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[273] Of Jeb and his misadventure in Yosemite NP, California; X

Please read part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8 and part 9.

The night was cold, the wind was strong and it was dark.

I was only grateful when the morning Sun rose against the mountains. It was almost 0900 hours by the time my weary eyes were opened. I quickly brushed my teeth, changed to my hiking gears and packed up the tent. The tent had two parts, one was the tent itself and the other part was sort of roof for the tent. The wind was so strong last night that I found the roof a few meters away from the place where it was supposed to be.

It was nearly 1000 hours when I finally moved out from my camping spot. It was disheartening to know that I still had to climb. However, the climb wasn’t too bad unlike yesterday. Later, I had to cross the river after the gradient lessened out. On the bridge and looking eastward, the river was as calm as a bayou but westward, the water plunged fiercely toward Glen Aulin.

After awhile of flat terrain, climbing was again needed but thank God hardcore climbing was not a necessity. Unfortunately for me, there was one problem; the trail was not well marked as the ground was hard rock. At one time, I thought I was walking toward the right direction but ended up just a few feet away from a hundred feet drop. Funnily enough, I was facing toward Glen Aulin instead of the other direction. Immediately, I realized I had gone off trail. So, I turned around and voila! I had no idea where the trail was. Meanwhile, the rattling sound was omnipresent and hell yeah it was scary. I am not a snake fan especially after sitting right beside a rattle snake a few days ago.

Not long after, I saw a few hikers from far. Knowing they were my ticket, I quickly ran toward them. A few puffing later, I caught up with them and found the trail. I just couldn’t believe how I missed the trail. There were a few signs indicating the trail but like I said earlier, it was not well marked. One of the signs that usually used is the stacking of two or three round stones. In my case, the sign was hard to be seen because it seemed to bland with the rocky topography almost perfectly.

I went on the trail, I continued on and human traffic suddenly increased. This made me to conclude that I was approaching the Tuolumne Meadows. Eager to end my misery, I quickened my pace.

After an hour of hiking, it was almost 9000 feet and the peaks still rose without fail though the landscape appeared to flatten out. Optimistically, I convinced myself that the Tuolumne Meadows was within a day worth of hiking.

And then, the forest opened up and thus leaving a spectacular open space. Utopian as it was, the Tuolumne River flowed against the backdrop of Sierra Nevada. Suddenly birds were singing and the sky was clear and blue. Of course, it was clear and blue and the birds were singing all the way. It was just that the surrealness of Sierra Nevada induced the sight and sound of nature, bringing the sound of heavy breathing and the pain of the scorching heat into the far background of the mind.

Tuolumne Creek against Sierra Nevada. The aretes is Unicorn Peak in the Cathedral Range. Photo by Epol.

It was as if the whole scenery was drawn by an artist. It was as if I was living inside an Adam Ansel’s painting. If I wouldn’t know any better, I would have thought it was the Garden of Eden.

I went to the side, off the trail, closer to the river and sat down. One part of me wanted to catch my breath, another part wanted to savor the moment. Only God knows how long I marvelled at the scenery quietly. And when it was time to go, part of me didn’t want to leave and the other part urged me to go on. Oh how I wish I would have followed my heart instead of my mind.

Tuolumne Creek against Sierra Nevada again, somewhere nearer to the Tuolumne Meadows. One of the peaks is Lembert Dome. Photo by Epol.

But then, I went on knowing I needed to go on, leaving behind a place I didn’t want to pass into the depth of time.

p/s – Joke of the day by Prof. Hamermesh: That girl is pretty 3 S.D. above the mean.

pp/s – The Great Lakes Zephyr describes The __earthinc as “an interesting weBlog of a nature lover and envir(o)nmentalist at heart”. I’m flattered.

errata – Somebody pointed out that the statement “It was as if I was living inside an Adam Ansel’s painting” is wrong. It should be “It was as if I was living inside an Albert Bierstadt’s painting.” The two of them were related to Yosemite and I had gotten them mixed up.

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Travels

[260] Of St. Louis during Thanksgiving

St. Louis is a great city. It is not as large as New York or as dark as Detroit. The city is simply pleasant.I stayed at Washington University, crashing in Teddy’s place for three or four days. Teddy was a great host and yeah, his name is really Teddy as in teddy bear.

Before I describe the city, I would like to say a few words about the structures in Washington University, better known as Wash U. Some of the buildings are new but the focus here is the old ones. In the middle of the University, there’s a huge field and the University’s buildings concentrated around this open space. The architecture of the old buildings is impressive – it’s sort of like University of Michigan own Law Quad – castle-like – though the feeling of being in Europe is essentially expanded throughout the whole academic campus. One particular work of art is the arch on the hill, facing a long avenue with trees on both side of the space. Again, it’s like Michigan Engineering Arch down in West Hall though the size is doubled or at most tripled.

In contrast, St. Louis has a modern skyline.

