Sunday morning, we drove to Yosemite and set up camp for two nights at Crane Flats Campground. The campground was surprisingly not very full because it had rained the previous night and many kids were starting school the next day. This meant a good night’s rest for the BIG activity we had planned for Monday. Once we set up camp, we drove to Yosemite Valley. We were able to see Bridal Veil Falls, which is a beautiful waterfall. Unfortunately, Yosemite Falls, the 5th tallest waterfall in the world, is dry this time of year, so we could not see it. That evening, we attended a campfire talk with a ranger about the “giants” of Yosemite. She covered everything from the big trees to the waterfalls to the granite rocks.
Monday morning came bright and early as we woke up at 4:30 AM. We had a date with Half Dome. For those that don’t know, Half Dome is a granite mountain in Yosemite. It is one of the most photographed things in Yosemite. Its elevation is 8,842 feet. The hike is 14-16 miles round trip, depending on which route you take, and it gains 4,800 feet in elevation.
We started our hike right at dawn. We decided to go up Mist Trail, which was the shortest way up, but also the steepest. There were two very pretty waterfalls along the way, Vernal and Nevada Falls. We reached the base of Half Dome, and we wondered what we got ourselves into. There standing before us was a Sub-dome, which we had to climb before we even reached the bottom of the peak of Half Dome. The climb up the Sub-dome included granite steps with a sheer drop-off beside you. At this point, our legs were starting to get tired, but we were so close to getting to the top. About ¾ of the way up the Sub-dome, the stairs disappeared, and we had to rock scramble up slabs of granite to reach the saddle between the Sub-dome and the beginning of the actual Half Dome.
Once we were on the saddle, we only had about 500 feet left until we reached the peak of Half Dome. Unfortunately, the final ascent is probably one of the most terrifying events we have experienced so far. The only thing separating us and the peak was the 45+ degree incline that was one solid sheet of granite. It is so steep that there is a line of cables for climbers to use as they ascend to the top. This isn’t like rock climbing; you don’t get to clip yourself onto the cable.
Climbing up involved a lot of upper body strength as we had to pull ourselves up the cables. Thanks to our Sunday School class in Wichita, we had gardening gloves that served as our lifesavers to grip the cables. (Yes, going into it, we knew about the cables.) About a 1/3 of the way up, Marissa lost her footing for a split second, and she began to question our sanity. The same cables were used for people to climb up the dome as well as descend it. So, at that point, it was almost easier to keep ascending rather than quit and turn around. However, she was basically hyperventilating the rest of the way up due to the steepness and risk of life involved. Jeremy reassured her, and we kept going up…one foot in front of the other. Finally, after a few heart stopping moments, we reached the top! The view from the peak was breathtaking.
After 30 minutes of resting and soaking in the scenery, it was time to descend. To our amazement, the descent was easier. We basically had to just get a good grip on the cable and hold on tight as we walked down (or slide down as Jeremy did a few times). After 10.5 hours, we were back at the car and ready for a shower and some good eats.
Tuesday we drove across the park on Tioga Road to Tuolumne Meadows, and then back to Yosemite Valley. We checked out the Ansel Adams gallery and the Ahwahnee Hotel. After that we drove to the southern part of the park to Wawona Hotel, where we had reservations for the night. We also drove about 6 miles further south to the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias. These trees aren’t as tall as the Redwoods, but they definitely have wider trunks.
Wednesday morning we partook of the Wawona Hotel’s “complimentary” breakfast buffet. It was a nice surprise that we didn’t expect. Then we headed south to King’s Canyon National Park. Our first attraction in the park was Grant’s Grove which is where General Grant, one of the world’s widest trees resides. Next, we headed south to the adjoining Sequoia National Park. There we made our way to the Lodgepole Campground to set up our tent. Then we took the shuttle down to the General Sherman tree, the world’s largest tree by volume (interesting to note that it is neither the tallest nor the widest, however).
Thursday morning we saw a black bear waddle across the road on our way to Moro Rock. It was one of our highlights of the trip so far. It didn’t seem at all affected by our car’s presence. We then climbed up some 400+ stairs to the top of the scenic Moro Rock. Afterwards, we departed for Death Valley National Park.
It was a long drive, but it was surprisingly beautiful. The drive was very mountainous, but even the desert area was gorgeous. We saw some orchards that we in the midst of desert. The highest temperature on our car’s thermometer was 117 degrees and that was around 5 pm. We stayed at a hotel which actually had a TV (that’s unheard of at national parks).
Friday morning, we woke up and drove to Badwater Basin, which is the lowest point in the western hemisphere. It was an ancient lake. It’s now a dry salt bed. By 9 AM that morning, the temperature was already 101 degrees.
We headed out of Death Valley and into Las Vegas. Despite the shady dealings going on along the Strip, there was actually beauty to be found with the casino buildings and lights. Our motel had lions in the lobby that you could watch for free. We also went to the Venetian and saw the canals and gondolas. That night, we went to one of six Cirque du Soleil shows going on in Las Vegas. This was an awesome show full of acrobatic stunts, choreography, and special effects. After the show, which was about 8:30 PM, we headed over to Mandalay Bay to eat at their buffet. (We figured we had to try one since Vegas is known for its buffets.) We journeyed up the Strip to the Bellagio, and we watched the FREE water/light show that is often depicted in movies. It was late to bed that night, even though Jeremy’s parents were to arrive the following morning.
After meeting Jeremy’s parents at a McDonald’s near the Strip, we headed for the Hoover Dam. We had a dam tour, which included the dam power plant. The dam guide was very informative. Then, it was on to Zion National Park. We didn’t do much that evening as everyone was very tired. So, we just stayed at a motel at the entrance to Zion. We did have some Bumbleberry pie for dessert, which was pretty tasty.
We woke up early on Sunday, and headed into Zion to catch the free shuttle up the canyon. We all donned our water shoes and walked a ways up the Virgin River into a part of the park called The Narrows. It is only accessible via hiking through the river. This was extremely fun, but the water was only in the 60s. The rocks were very slippery and hard to see through the water. The water only came up to the mid-thigh region before we turned around. (We did see people further up stream with water up to their stomachs.)
After The Narrows, we drove a few hours south to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. We went to the afternoon ranger talk about California condors. The condors were practically extinct in 1985 with only 9 birds left in the wild. These birds were eventually all captured, and they were bred in captivity. There are now approximately 385 condors in the wild. (We saw 2-3 condors in Zion National Park.) Around dusk that evening, another ranger brought out a high-power telescope and showed people the moon and Jupiter. Afterwards, there was another ranger talk about various deaths in the canyon. As morbid as this sounds, it was a very interesting talk.
We went on a short hike on Monday morning along the rim of the canyon. Following this, Jeremy’s parents went back to Las Vegas, while we went up to Bryce Canyon. We plan on exploring some of Utah’s canyonlands the next few days. Both of us were commenting that at the beginning of the trip, we weren’t expecting much from Utah due to the desert conditions. However, it has been one of the most beautiful aspects of our trip.
(We'll post pictures at a later date as we are receiving very slow Wi-Fi service at the moment.)
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Just reading about the hike made me nervous!!! What an adventure. I'm glad you are back on solid ground :)
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