Day 9 – Yosemite / Gardnerville, NV
Jul 8
2007

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We did slightly better on our early start today. When we got back into Yosemite, it was decided that our goal for the day was to do the Upper Yosemite Falls hike. We took the short hike (walk really) to the Lower Yosemite Falls to start with. Again, not a lot of water, but very pretty. The lower, upper, and middle cascades combine to form the tallest waterfall in the US, so they say. It was around 11:00 when we started the upper hike (and I do mean hike). If we had started at some ungodly, not-so-hot hour it may have been better. We set out on the 7.2 mile roundtrip hike with an elevation gain of 2,700 feet; the sign estimated it as a 6-8 hour hike. The trail started out as an extremely steep series of switchbacks. It felt like this lasted about ten miles but it was probably only three-quarters of a mile. We finally got out of the switchbacks but it remained torturously steep. After a lifetime, we made it to Columbia Rock which has a beautiful view of Half Dome. We stopped several minutes for photos and battery/card swapping and started up again. I’m not a good rester on hikes. Once I’ve stopped to rest, I have a very difficult time regaining my momentum. As a general rule, even if it’s killing me, I’m better off powering through to my destination. All that being said, I was DONE after Columbia Rock. And if that wasn’t bad enough, the trail didn’t level off, it started going down!!! DOWN. On a trail that gains 2,700 feet of elevation down can only mean that there is a heck of a lot more steep UP in front of you. Probably 1.8 miles into the trail, we found the rest of the up. Luckily it was also about the same time that the waterfall came into view. Photos were taken and we stopped for granola bars at the base of the extremely steep series of switchbacks that would be the remainder of the trail. Brian was determined to go to the top. I was way too hot and tired to care. Sylvia was in my camp. Randal was neutral so he volunteered to accompany Brian (never leave a hiker alone). Girls and boys split. As I’ve already stated, if it had not been so bloody hot, I probably would have pushed myself to the top. I usually like to push myself on hikes. I did feel pangs of guilt for turning tail, but not enough to slow down my descent. Realistically, it was probably the right choice anyhow. Up might tire me out and wind me, but down always hurts me. As us girls powered back down the mountain, my knees made known their displeasure with all of the down. I’m quite certain that if I had added another 1.8 miles of ridiculously steep down, I would have been crying long before the bottom. Also, about halfway back down, my head began throwing in its $0.02. I always take Motrin with me wherever I go but today I forgot to transfer it to my camelpack. By the time we got all the way back down, rested a bit, and started back to the car for a snack, I was in full migraine mode. Luckily, Sylvia had a book to keep her company because I took some Motrin and laid down in the back for a good hour to dissipate the pain. When the boys finally made it back down (7.5 hours but they also took a swim break at the top of the falls), I was feeling mostly better and we grabbed some food before starting the drive back to the house. The drive out of the Tioga Pass exit of the park was stunning. I was actually regretting that we had to drive through the night because it was so pretty up until it got too dark to see.
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