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August 2023
A trip to San Francisco then on to Yosemite National Park to hike to Half Dome Read more
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  • Norman GrahamCalifornia
    Day 1

    A bad start

    August 2, 2023 in Scotland ⋅ 🌧 15 °C

    My bags had been packed and repacked, my ticket, passport and documents had been checked and rechecked, and now it was time to head off on an adventure. I was flying from Edinburgh via Dublin to San Francisco to spend a couple of days with Meg & her husband Chris (whom I had never met) before travelling with them and some of their friends to Yosemite National Park for a few days hiking, then back to San Francisco for a few days doing tourist stuff.

    I had met Meg on the Via De La Plata in Spain in 2022 and we had become friends, and I had sort of invited myself to come to the USA to visit her, not knowing if it would ever actually happen. Yet here I was on the 2nd of August 2023 at 0430 awake and getting ready to head to the airport for the first leg of my flight to San Francisco.

    Barbara dropped me off at the airport at 0640 and I checked in my bag and got through customs in no time at all, I just had to sit around for ages waiting for the departure gate to be announced. Eventually, it was announced and I made my way to the departure gate and boarded with the other passengers.

    We sat on the aircraft and waited...and waited, eventually the Captain announced that there was a slight technical fault with the aircraft and that an engineer was working on the problem at that moment. It turned out that the windscreen wipers were not working (unusually for Scotland, it was raining). We waited...and waited. After being on the aircraft for almost 2 hours, the announcement that I had been expecting for two hours came that the windscreen wiper motor needed to be replaced and that the part would have to come from Dublin and so we were to disembark and wait at the departure gate for more information.

    I had a 3-hour window to catch my connecting flight in Dublin, but an hour of that had already gone and I was very concerned that I might miss it. My concern turned to resignation when it became clear that the flight to Dublin was cancelled and no Aer Lingus or Swissport (airport logistics) staff could be found to give us any information. It seemed that no Swissport supervisors were answering their phones and none could be found to come and speak to us. As for Aer Lingus staff, I can only assume that they had all fled the country. I actually felt sorry for the Swissport staff who were doing the best the could for us but who had also very obviously been left to deal with it by management.

    Some of the American passengers, obviously seasoned travellers with good credit ratings, (mostly golfers - they had all checked in huge golf club bags - began organising other flights. The rest of us poor folks had to wait...and wait...and wait. Eventually, one of the Swissport staff said they had no idea what was happening with alternative flights etc, but that they could see on their system that our baggage was to be removed from the aircraft and she suggested that we go to the domestic flights baggage reclaim to collect them.

    By this time the Americans had all headed off to get their new flights and the rest of us headed off to collect our bags. We arrived at the baggage reclaim and waited...and waited...and waited, (by now reader, you must be sensing a theme developing). 2 hours later one of the passengers said that according to her Apple Tag, our bags were still on the aircraft, so we took turns at politely but firmly harassing every member of management who had the misfortune to walk through the baggage reclaim hall.

    Meanwhile, some passengers tried to phone Aer Lingus customer service (although based on our experience the phrase 'Aer Lingus customer service' is an oxymoron). At 2pm one gentleman from Glasgow who had been heading to Boston to visit his son managed to get through and was told that he and his wife had been booked onto a 1pm flight to Orlando where they would get a connection to Boston. He said to the CSA that he couldn't be on that flight, the CSA responded that he was definitely booked on that flight. (You can see where this is going right?) He then pointed out that it was 2pm and the flight had (probably) left and hour earlier. Furthermore, even if Aer Lingus had bothered to inform him that they had booked him on that flight, which they hadn't, he was still stuck in baggage reclaim waiting for his suitcase. Then, like Aer Lingus' hope that he would fly with them again, the phone line went dead.

    In another twist it turned out that all the Americans who had booked other flights had also missed them as, in what was to them a huge surprise, they were unable to get their baggage off the aircraft we had vacated about 4 hours earlier.

    I also managed to get through to Aer Lingus customer service and they told me the next available flight was at the same time tomorrow, I said, OK, at which point the line went dead - the mobile signal in the baggage reclaim was bad, and when I got a signal again the number just kept ringing out. However, according to the otherwise quite useless Aer Lingus App, I had been booked on the flight for the following day. The only thing was I didn't have a ticket for that, however, Hays Travel whom I had booked my flights through, were great and they managed to get me an updated one which they emailed to me directly - now that's customer service.