Typical of American cities, St. Louis uses the grid system instead of a centralized one to plan out its city. Thus, walking around the cities street is actually a pleasant experience. There weren’t many vehicles on the road though I must admit that I wandered around St. Louis a day after Thanksgiving. Therefore, my description about the traffic might be misleading.

St. Louis is located on the west bank of the Mississippi River, facing the state of Illinois of which is situated directly across the river. There’s a city called East St. Louis on the Illinois’ side though it is no as high profile as Missouri’s.

Traveling around the city is pretty easy. The city’s satellites are connected to the downtown by a rail transit system. The rail transit is reliable. There’s also a bus system but I didn’t use it. However, judging from the frequency of the bus, I am sure it is efficient. The city is well connected by road. There are several long bridges crossing the Mississippi River. To sum it up, St. Louis has a pretty good transportation system. Important to note however, new visitors might want to avoid shitty cabs because they do charge more that usual. David and I experienced that first hand.

Like every main cities that I’ve visited so far, St. Louis has its own Union Station. Compared to New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, St. Louis has a rather unique structure for its Union Station. From my travels to New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, the Union Station has the reputation of being a grand old building with the primary function to serve the respective city’s transportation needs. St. Louis’ on the other hand is a recognizable metal structure. It’s almost like a huge warehouse or hangar minus the walls. It’s more like a really big gazebo.

From far, the Union Station looked like the city of Detroit – rusty and poorly lit. Inside however, its rocking like it’s 1999. About half or a quarter, of the Union Station is occupied by a shopping complex. The term shopping complex might be an exaggeration but the complex is full of shops selling various souvenirs. Also, there’s an interesting bakery. The bakery is unique because not only you could buy its tasteful product, entertainment is also provided.

Typical Union Stations like I said earlier is a grand old structure. Perhaps St. Louis’ had undergone renovation as inside, there’s the Hyatt Hotel. The hotel is adorned with impressive work of art. I was further informed by Teddy that St. Louis Union Station used to be the busiest railways station in the world.

And of course, St. Louis is famous for its Gateway Arch. The Arch itself stands normally aligned to the east-west line. It’s to symbolize the west as St. Louis is closely related to Lewis and Clack’s famous expedition to the west immediately after the Louisiana Purchase. The Mississippi is about 50 meters away from the Arch’s base.

Nearby, an old building is erected facing the Arch. A park is also present. The only disappointing thing about it is the fact that an ugly factory exists directly on the other side of the river.

The city itself is very open. Among the tall buildings, there is a sort of boulevard starting from the Arch and almost all the way across the city. The city prominent old public structure all aligned to face this boulevard.

Finally, the city skyline is pretty normal from the west. Nothing impressive but the Union Station and a stadium of which I can’t recall its name stands out. From the east, the Arch is the eye catcher.

The nightlife is somewhat happening. I gave a place called the Loop a visit and there were many people there even a few days after Thanksgiving. I would imagine the place is packed with people during normal weekends. The Loop however is not the city itself but rather, a hangout place for college students, much like Ann Arbor’s South U St. For food, St. Louis does offer great choices. I ate dinner with some friends at a Siamese restaurant and damn the food is good. It also has teh tarik! Additionally, I was told that a must try in St. Louis is its root beer. I tasted it but unfortunately, there was nothing great about it though at the price it was sold, it was definitely a huge glass.

Anyway, I hope that wrap up my review of St. Louis. To cut things short, I would like St. Louis if I had grown up there. It’s not too big and it’s too small. It’s just nice for person who wants a quiet life without leaving civilization.

All photos will be made available once somebody get his ass to work. :)

And before I make love with my bed, I would like to say thank you to Teddy for a warm treatment in St. Louis, to Ray for thinking that I could speak Chinese and finally to David for giving me a choice to have fun in St. Louis or to rot in the overrated Annarbour (pardon for the spelling. AAIO has a bad influence on me).

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Sports This blog Travels

[257] Of the Yosemite Exhibition

The Gallery is hosting the Yosemite Exhibition. More to come later after the exams are done for good.

Concerning my recent trip, St. Louis was colder than Ann Arbor but damn, St. Louis was way cooler than Ann Arbor. Plus, I’ve kicked the Arch and I’ve seen the Mark Twain’s Mississippi. All I have to do now in order to complete the Tour of Great Rivers is to visit the Nile, the Amazon and the Yangtze River. Oh well.

The St. Louis Exhibition is scheduled after the current exhibition but in the meantime, enjoy the gallery.

p/s – Final score, Ajax 2 – 0 Feyenoord. And one bad news, the Netherlands is stucked with Germany and the Czech Republic in Group D for Euro 2004.

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Travels

[225] Of going to St. Louis, Missouri

I really have to stop planning my vacation on the spot. For the upcoming thanksgiving, I’ll be in St. Louis, Missouri.

The last time I did an impromptu decision, I found myself in the Sierra Nevada, stuck without food and electricity.

p/s – currently planning to pay Pasadena a visit. OHIO STILL SUCKS! LOL!!!

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Photography Travels

[227] Of adventure in the wilderness of Yosemite IX

Please read part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7 and part 8.

