Melina: Fischertrails Yosemite Trip Day 5 A Tale of the Misty Trail Traffic

It was our last full day of hiking, we would be in Yosemite Valley by the end of the day and would finally be able to shower and eat a huge meal (we had already decided it would be a bacon cheeseburger with a shake and fries!), we could hardly wait. We woke up early that day to get a head start and head out we left in amazingly good spirits looking forward to our big cheeseburger celebration at the end of our day.

We headed down the trail trekking along the river, until we finally made it to Nevada Falls, It was so beautiful again we could hardly believe what a gorgeous day it was! We began to see a few more people on the trail they were headed up the trail to get to half dome, and we were feeling smug enjoying our down hill hike watching them torture themselves up the trial. We started down this really narrow part of the mist trail it was made up of huge stones carved into the side of the cliff creating a somewhat gnarly stairway. We made our way down to Vernal Falls we could see it just below us
in the distance. Along the way we ran into who would have guessed it but the boys scouts again, feeling a little competitive Tim had suggested we pick up the pace as we were not wanting to be lapped by the boys scouts as we had left so much earlier than they did. Once we got to Vernal Falls the trail got even worse not only was it narrow and steep but now it was slick with the mist from the water falls and crazy crowded with tourists. I felt like we were at a wilderness Disneyland. We had our backs loaded down with our heavy packs, throwing off our balance and now we were getting pushed an shoved on a very scary narrow trail by very inconsiderate tourists trying to get the best photo they could of the water fall. Most people were completely oblivious of anything around them, I began to feel myself losing my patience with the crowd, and wanting to do anything but take photos. Had we not spent the entire past week in God's glorious creation wilderness landscape enjoying it all to ourselves having no one for miles, I think I would have been more patient but I came down the trail with the attitude this was my wilderness my Yosemite I felt like I conquered something great and I wanted to selfishly hold onto that personal experience a few hours longer, but that was definitely not going to happen.

So we decided to pull off the trail and regroup, we found a shady little rock off the trail over looking the water and decided to eat lunch, the last of our food! We shared a pack of tuna and crackers snacked on trial mix and beef jerky, but it didn't satisfy our minds were set on a big meal now and our stomachs began growling even after we finished eating. There was no stopping now, we had to get down the trail to the valley.

We finally made it to the bottom of the trail, and it was a bit strange to see civilization at first, we were in awe of simple things like paved roads and drinking fountains, after a week of filtering stream lake or river water here was a faucet that you could simply put your water bottle under and drink without having to do any work. The part that felt strangest of all was sitting at a shuttle stop then getting on a shuttle with air conditioning driving a couple miles in two min not having to torturously walk two more miles was so weird.

Tim somehow got a second wind and wanted to make one stop before we got to our next campsite so we got off the shuttle put on our heavy packs for one last time that day and got off at mirror lake, a short walk to a lake that Tim had seen in a post card in our brochures of Yosemite, in the post card it showed this incredibly beautiful lake that mirrored half dome so beautifully. Since I knew he really wanted to go I decided to just be a good sport and walk a mile more that day. We begin walking and walking and walking and when we are sure we walked more than a mile and still haven't found any lake at all we asked a person near by where the lake was and she laughed and said you're looking at it completely frustrated and tired with aching feet and burst blisters on three of my toes I took off my shoes to angry to say a word and placed my feet in the icy cold pond of a lake. We've been deceived I couldn't believe we had gone from a secluded paradise to this circus of crazy tourists and false lakes. I had to get to the campsite and treat myself to a long deserved shower.

We got on the shuttle a little discouraged but with new excited anticipation of setting up our camp leaving our packs behind for a shower and well deserved meal. We got to the backpackers camp and found out that the camp was not free after all but $5 per person, oh well I thought it must be to maintain the showers and bathrooms. We walked all the way to the back of campground to find the backpackers section. I quickly scanned the campsite to see where the showers were only to be completely disappointed to find there was nothing in the backpackers campsite but but porta potty's UGHH!!!!!! WHAT! I couldn't even allow myself to feel frustrated I just threw my hands in the air and looked at the bright side at least there was finally a trash can where we could toss the trash we had been carrying all week. We quickly set up camp and headed to the near by camp where they at least had a sink and toilets that flushed. We decided if we weren't going to shower we would at least wash our arms feet legs face and use wipes to clean ourselves as much as was possible. I changed into my last set of clean clothes that I had been carefully keeping in my pack for the day I would shower. It felt so good to feel somewhat clean and not be carrying my pack. I was immediately in better spirits.

We made our way to the shuttle stop to head into town for our long awaited cheeseburger. Finally we made it to the small part of the valley called Curry Village they had an outdoor grill with cheeseburgers on the menu we were so excited, but then we got a little ambitious thinking we could find a better place with indoor seating so we got on the shuttle again and headed to Yosemite Lodge where we heard there was a grill with indoor seating. We get to the grill only to find that it was closed it closed at 6pm and it was 6:05 completely frustrated with a place that claims to serve dinner I couldn't believe it would close at 6. We decided to try one more place our stomachs growling we got on the shuttle again to head to a food court we heard of nearby. By this time we were ravenously hungry there was no quieting our growling tummies. We must have been so hungry we were not thinking clearly because we had a hard time finding the food court we got turned around walked in circles and 30 min later we were on the trail when I lost all patience (hangryness reared its ugly head) and on the verge of tears I stopped walking. I looked at Tim tears welling up shoulders and head dropped and said I can't walk another step I'm tired and I'm not even hungry anymore I just want to go back to our camp and go to bed I don't care if I never eat again. Tim looked at me stress in his eyes not knowing what to say to encourage me to take a few more steps to who knows where we were headed and said please lets just go 5 minutes more than we can turn around if you really want, luckily he was right we finally found this food court that was more like the cafeteria I ate at in when I was in college. Starved we ordered our cheeseburgers that looked like something you would never touch unless you were as hungry as we were, we sat in silent scarfing down our food that tasted way better than it realistically should have, I looked over at Tim filled with remorse and all rational thoughts coming clearly back to me I apologized for losing patience and said thank you for putting up with me and all my craziness. He just laughed and said that was the worse hanger I've ever seen and we just laughed thinking back on it.

We had a little more energy now and cell phone service so we made a couple of quick phone calls and then decided to walk in the meadow of the valley taking a few last photos before heading back to our camp. Later that night we walked to a nearby river no one around we stood over this bridge looking up at the full moon which was lighting up the stream and half dome so bright we felt like we were alone in all the beauty again one last time filled with joy and a sense of accomplishment we reminisced on our trip before heading back to camp.

We went back to our camp to find the boyscouts had arrived and we sat off in our own little space enjoying the warm night air. We spotted a backpacking couple that looked like they were looking for a place to camp in the full campground we offered to share our space if they didn't find anything. They agreed and we sat talking with them a couple hours about backpacking living in the Bay Area which is where they were from. They shared with us their plans to catch a free shuttle back to Toulomne meadows early in the morning which was were our car was parked. We couldn't believe it we thought our only way back to Toulomne Meadows was to catch this tram that only left at 5pm and cost $9 per person. We were so excited we thought maybe instead of touring the valley we would maybe leave in the morning instead. We went to bed still not sure which we would do stay another day or leave early in the morning with our new friends and get started on the long drive back. Either way we were exhausted and quickly fell into a deep sleep probably the best night sleep of the week full bellies warm night air and soft flat ground.