    Our polite but firm harassing of the Swissport management seemed to have worked as the Apple Tag, and hopefully the luggage it was attached to, began to move in our direction, and within 20 minutes our bags had been delivered.

    I phoned Barbara and waited at the pick up point for her to collect me, and 10 hours after I first arrived at Edinburgh Airport, I was back home, no further forward.

    It was a bad start to what was meant to be the trip of a lifetime.    Read more

  • Norman GrahamCalifornia
    Day 2

    Groundhog Day?

    August 3, 2023 in Scotland ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    Once again I was up early, and on my way to the airport hoping that today would not be a groundhog day repeat of yesterday's disaster. It didn't begin well, I arrived early at the Aer Lingus check in desk and went through the usual routine, handing me my boarding pass the member of staff said enjoy your flight to Boston...10 minutes later I was unchecked for a flight to Boston that I wasn't booked on and rechecked in for my actual flight to San Francisco via Dublin.

    I got through security within 15 minutes and made my way to the departure lounge, and sat down to wait for the departure gate to be announced. I began to get slightly concerned when the time the gate was to be announced came and went with no announcement...then it was 30 minutes past the time it was supposed to be announced. Damn you Bill Murray! I asked a member of the Swissport staff if that was a bad sign and she kindly looked up my flight on Swissport system and told me that it was late coming in from Dublin but that it would be leaving from Gate 1.

    After thanking her I made my way along to the Gate and waited. Some time later...I saw the aircraft land and taxi to our gate, it was quite small and propeller driven, but with only a short delay we were in the air. My stopover time in Dublin was now much reduced. I had chosen to go via Dublin because the Irish Government has an agreement with the USA to have a border control post in Dublin airport, so once you clear it in Dublin you don't have to queue up in the USA, and that can save several hours.

    The border control was just like any other airport security except they actually made us take off our shoes - even flip flops for those wearing them, it seemed quite pointless but only because it was.

    Once through the security I had to join the queue for border control, I was getting nervous as I noted that I only had 15 minutes until my departure gate closed. However, the queue seemed to be moving quickly and within a few moments I was photographed, had my fingerprints scanned and was asked some questions about my trip. For some strange reason I felt like I was guilty of something and expected to be told that my ESTA had been revoked, and be escorted away by two burly security guards. None of which happened, fortunately.

    I raced through the airport to get to my gate before it closed only to discover...that it hadn't actually opened, true to form, the Aer Lingus flight was delayed by about 30 minutes. I had plenty of time to go to the toilet and then go to buy a muffin for the flight.

    30-40 minutes later than billed we started to board, the flight seemed quite full. I found my seat and was pleasantly surprised at the level of comfort and the amount of legroom. The passenger beside me was a young Irish lad (ginger) on his way to the USA for a wedding with his large family who were all seated in different parts of the cabin. I was very relieved when we started moving. It was going to be a long flight, but I had my kindle, and once I got the TV screen working (it was frozen and had to be rebooted by a member of the cabin crew) I settled down to watch a movie. I started with 65 which seemed to me to be quite derivative of the genre and reminded me of the terrible Will Smith movie Earth. To be fair, it wasn't the worst movie I had ever seen. I tried to watch The Last of Us as a lot of people had been raving about it, but two things struck me immediately, firstly, it was really no different from a dozen other zombie type movies/tv shows I had seen, the twist being that it was caused by a fungus rather than a virus...no one saw that coming.
    Secondly, I turned it off because there were a lot of kids on the plane and I didn't think it was really suitable material for them to see, that perhaps makes me look old fashioned but the eyes are the window of the soul.

    Several books later we were preparing to land in San Francisco. The flight had been uneventful until about an hour outside SF, a woman started screaming because she thought her child was dead or dying, it turned out that he had had very little to eat and drink that day and after a sugary drink and something to eat he was fine. I felt bad because when she started screaming all I could think was please don't let us be diverted to another airport...

    My bag was the very last one to arrive on the conveyor belt, the bag I had put the rucksack in was all torn and the barcode label barely hanging on, still it was there. Not having to go through customs I went straight out to the entrance foyer and saw Meg and her husband Chris, and after hugs and a coffee we headed out to the car.

