Bay Area and Yosemite National Park (28 August-29 September 2002)

Overview

Ken and I had started planning this trip in very loose terms back in the spring, with details firming up about mid-summer when Ken found out he'd be getting a bunch of comp days in return for working a bunch of national holidays. I had hoped to extend my trip a little to give me a chance to head down to Southern California as well to visit Drew, Henry, and Soo Sun, but after some consideration, it was greedy of me to try to work it out that way. I was also short on vacation days. So, the trip was a Bay Area/Yosemite deal.

The last time I was in the area, I stayed with friends Geoff and Lesley in Richmond, just north of Oakland, but this time I stayed with Ken down toward the bottom of the bay in San Jose. I arrived late in the evening, though the plane itself was almost an hour early. Ken picked me up at SFO and we headed down to San Jose, passing through many a city that I recognized by name. I knew I was in Cupertino when I saw the giant "X" logo of Mac OS X on a rather modern looking building. Yeah, Apple headquarters.

The rest of the night was pretty uneventful. There was a little food shopping, backpack packing, and... a distinct lack of sleep. Altogether, I think the two of us got about two hours each before we were up and in the car and on our way.

The original plan was to do the touristy sightseeing on Thursday, hitting Yosemite Valley and Glacier Point. From there, we were going to head over to the trailhead for Rush Creek Trail and make a quick three-mile run to get to our first campsite on Gem Lake. We were going to hit the far end of Waugh lake the second day and see about maybe going all the way up to the headwaters on the third, before hiking out on the fourth day, Sunday. This was all planned with the caveat that we were really going to just go as far as we could go and then turn back, so there was no need to actually hit the headwaters. As it turned out, we wouldn't even make it to the end of Waugh Lake, but the hike was still a fantastic experience.

Instead of going the full four days, we cut our time in the park back by a day and headed back to San Jose on Saturday instead of the planned Sunday return, with my flight out on Monday. With the extra day to play with in the Bay Area, we found another friend of ours from our college days and went up to Napa Valley for a leisurely afternoon of wine-tasting, followed by a great sushi experience in Los Gatos.

By the time I got on the plane to fly back to Newark, I was dead tired, sore all over, and high on good times and grand memories of some of the most beautiful and majestic scenery I had ever seen. The previous year's experience in Sequoia National Park was terrific, but those sights were up close and personal, whereas the Yosemite one was distant and picturesque. Each trip had its memorable aspects and I cherish them both equally. Once bitten, twice hooked, I will definitely be looking for more reasons to come back and backpack some more when I get the chance. I love it here in the Sierras.

Day 1: Yosemite Valley

We started our day at 4:30 a.m. after only two hours of sleep for the both of us. Ken drove. I slept in the car. We got to Yosemite vValley by around 9:30, which was our aim. Beating the crowds on a Thursday was nice, as we pretty much had little competition for everything that we wanted to do. They most important thing? Being able to take pictures without having to jostle for the best spots or having to deal with other people in your shots. We stopped at the visitor centre in the valley and checked out all the usual stuff, and sent a postcard home from the park just like I did when I visited Sequoia National Park in 2001. I picked up an awesome print of Half Dome that I hope to get framed and hung up sometime soon.

There were quite a few things to see on that stretch of road along the Merced River in Yosemite Valley. Some of the most notable landmarks are right in this valley: El Capitan, Bridalveil Fall, and the Three Brothers. There were also great views of other landmarks a little further away, like Half Dome, North Dome, and Yosemite Falls. Our plan wasn't to hike in this area, but on a future trip, I think I'd really like to start in the valley and hike up to Vernal Fall, Nevada Fall, and then loop back around past Glacier Point. The sights must be wonderful there, if you can time it so you're not competing with a lot of people. As it was, we were lucky that we came early before the holiday weekend rush and we were able to catch quite a few pics without too much obstruction.

