August 9
Mile Driven 38
Hiked 9.5
SO we woke up before 7 this morning as we had a scheduled bus ride to Glacier Point leaving at 8:30 and had to drive down to the valley to catch the bus.
As we arrived at the valley there were four mule deer just lying in the grass. All you could see of them were their massive horns, which is still a pretty spectacular site for a city boy.
We got on this bus and the ride up to Glacier point was awesome. Our bus driver was hilarious. He had a very sarcastic dark humor and delivered everything straight face with the same monotone. The views from the bus were breathtaking and made us wonder what we were in for. Glacier point is about 8000 feet above sea level and over looks, the Royal Arches, Half Dome and some of the bigger waterfalls of the park. We took our 2-liter camlebaks and decided we were ready to hike. Now everything that described this hike described it as a moderate intensity hike which involved 3500 feet descent over 8.5 miles. So to me it seemed like we would be able to do it nicely over that 4- 6 hour pace.
When we first set out it seemed like this perfect hike moderately intense and going down at a nice pace with spectacular views of the Yosemite Valley it was definitely some work but nothing too intense and we arrived at our first of three waterfalls and it was a great experience. The waterfall and overlook of the waterfall offered spectacular views and nature experiences but we realized we had only done about 2 to 3 miles of the hike and then the hike changed. We started to head up hill which we were both physically capable of doing but spent our legs as we did this for the next three miles and let me tell you at higher elevation compared to being at Death Valley just two days prior it really can wind you. So we thought we had to be almost at the waterfalls when we stopped and rested at a totally different perspective of Half Dome.
We had at least another mile or two to get to the top of Nevada Falls, which is what we earmarked for our picnic. We had a great picnic although the squirrels which had huge ghetto booty asses were very pesky and really came right up to you looking for a snack. So we knew that from here on out we were going downhill for the last 3.5 miles. There is three and half miles and there is 3 and half miles going straight down a “ granite staircase which is actually steep rocks completely uneven going pretty much a descent of at least 2500 feet. It was crazy never knowing when you would lose your balance and we were already exhausted from the last three miles, which had been straight up hill. Also did I mention we had run out of water as the sun beat down us in the peak of the day and thus had to beg for water as we descended as well. Thank you to all the good souls who were so helpful and generous. I know this probably sounds awful but the views were really wonderful and I love getting the heart pumping. I will have to agree with Laura that the view of the top of the waterfall is nothing spectacular compared to the bottom and across the valley. Laura busted her toe so our descent was incredibly slow so any PT geeks can appreciate our eccentric control working in overdrive. . We survived but barely and the bus back to our car was one of the best sites either of us saw in another beautiful spectacular day. I had a great picture of a rainbow formed at the bottom of a waterfall but was too exhausted to make sure my shutter was open all the way. Oops.
We sought out some showers to recover from our huge hike and finished with some stargazing and some beer. The stars here are unreal and quite a treat for a city boy. So another hard day of Vacationing at least I should sleep well.
As we arrived at the valley there were four mule deer just lying in the grass. All you could see of them were their massive horns, which is still a pretty spectacular site for a city boy.
We got on this bus and the ride up to Glacier point was awesome. Our bus driver was hilarious. He had a very sarcastic dark humor and delivered everything straight face with the same monotone. The views from the bus were breathtaking and made us wonder what we were in for. Glacier point is about 8000 feet above sea level and over looks, the Royal Arches, Half Dome and some of the bigger waterfalls of the park. We took our 2-liter camlebaks and decided we were ready to hike. Now everything that described this hike described it as a moderate intensity hike which involved 3500 feet descent over 8.5 miles. So to me it seemed like we would be able to do it nicely over that 4- 6 hour pace.
When we first set out it seemed like this perfect hike moderately intense and going down at a nice pace with spectacular views of the Yosemite Valley it was definitely some work but nothing too intense and we arrived at our first of three waterfalls and it was a great experience. The waterfall and overlook of the waterfall offered spectacular views and nature experiences but we realized we had only done about 2 to 3 miles of the hike and then the hike changed. We started to head up hill which we were both physically capable of doing but spent our legs as we did this for the next three miles and let me tell you at higher elevation compared to being at Death Valley just two days prior it really can wind you. So we thought we had to be almost at the waterfalls when we stopped and rested at a totally different perspective of Half Dome.
We had at least another mile or two to get to the top of Nevada Falls, which is what we earmarked for our picnic. We had a great picnic although the squirrels which had huge ghetto booty asses were very pesky and really came right up to you looking for a snack. So we knew that from here on out we were going downhill for the last 3.5 miles. There is three and half miles and there is 3 and half miles going straight down a “ granite staircase which is actually steep rocks completely uneven going pretty much a descent of at least 2500 feet. It was crazy never knowing when you would lose your balance and we were already exhausted from the last three miles, which had been straight up hill. Also did I mention we had run out of water as the sun beat down us in the peak of the day and thus had to beg for water as we descended as well. Thank you to all the good souls who were so helpful and generous. I know this probably sounds awful but the views were really wonderful and I love getting the heart pumping. I will have to agree with Laura that the view of the top of the waterfall is nothing spectacular compared to the bottom and across the valley. Laura busted her toe so our descent was incredibly slow so any PT geeks can appreciate our eccentric control working in overdrive. . We survived but barely and the bus back to our car was one of the best sites either of us saw in another beautiful spectacular day. I had a great picture of a rainbow formed at the bottom of a waterfall but was too exhausted to make sure my shutter was open all the way. Oops.
We sought out some showers to recover from our huge hike and finished with some stargazing and some beer. The stars here are unreal and quite a treat for a city boy. So another hard day of Vacationing at least I should sleep well.
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