Please read part 1 and part 2.
And so the journey started.
At 1500 hours, we left Curry Village, a quite happening place in the Valley, by bus towards the starting point of our journey, which was Upper Yosemite Fall Trail.
Our full party started the expedition rather plainly at first. We got off the bus and immediately followed a well marked trail closely until at one point, which was really less than half a mile, when we somehow got off the trail. Without a trail, our journey towards our first planned campground, Yosemite Creek was being slowed down tremendously. I believe, every 10 minutes, we had to send out a scout to observe the upcoming obstacle and to make sure that we weren’t lost. As moments passed, we started to figure out that we were lost. Being careful, we consulted the map and decided to go straight upward until we hit the wall that became the base of the whole mass.
Before I go on further, let me explain the topography of our starting point. The starting point is rather flat and the trail goes to the east. The trail heads east simply because northward, a sort of shield wall rises well about 4000 ft vertically. However, a few hundred meters before the wall, a rather tolerable slope persists from the road and the bus stop up till the wall. With that explained, now it is easier to explain why we decided to go up to the base of the wall.
The real trail, the one that we somehow veered from, goes straight to the east and it doesn’t turn north in about a mile. We got off the trail somewhere in between our starting point and the point where the trail heads north. Therefore, through our improvised map (I seriously recommend buying a complete topographical map for a hiking trip. Its benefit far outweighs its cost. Trust me on this), we figured out that if we go up first and heads east later, we will eventually hit the trail again. This way, we would save time rather than having to backtrack our every step. Logically acceptable.
True enough, we hit the trail later.
From here on, the ascent was steep and the climb was slow. Of the entire trail that we pursued, this was the steepest trail ever but it was not the worst since we still had energy. Our muscles weren’t heavily contaminated with lactic acid yet.
While hiking up, we noticed that a blue bird was following us, flying from tree to tree, singing. I thought at first that I was simply seeing a few birds from the same species. Later however, Leman and Epol agreed that it was the same birds that we kept on seeing as we climbed higher. The bird was very resilient in following and I do think that the bird stalked us for more than two hours. And seeing the bird frequently, we implicitly came to a union of naming it Blue Jay, with the Jay was the Jay from “J”-e-ba-i. Macam haram but a cool name for the bird nonetheless =).
The rise was slow and we, especially me, took lots of rest, every time I had the chance. We also talked to a number of day hikers who came just to see the Yosemite Valley up from the Fall.
We climbed and sweated until a person told us to be careful of a snake, located merely around 400 yards away from us. He told us to watch for a bottle placed on a rock where the snake was supposed to be. Interested in seeing the reptile, we quickened our pace but only to be disappointed to see no snake there. The snake could have probably left the place.
We continued our hike and made lots of stop. And Blue Jay was still following us, most probably trying its luck for food from us.
It was perhaps some time between 1700 and 1800 that we reached a lookout point that faces the Valley with the Fall directly behind us. We decided to take a long stop here in order to enjoy the view.
From here, the Valley seemed to be much smaller that it was when we were way down below. I stood at the edge and looked down and it was a feeling that almost anybody would definitely enjoy – the sense of greatness and power, with you standing high above from the other strangers below.
I wonder how it was like back in 1997, when El Nino wrecked havoc almost all over the world, including in Yosemite. El Niño was a natural phenomenon. However, in 1997, due to adverse pollution effect, the weather went mad. The unnatural heat forced the glaciers in the Sierra Nevada to melt more than it should. As a direct result, the usually calm Merced River was forced to make some room for more fresh water. Apparently, the River failed to accommodate the huge water quantity and went over its limit. Thus, the whole Valley was flooded with the water depth was well over 5 feet. With that depth, even a bus would have been flooded.
From where I stood, I would see a lake for certain.
To the east, Half Dome stands silently with the old Sierra Nevada on the background.
The Valley’s south wall was struck by the mighty Sun’s ray and I would imagine the heat was almost unbearable. The other south wall, where El Capitan Fall is located, was very barren compared to its northern counterpart, where we were. No doubt the heat changed the vegetation. Down in the Valley, conifer trees take up the entire place along the flowing Merced River with a small Chapel standing quietly somewhere among the green trees. The wind was also noticeably strong but not too strong. Maybe suited in the moderate breeze classification.
After catching up with our breath, we went on with the mission. By 2030, it was already dark but we were still on the trail, seeing no flat site suitable for camping. Thus, we stopped awhile to perform both the Zohor and Asar prayer before the Sun succumbed to the Luna. Once done, we continued a little bit farther before we met a fork and the time was about 2100. One was heading to the Creek, straight to the Ten Lakes and all the way to the Tuolumne Meadows while the other path leads to Lake Luken, White Wolf and eventually to the Grand Canyon of Tuolumne.
The Sun was nowhere to be found in the sky and it was so dark, that the stars up high in heaven were visible to the naked eyes. I recognized a few of the constellations that I’ve always failed to spot in Michigan or even in Malaysia due to both pollution and geographical factors. As a Vulcan would say, it would be a logical point of action to stop and make a camp rather than risk being lost up in the high country.
Thus, we camped. There were two tents, one for Leman and the other for Epol and I. I had to share with Epol since I had a larger tent.
Firewood was everywhere so we didn’t really have to go far from our camping site to search for it. Once both the camps and the fire were done, we cooked and went directly to sleep. And it worth to point out that we actually slept rather early, at 2230. It was considerably cold. Luckily, the sleeping bag managed to conserve some of my body heat to let me to sleep comfortably.
Total distance traveled was about 4 miles, which is about 6 km. Elevation gained through hiking was more than 4000 ft.
The next morning, we woke up at 0500 and the Sun was already prepared for the new day. Unfortunately, I was not in the same league as the Sun. Nevertheless, I still woke up and tried to to join the Sun’s adventure.
Our first stop was some where near Yosemite Creek, the first blue line, southmost, drawn on the map. For a larger version, click here.errata – Blue Jay is actually the name of the species. Nevertheless, after checking the net for more information, I’m convinced that the bird is not Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata). The main difference is the bird that I saw had a sort of noticeable crown on its head while the picture that I found shows that typical Blue Jay has a smoother head, or a simple extension of fur behind its head. And also geographically, blue jay is mainly found on the east side of the Rocky while Yosemite is on the southwestern side of the Rocky. On the other hand, the bird might had migrated here and it really is blue jay and I am wrong about naming it after me. =) Thanks to Epol for correcting that embrassing mistake.
more errata – In order to make out my mistake, I did a little research about the said bird and found out that the bird was not a Blue Jay. As it turned out, Jay has a huge family. The Jay that I saw was Stellar’s Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri), the one species that was mentioned in John Muir’s journal. “Often mistakenly called the Blue Jay, this Jay is a typical member of the Corvidae family, sharing its loud calls, bold nature and scavenging habits with crows and other Jays.”(http://www.naturepark.com/stellars.htm, par. 2)