		Left: El Capitan, from the highway in the valley. Right: The view opposite El Capitan, from the highway in the valley.
		Left: View across from El Capitan, from under a tree. Right: No idea what the rock formation is, but I thought this was an interestingly framed picture.
		Left: El Capitan on the left, Bridalveil Falls on the right, looking upriver from the Valley View lookout point. Right: The Merced River at Valley View.
		Left: El Capitan. Right: El Capitan.
		Cobbled together panoramic view of El Capitan and Bridalveil Falls. Unfortunately, due to the lateness in the season, the falls had pretty much "dried up" and there wasn't an impressive column of water flowing down. I'll have to go back sometime earlier in the summer when there's more runoff to see.
		Left: Half Dome. Right: The Merced River.
		Left: The Merced River and a mountainous background. Right: Still waters with a nice reflection of the mountains at Valley View.

By the time we were done with taking pictures at Valley View, it was getting to be about early afternoon. We had the option of doing Ken's original plan of looping down toward Glacier Point to snag pictures of Half Dome, or take our time driving along Tioga Road on our way to Inyo National Park. We opted for the latter as it was the more relaxed option and, hell, we were on vacation. Why stress?

Day 1: Tioga Road

The drive to Inyo National Park from Yosemite Valley lead us back up toward the way we came and on Rte. 120. The highway, called Tioga Road, comes in from Stanislaus National Park, goes through Yosemite National Park, and on to Inyo National Park, which is where our backpacking trail is. The drive promised to be a very scenic one and it didn't disappoint.

Our path took us past White Wolf and Lukens Lake, Yosemite Creek, Olmstead Point, stopping here and there for pictures and naps. We doddered around Olmstead Point for quite a bit, taking advantage of the many photo opportunities before continuing on past Tenaya Lake and a bathroom stop at Tuolumne Meadows.

		Left: Northern view from Tioga Road of the White Wolf area, near Lukens Lake. Right: Somewhere along Tioga Road, southern view.
		Left: Somewhere along Tioga Road, southern view. Right: Somewhere along Tioga Road, northern view.
		Left: A nice cloud formation. Right: Pine needles and a rock. Ken was taking a nap. I was bored.
		Left: Somewhere along Tioga Road. Right: Somewhere along Tioga Road, northern view.
		Left: Somewhere along Tioga Road. southern view. Right: Clouds Rest.
		Left: Clouds Rest (left) and Half Dome (right), snapped from Olmstead Point. Right: Polly Dome (left), Pywiack Dome (center), and Tresidder Peak (right), with Tenaya Lake just in front of Pywiack Dome. Snapped from Olmstead Point, with the intruding car.
		Left: A rock at Olmstead Point, with a southern view in the background. Clouds Rest (the name of a mountain) is somewhat hidden behind the trees. Right: A rock at Olmstead Point, with a northern view in the background. Tuolumne Peak is just to the left of the trees.
		Left: Polly Dome (left), Pywiack Dome (center), and Tresidder Peak (right), with Tenaya Lake just in front of Pywiack Dome. Snapped from Olmstead Point, without the intruding car. Right: Mt. Hoffman (left) and Tuolumne Peak (right) beyond an interesting rock formation, snapped from Olmstead Point.
		Left: Clouds Rest, snapped from Olmstead Point. Right: Tenaya Lake.

With all this business done, we headed into Inyo National Park, picked up our camping licence at Moon Basin, and drove down to Silver Lake to our trailhead. Although I told people I was going backpacking in Yosemite, it was really more accurate to say that the trail is in the Ansel Adams Wilderness in Inyo National Park. According to Ken's guidebook, the trail was 10/10 for beauty and 4/5 for difficulty. Both of these numbers would prove to kick our asses in totally different ways. The name of the trail? Rush Creek Trail.

Day 1: Rush Creek Trail

About 4:30, Ken and I set out from the trailhead to begin the short three mile hike up to the first night's campsite. Call it ignorance, oversight, or failure to read a map, but we didn't quite account for the 1800 feet of elevation that we'd also have to negotiate in that three mile span. Now, on flat ground, I can cover a mile while wearing a ten-pound work bag in 20-25 minutes, less if I walk faster than leisurely. Lugging a 30-35 lb backpack going three miles horizontally and a third of a mile vertically, it took me four hours.

