’s amenities, including taking a shower and trying to find somewhere to charge my devices. I just ended up getting the hotel front desk to charge them for me whilst I did some short hikes. I ended up hiking to Lower Yosemite Falls, and Mirror Lake. Mirror Lake was a little lacklustre from what I had already seen, but Yosemite Falls was awesome. I never even knew it was the highest waterfall in the USA (5th in the world). My plan for tomorrow’s hike was going to be to climb to the top.
When I returned to the hotel to get my now charged devices, I met a girl (Carol) who was a soon-to-be thru-hiker and was interested in my stories, having hiked a lot of the region herself nearby. I also found reception and messaged Rex about plans for the 4th of July at her parent’s place. She had invited me earlier, and I was happy to accept for a few day’s break, and of course, to catch up – I missed her after all! I was missing all my friends now.
Distance hiked: 15 miles
Next Post:
Part 25 ‘The Waterfalls of Yosemite & Sonora Pass’
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