I moved on after having a much improvised lunch.

The Sun was getting more and more unbearable as the time passed by. Needless to say, the air was getting thinner and thus further reduced my lung capacity. I wished could just sit and take a very long nap instead of walking. However, I need to go on simply because it was the most beneficial option. Without food, the benefit of reaching my checkpoint, the Tuolumne Meadows was multiplied, causing it to have an exponential effect.

The journey to the top of the California Falls was tiring. The trail was tough to handle since rocks instead of sand made it up. I wonder how Leman could hike with only a pair of snickers; even with my toughened boots, blisters plagued me. Things seemed to be hopeless and hapless but I had no choice. I kept saying to myself that this will pass, like other unpleasant things in the past. This too will pass.

Despite feeling generally depressed, the wall of the mountains offered a great sight. I took the liberty of observing the wall expression and swore that I thought the mountains were smiling at me. I was bewildered and laughed for the first time in days. Looking at the sides of the canyon was really like looking at the clouds; you could see almost anything as long as you have a decent imagination.

After a light moment, I knew I was hallucinating. And generally, hallucinating beside a ledge of a trail, with one side falling down more than a hundred feet is not good. So, I garnered my concentration and stared at the mountains and unfortunately and humorously for my sanity, the mountains this time seemed to laugh even harder. Comforting enough, after a few minutes of tries, I assured myself that the mountains wall was just some unusual rock impression.

The sensation of seeing smiling rock wall had a positive effect on me and I began to believe Mother Nature was giving a hand. She played a trick on me but in doing so she lifted up my strength and spirit. She gave me hope by giving the impression things were not as grim as it would seem. For that, my love for her grows even more.

Hours into the day, I had finally outperformed myself. I was finally on top of cascade of falls. Dropping my backpack to the ground, I went to a boulder located in the middle of the river, overlooking the whole cascade of falls. The sheer height of the fall would have taken a life immediately out of a hypsiphobic. With a clenched fist, I smelled a scent that I haven’t smelled for years – victory.

I stood on the rock for a considerable amount of time, with the wind and the water vapor blasting against my face. There was just me, up high in the mountains overlooking the whole canyon down below. No wonder John Muir’s heart was broken when Hetch Hetchy was condemned in the name of progress.

At times, I wanted to jump, ending everything at that moment so no more will the excruciating pressure of life pressuring me. It takes courage to jump and frighteningly, I had the courage to make that jump. Luckily, I remembered a word of wisdom said to me a long time ago – it takes greater courage to live a life than to end it. In addition, there are just too many things need to be done. I concurred at the end that I need things to be done before I die.

I turned my back and only to be stunned by Gaia again. In front of me, the river was flowing towards me with a narrowly long, flat valley dwarfed by the Sierra Nevada in the background. The valley was not simply a valley. Conifer trees conquered both sides of the river. It was as if an elongated football field was present up high in the anything but flat mountainous area. The oddity equals to seeing a patch of green earth in the middle of the Antarctic.

I wonder why I didn’t notice the grand Sierra Nevada when I first reached the top but this was one of many reasons why I do not regret my decision to hike more than 50 miles with a 50 lbs burden on my back in California.

The sierra was beautiful beyond words. To try to describe it here would do great injustice and more, an insult to Mother Nature. But yet as Human, I can’t resist the temptation to describe such sight to friends later after the expedition. She was terribly beautiful and if she were the fairer sex, I would strip myself of my entire ego, fall to my knee, begging for her love.

Farther up front, about an hour worth of walk, Glen Aulin was in sight.

Copyrights by Saiful Bohari. Used with permission.
A cantilever bridge in Glen Aulin. Glen Aulin literally means beautiful valley.
Photo by Epol.

To my delight, there was a small sign indicating my goal, the Tuolumne Meadows was just over five miles away. Yet, the length doesn’t describe the true dimension of the path that I needed to take. Hundreds of feet needed to be swallowed to accomplish the five miles.

If I was given the chance, I would camp at Glen Aulin, be in the small grove in the petite valley. Alas, time was not my ally. I need to hike as much as I could if I were to catch up with Epol and Leman. Though it was merely a hunch, I believed that Epol and Leman should be waiting for me at the Meadows. I was betting on luck but my bet was a calculated one. True enough, as it turned out later, it wasn’t vainly made.
The Sun was setting when I was somewhere near the heart of Glen Aulin; the sky was turning red as the white moon rose to claim the heavenly throne. Yet, I headed on, struggling for the Meadows.

The thought of food, clean water, hot shower and all made me to ride on a faster pace. I hiked until it was dark and cold. Exhausted and hungry, I finally had to give up the game of catching up and camped. Up high, the wind was merciless, blowing as strong as a storm, giving me a hard time putting the tent up.

Once that done, quickly I changed my clothes and engulfed myself in the sleeping bag, hoping the mighty wind won’t be able to undo the tent, hoping that all this will pass swiftly, hoping no bear will come to my path.