[from archives, Lou Lorber]
I went to Yosemite last Friday. I drove to the alternate 'secretspot' just past Groveland Thursday evening and hit the sack about 9:30 after the customary 2 beers and some star gazing. I got up at 2:00 am, was in the valley by 3:00, and hiking towards Half Dome by 3:30. I figured I'd have over 2 hours to trudge along in the dark and did spend a little time wondering just what in the hell I was doing.
However, the morning was beautiful - 1/2 moon and brightstars -and the time passed quickly. Oh, and I also had the trail all to myself. I got to the Summit of Half Dome a couple of minutes before 7:00, relaxed in the brilliant sunshine for 45 seconds and started down. I was back at the car at 9:45. I ate some more food, made more Gator-aid and drove to YosemiteLodge.
I left the car at 10:15 and started up the Yosemite Falls trail, arriving at the top of El Cap at 1:00 PM. This point is actually a couple of hundred feet lower than the 'summit' of El Cap a short ways back up the trail (about 7200vs7550). I ate some more lunch out there and enjoyed the views - awesome views (but you know that)! - and started back down. I got back to the car about 4:30, was not feeling too bad, so I refilled the Gator-aid bottle, grabbed a beer from the cooler, and headed for the Sentinel turn-out and the Four Mile Trail to Glacier Point.
I had been thinking about adding this trail all day, but figured I'd just see how I felt after HD & El Cap. I can't really say the Four Mile Trail was a lot of fun, but I got to the summit a few minutes after 7:00, took a brief break, drank my beer while enjoying the always impressive view of Half-Dome, Vernal & Nevada falls and the Clark Range, refilled the water bottle and started down. Darkness caught me with close to 2,000 feet yet to descend. That trail is kind of annoying with a headlamp because there is a lot of decomposed granite covering rock and old sections of pavement that leads to frequent slipping and swearing. I got back to the car just before 9:00 PM.
Total elevation on the altimeter was 11,670, distance must have been about 41 miles, and time was about 17 1/2 hours. I called Martha and told her not to wait up and then boogied for home. I was home by 1:00 am - 23 hours aftergetting up. I'm not sure what things like this accomplish. I wouldn't even tell the people I work with about it as they'd consider it stupid, but I had a good time. Next year - the R2R2R. This Friday, Martha and I are going camping in (or just east of) Yosemite. Should be fun. Give my congratulations to Sheri! I admire the competitiveness of you two. Gotta get busy as this is only a three day week for me. Cheers, Loobster