    We had planned to spend two days in Big Sur with an overnight stay in Monterey, but thanks to Aer Lingus, one of those days had been lost. Since the hotel was already paid for we decided to go to Monterey straight from the airport, it was a couple of hours drive, but the chat was free and easy, and the time passed quickly. We found the hotel, went for something to eat, I wasn't hungry. When I flew to Sydney, Australia in 1999 I couldn't eat any food on the plane as the cabin crew couldn't tell me what the ingredients were, but I thought things had probably changed since then, and they had. Every ingredient was listed either on the packaging or the on-board ingredients/allergen list. The food was surprisingly good. However, I had managed to stay awake for a very long time, but it was catching up with me and so it was time for bed. It had been a long and exhausting couple of days, but here I was, in a hotel room in California, I could hardly believe it, roll on tomorrow!    Read more

  • Norman GrahamCalifornia
    Day 2

    Monterey / Point Lobos Nature Reserve

    August 3, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    After an interesting night...someone tried to get into our room at 0600, I think it was folk from the next room, they were packing a car to leave early, and they went to the wrong door...they all looked the same.

    We were all up by 0830, we headed out to find somewhere to get breakfast. We opted for a funky cafe that looked like the sort of place old hippies and vegans would hang out, it certainly had some trippy decor and the menu was 'interesting'. The coffee was not only hot it came in a huge bowl-like cup, but the service was extremely slow (someone was late for work!) and I think Chris was beginning to regret the café choice, and that did not improve when he actually got his breakfast pancakes...they were not good. I enjoyed my breakfast, basic eggs on toast, but it was good.

    We set off toward Monterey, it is a lovely place, famous for music festivals among other things, it is a massive draw for tourists, the traffic was quite heavy for the time of day. We stopped off for coffee and had a fascinating conversation about American politics and the future of America from a European perspective. My take: The 20th Century has rightly been called the American Century but at the beginning of the 21st its influence is on the wane. In Europe there is a growing concern about the Americanisation of European cultures and the beginnings of a backlash against it. The Trump era has accelerated concerns about America's role globally, and in Europe there is a real concern that America could descend into civil war (the Jan 6th riot, the religion around Trump, and the rise of Christian nationalism, the backlash against critical race theory etc. are indicative of the further polarisation of American society), if not civil war it could become a right wing totalitarian State. None of which would be good for the liberal democracies of Europe. I think they may have been a bit surprised at my knowledge of American politics but the obvious point is of course that America is a global power with global reach...Scotland, not so much (yet).

    We headed on to the Point Lobos Nature Reserve and arrived early enough to get a parking space, something that I guess would have been very difficult just an hour or so later.

    It looked very beautiful and we spent most of the day having a walk around the coastal trail, the scenery, the wildlife and the company were all fabulous. I think Clint Eastwood has a house around here somewhere. Chris was a mine of information about the area, he is a really interesting person, with a good sense of humour, I think we are going to get on fine. It was really good to get out for a walk after having spent so long sitting in the airport, the plane and then the car the day before.

    When it came time to go, I was sorry to leave, but it was time to head back to Pacifica. On the drive back we passed a lot of fields, of fruit and other crops, farming here seems to be done on a huge industrial scale, and I couldn't help but wonder how good that was for the environment and for human health.

    We stopped for dinner at a Mexican restaurant called The Whole Enchilada, it didn't look particularly appealing but Meg and Chris had eaten there before and they said the food was good. I was unsure about real Mexican food as opposed to what passes for Mexican food in Scotland so I took the safe option of cod and chips - terrible I know, but I do have a severe food allergy and dying on the first day of the trip would have really spoiled the holiday. It was a good choice because it was excellent, one of the best fish and chips I have ever had, and both Meg and Chris enjoyed their meal very much.

    We set off once more and went back via the coastal road which was very beautiful , it was exactly what I imagined the Californian coast to be. We arrived back in Pacifica and after a quick coffee and chat it was time for bed, it had been a long day but a fabulous one. Although I got off to a bad start on this trip - thank you Aer Lingus - the first day in America had been terrific and not least because of Meg and Chris who had both been fantastic company.    Read more

  • Norman GrahamCalifornia
    Day 3

    Prep day for Yosemite

    August 4, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    I woke up at 0500, and I noticed that I had a lot of messages on my phone but I just ignored them and managed to drift back to sleep...but not for too long, I woke again at 0630 so listened to some stuff on my mobile. I had bought a data bolt on for the USA but was glad to have the Wi-Fi at Meg's!