Needless to say, the climb was hard and there were many a time as we were rounding switchbacks up toward the first turn on the mountain where I really bitched myself out for being out of shape. However, there wasn't much choice in the matter. We had to get past Agnew Lake and up to Gem Lake to make the first campsite because there was literally nowhere else in between that would have made a viable spot to sleep that night. Consider that the temperature dropped down to about freezing in the evenings. Snoozing by the side of the trail was not a particulary happening idea either, even if you didn't think of the drop if you happened to roll the wrong way during the night.

		Left: Silver Lake, about halfway up the trail before the first "pass." Right: A closer look at the end of Silver Lake. There's a grouping of two trees toward the left. If you look at the one on the right, you can see two white dots near the top, just to the right. The one on the right is Ken's car. Trailhead be there.
		Left: Carson Peak on the right, taken roughly 180 degrees from where the previous ones were snapped. In the distance on the left, you can see Mammoth Ski Resort. As you can see, the sun's starting to set to the right, casting long shadows. We were hiking in near darkness toward the end. Right: Snapped at the top of trail, before going "down" toward Gem Lake, this was my excuse for taking a long break after the final push to get up to where we needed to be. The colour didn't come out right, but there was a brilliant purple sunset going on at the time. It also got dark within twenty minutes.

When we got to the top, we found a site where we made a quasi-legal campsite. According to Ken, we didn't quite follow all of the good guidelines for a proper campsite, but at that point of night we were both so dead tired -- me from not being accustomed to the altitude and my physical fitness, Ken from having slept only two hours the night before -- we didn't much care beyond having a place to sleep that night and getting some food in our bodies. The site had been used before and it would have to do for us that night. We slept like rocks.

Day 2: Rush Creek Trail

The next morning was glorious. The sun was up and bright when we finally woke up and we struck camp quickly, lest someone take offence to the fact that we had set down there for the night. We packed up and began the trek up to to Waugh Lake, which was about another 500 feet up in elevation. We saw some people, along the way, but they were off in the distance and we didn't stop to say hi. Ploughing through the trees at this point, compared to the barren mountainside the previous evening, it was much more pleasant. Shorts and t-shirt weather.

We made it up through the trail and finally popped up at the end of Waugh Lake just in time for lunch. It was great to sit out on a rock in the sun, looking out over the lake as we munched on pepperoni and pita. As we continued on after lunch, though, the blister on my heel began to get worse and we had to stop slap on a medicated patch and some more tape.

While I was tending to that, Ken went ahead to scout out a good campsite for the night. Being the lazy ass that I was, I elected to just stay where I was and lay out in the sun to bask. Yeah, it was good to just be able to relax like that. The campsite wasn't very far, maybe a half hour or so from where I had stopped to tape up. We set up camp pretty quickly and then went down to the shoreline to enjoy the afternoon. Again, I got to lay out on the rocks and listen to the water lap up against the shore, but it was starting to get cool as the afternoon wore on and eventually we had to retreat back to the campsite for a dinner of Jamaican rice and miso. Since there's not much that can be done once the sun goes down, we did a little stargazing and then turned in for the night.

		Left: The Gem Lake dam early in the morning. Just the the left of the dam is a little lump of rock. The higher sunny part of the rock is where we had made camp the first night. Right: Gem Lake from the northern shore as we were walking its perimeter. About a quarter of the way in from the left on the shoreline, you can see the inlet from the upstream Rush Creek.
		Left: Gem Lake Right: Billy Lake, a smaller lake in between Gem Lake and Waugh Lake.
		Left: Ian, by Billy Lake. Right: Rush Creek Trail, looking back.
		Left: Somewhere along Rush Creek Trail Right: Standing at the mouth of a path that looked like it was about to become some kind of pass, looking back.
		Left: Standing at the mouth of a path that looked like it was about to become some kind of pass, looking forward. It was misleading. I thought I'd get to the other side and there'd be some spectacular view leading to Waugh Lake, but there wasn't, just a lot more walking. Right: Rush Creek, where I had stopped to rest while waiting for Ken to catch up. I love the sound of running water, so this was a perfect place to stop and relax.
		Left: Waugh Lake, where we stopped for lunch. Right: Waugh Lake, further in.
		Left: Waugh Lake, about where we made camp. Right: Waugh Lake, by lakeside, where I was relaxing after we set up camp.
		Left: An interesting tree formation where I was relaxing. Right: The downstream view of Waugh Lake. The previous ones were upstream. In this view, you can see the dam where the water is held back. The trail came in on the left side of the dam.
		Left: More of the Waugh Lake dam. Right: Northern shoreline of Waugh Lake.
		Left: Southern shoreline of Waugh Lake in late afternoon, with three little islands. Right: Pine needles with the northern threeline in the background.