    The plan for today was to get the food packed and other stuff organised for Yosemite. Meg used a website that provided menus for campers that were nutritious, replaced lost calories etc. but that were very easy to prepare and could be eaten hot or cold (it turned out they were also delicious). We spent some time putting ingredients into zip-lock bags - putting them in the bags minimised the packaging and reduced the weight in our packs which I think were going to be heavy enough. The meals were quite varied, from couscous with dried tomatoes to upside down strawberry cheesecake.

    Meg was, of course great, she explained what hiking and camping in Yosemite would be like, plus a seminar on the correct way to poop in the great outdoors of Yosemite. Who knew there could be so much to learn?

    Chris showed me some YouTube videos of people hiking up to Half Dome, it was really interesting, some of them were quite funny. There was one of a very bubbly, perky young woman who never stopped talking about how excited she was and giving a blow by blow account of the hike. when she turned to her boyfriend and asked for his opinion and he made a sort of grunting noise that might have been a couple of words. The strong silent type obviously. I did note that they had run out of water - hiking 101, water and snacks. Watching the videos was calming actually, when I saw how many people went up half dome, including a man in his 90's and a 10 year old boy, I thought maybe I could do it after all.

    I got most of my bag packed for tomorrow, by the time I add on my chair, bear canister and water it is going to be heavier than my camino pack which had been several kilos too heavy than it should have been. I was glad to be able to borrow a backpack from my friend JP, Meg had said it needed to be 55-60L, and my camino pack was only 33L so I would have had to have bought one. The only problem was that it was an older pack and therefore a little bit heavier than modern ones, in fact it didn't have side pockets for water bottles. Still, despite the weight of the pack, I am very excited about going to Yosemite tomorrow.

    Meg's friend Laura arrived from Portland, first impression is that she seems very nice. It was agreed that she would travel in Meg's car and I would travel with Chris as with all our gear we would need two cars. Bed beckoned, though I was so excited I wasn't sure if I would be able to get to sleep.    Read more

  • Norman GrahamCalifornia
    Day 4

    Yosemite Valley

    August 5, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    After a quick breakfast we packed the cars and set off, stopping to pick up a bear canister and a collapsible chair for me. I was in the electric car with Chris and Laura was with Meg. It was a hot day already and would get hotter by the time we got to Yosemite.

    The drive itself was quite dull, as most freeway/motorway drives are. Once we got away from the city the landscape changed and was for the most part quite flat. We seemed to drive from one town to the next for a few hours, but it was difficult to tell when one town ended and another began, they all just seemed to merge into one another. Most of what you could see from the highway was commercial advertising. One distinctive feature - or lack thereof - was the lack of a skyline. Town after town there were almost no buildings above one storey high. I guess that is the result of having plenty of land to build on, there's no need to go high if you can spread out. The other main feature of the journey was roadworks.

    I found Chris easy to chat to, and when we lapsed into silence it was comfortable. I could sense that Chris was anxious about being able to recharge the car - on this trip I learned a lot about the difficulties and stress of going on a long journey in an electric car. We stopped at a town called Atwater, there was a charging station there and it was available and it was working! There was a huge Target store there so we went in to get a few supplies, it was a huge store, my first time in a Target, so famous we have even heard of it in Scotland. There was a fast food place near the charging station called The Habit, I'm not a big fan of fast food but then our experience in Scotland is mostly MacDonalds, Burger King and Kentucky Fried. I have to say that The Habit was nothing like them, the food was really good and not expensive, the place was clean and the staff were friendly.

    Recharged and refuelled (see what I did there) we set off once more. As we got closer to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada range the landscape changed again. We drove through rolling hills and small towns that looked like sets for old western movies. the winding roads through the foothills seemed to go on forever until the hills got larger and suddenly we were out of the foothills and into the mountains, and then Yosemite Valley.

    The Valley is about 7 miles long and between a half-mile to a mile wide. The Merced River runs through the valley and was flowing fast. We eventually made it into the Village in the Valley, which was a surprise. I hadn't realised that people actually lived here, there was a store, a garage, a post office, cafés etc., I was not expecting to see so much activity. I also had not expected to see hundreds of tourists.