I have to say that, during the entire hike, my favourite moment was sitting at the edge of Waugh Lake in the afternoon sun. I was alone at that point; Ken was off taking a swim. It was just me on the lakeside, with the majestic mountains all around me. Ken said the trail was rated as 10/10 for beauty. I couldn't possibly find a reason to disagree.

Day 3: Rush Creek Trail

Saturday morning began pretty quietly around 8 or so, and we were greeted with a most fantastic vista. From our campsite, we had clear line of sight to the lake and, where the water had been choppy from the wind the day before, it was absolutely calm and serene in the morning. I did my best to snap some pictures, but by the time I was able to get to my camera, the wind was already starting to pick up and the reflections on the water began to break up. Still, I think I got off a couple of good shots.

Our original plan for the trip was to go as far as we could and then turn back. We had only made it about 2/3 of the way up Waugh Lake when we stopped to make camp. There was still quite a distance that we could go if we wanted to make it all the way up to the headwaters, but given the state of my heel and our general fatigue (and my out of shapedness), we decided to head back instead. Figured we could get down to Gem Lake by mid-afternoon, find a camp site and lounge around for the rest of the day.

As it turned out, we made fantastic time getting down from Waugh Lake to Gem Lake and somewhere about halfway around Gem Lake, we decided to just all the way out to the trailhead, ending our trek a day early. Believe it or not, we made it out in by 1:30 pm. It took us close to twelve hours over two days to get to our second campsite and all of five hours to hike out.

We hopped over to Lee Vining on Rte. 120 for a very welcome and hearty cooked lunch. We entertained the idea of getting another camp licence and trying another trail somewhere in Yosemite, but by this time it was deep into the Labour Day Weekend and there was close to no chance of getting anything decent, so we opted to go back to San Jose.

		Left: Southern shoreline of Waugh Lake in the morning. I absolutely loved the reflection of the mountains in the calm waters. Right: A closer look at the reflection of the mountains in the water, but by this time the wind had already started to pick up and the water wasn't quite as calm, distoring the reflection somewhat.
		Left: Falls, just downstream of Waugh Lake. Right: Billy Lake, looking downstream.
		Left: Billy Lake, looking downstream. Again, I was really pleased with the reflections in the water, though I don't think it came out quite as well in the photo. Right: Gem Lake from the same point that I took the other picture the first night.
		Left: Gem Lake, with Ken. Right: Gem Lake, with Ian. Right after this, we began seeing a lot more hikers as they were on their way up.
		Left: Agnew Lake in the late morning, as I was coming down. Right: A little trail marker halfway up the mountainside. Doesn't identify the trail, but it says it all as far as what areas we were in: Ansel Adams Wilderness in Inyo National Park.

We were home by 7 or so, which was great time according to Ken. Had some grilled chicken for dinner and basically relaxed for the rest of the evening. Yeah, we were both pretty dog tired at that point. We dredged up a friend of ours from college, Sanjay, and made some plans for the next day and then got some sleep. Sleep is good. Sleep in a bed is better.

Bay Area/Napa Valley

Two views of the Golden Gate Bridge from the Sausalito observation point. The white stuff rolling over the bridge deck is actually made by a bunch of guys in the middle with dry ice machines.

It's really a shame that I didn't bring the charger for my camera along because it was right after these pictures that my camera finally ran dry. I had also already used up all of the film in my other camera, which had been holding that particular roll for about nine months, and I wasn't about to start a new roll since I had switched so much of my picture taking over to the digital.

So, technical difficulties aside, Sunday was originally supposed to be Ken's and my final day in the wilderness, but that obviously changed the day before, so we decided to come up with something on the fly. I'd only been in the Bay Area twice and I hadn't gone wine tasting last time, so we thought it'd be fun to head up to Napa-Sonoma and tour around a little bit. We were able to drag out Sanjay, with whom I had shared an apartment Senior Year. Now, Sanjay's the sort that can be really silly; he was a partner with me in switching two of our Senior Year roommates' rooms mid-semester, but that's a story for another time. We wanted to get a couple of fourties of Colt 45 for chasers while we were doing the wine tasting, but Ken nixed the idea.

After chasing a silver BMW with three really cute girls for a decent part of the trip -- Ken, you need to brush up on your police driving technique -- we dropped into Napa Valley, near Rutherford. I basically let Ken and Sanjay figure out where we were going to go since I knew jack. They decided on the Mondavi, Situi, Beaulieu and Grgich wineries.

First order of business was getting a reservation for a tour of the Robert Mondavi winery, after which we went looking for Situi. We couldn't find it. There was something in the spot where Ken and Sanjay remembered it to be, but there didn't look like there was any kind of entrance. After circling about for a bit, we gave up and stopped for lunch at Rutherford Grill. Lunch was fantastic and I'd recommend it to anyone visiting the area.

The Mondavi tour was great. Mind you, I have nothing to compare it to, but on its own, I had a lot of fun. Got to hear about the process of wine-making and learn a few things about grapes and growing. Since I never got to take the wines class at Cornell, this was quite cool for me. The tasting itself was fun, too, and I was quite enamored with a Moscato d'Oro that the guide had brought out as a bonus. I liked it enough that I bought a bottle to bring home.

When we were done with Mondavi, we touched in on the St. Helena Olive Oil Company, which we saw across the street from the Rutherford Grill. I was amazed at the kind of contortions that you can put olives through to get the kinds of products that they had. I was also pretty keen on the jalapeno jam that they had, but opted to mail order it when I got home.

Following St. Helena, we stopped in at Beaulieu Vinery, which is probably more commonly recognized by the red "BV" on the label. I'm not sure what we did there -- seemed like a lot of goofing off, really -- but we didn't actually taste any of the wines. Made a bunch of jokes about the big ass magnum bottle that you could buy for some huge amount of money and then moved on to our next and last winery for the day.

Grgich was our last stop and it is touted as a top Chardonnay producer. Alas, I've discovered that it's not an easy label to find, at least not in the stores near me; when I finally did find some, I discovered why: not a single bottle of their product sells for less than $40. It was a less expensive tasting cost than the others we went to and had a pretty good variety. We also got free souvenir glasses, which was nice; it's a shame I broke one of them months later.

All in all, I liked Mondavi the best, but I think that was because I was most sober then and they had the tour, which was entertaining and informative, whereas the rest were pretty much drinking and more drinking. I suppose if I had a better background in wines, I would have been more appreciative, so I guess I've got something to work on before the next trip.

As it was still mid-afternoon, we headed back to the Bay Area to get some dinner. Dispensing with the waffling around to figure out where we wanted to go, we stopped in on Japantown for a bit before ultimately deciding that we wanted to check out a place in Los Gatos called Sushi on the Run. Sanjay had heard about this place, which is run by a single cook and a high turnaround assistant in a space that seats only eight. We were all hyped up for what was supposed to be a really cool meal...

... except the chef had gone to Reno for the day to gamble. We rediverted to a new place that had opened up nearby called Aoyama, where we proceeded to spend the rest of the night eating and chatting and making good friends with the chef behind the counter. Toward the end, we were getting some really bizarre but incredibly tasty creations that didn't appear anywhere on the menu. Final bill? It was less than a hundred dollars for three people, which, considering what we ate, was nowhere near accurate. Needless to say, we left a hefty tip.

After that, there's really not much else to tell, we went our separate ways to go home and the next morning I was up and out of there for my flight home, in time for Monday Night Football. Good times were had and I hope to do it again sometime... on a trail that's not Difficulty 4.

Crouching Tiger Hidden Beaver

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A Life in Pictures