    We were having dinner at the Awana, a posh, expensive hotel that the queen once stayed at. I think it was built at the beginning of the 20th century, it certainly had the look. A young couple, Ethan and Hannah, joined us for dinner, they would be hiking with us, they seemed very nice. The food was excellent, as was the company.

    We could probably have stayed longer but we had to get the tents set up, so after availing ourselves of the toilets (it would be a few days before we would see them again), we made our way to the campsite where we would be spending our first night. The campsite had composting toilets, complete with swarms of flies.

    A word about bear canisters, it's basically a plastic tub with a screw on lid. Bears have an amazing sense of smell and so you have to put all your food, toiletries, medicines etc. into it. The bears can still smell it but apparently they know from experience that they can't get into them. The bear cage is basically a big metal box with a bear-proof lock that you store the bear canisters in

    The tent was easy enough to set up under Meg's expert tutelage. The campsite was busy as expected, mostly with young people but it wasn't noisy

    It had been a long day, and once we had packed our bear canisters and put them into the bear cage, we said goodnight and went to our tents.    Read more

  • Norman GrahamCalifornia
    Day 5

    Mono Meadow to Illilouette Creek

    August 6, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    It was still dark when I woke up, I had not slept well, but I don't think anyone had. For breakfast we had one of the camper's meals that we had prepared a couple of days ago, I wasn't sure how the camping food would taste but I figured it was only for a few days, however, I was pleasantly surprised as it was easy to mix and tasted good. As soon as breakfast was over we packed up the tents and all our gear and headed for the cars.

    We had to go into the village to get the permits for allowing us to camp and to ascend Half Dome, I was surprised and pleased to see that there was an Ansel Adams gallery in the village, I hoped there would be time to visit it before the end of the trip. We got our permits and Meg asked the Ranger about the conditions in Mono Meadow and the Illilouette Creek. Apparently Mono Meadow was a "bit boggy" and that only people experienced in river crossing should try to cross the river (I thought, that will be me then). Anyway we set off, leaving Meg's car in the Valley.

    Meg and Chris had been amazing hosts and were clearly determined that I would have an amazing holiday, and see as much of Yosemite as possible. So the plan was to drive up to Tunnel View then on to Glacier Point, and then to the `Mono Meadow trailhead which was nearby (Meg the great planner!).

    Although the valley is just 7 miles long, it is a 17-mile drive up to Glacier Point. We wound our way up the mountain on brand new roads, all the roads had been destroyed by last winter's snow, and had to be replaced, I guess that happens a lot here. The view of the valley from Tunnel View was quite spectacular and there was a steady flow of cars stopping so people could take photographs. Glacier Point was, if anything, even more spectacular, but busy, it was a bit more difficult to get parked, but it was worth it. Right across from us we could see Half Dome, that was our final destination in a few days time. There was a nice gift shop at Glacier Point, and so I got a few small, not heavy things to take home.

    We managed to park Chris and Ethan's cars in the car park at the trailhead, and after a quick photograph at the trailhead, we began hiking in Yosemite. It was all downhill at first, but I had the nagging feeling that this would change as what goes down usually goes up.

    It didn't take long for it to level out and we reached what I assumed was Mono Meadow. There is an old joke that the UK and the USA are two nations divided by a common language, and it very quickly became apparent that the American understanding of the term "a bit boggy" was very different from the UK understanding. Swamp-like would have been more appropriate. There were bits of wood that I think we were supposed to walk on but it was impossible as they were partly submerged and extremely slippy. It wasn't long before both Chris and I miss-stepped and ended up knee deep in very 'boggy' water. I was worried about Chris because he already had a bad knee, but we managed to get up out of the water and get moving with some directions from Evan. It wasn't a great start to the hike, but we continued on, the heat of the day would dry us out quite quickly.

    What went down did begin to go up...endlessly. Meg had warned me not to be fooled by the short distances we would be walking in Yosemite, avg. 3-5 miles, compared to the 15-20 miles per day on the camino, and, as usual, she was right. The distances may have been shorter but the altitude was a lot higher and the inclines were steeper and more numerous. So, it was hard going.

    The steady uphill hike, with one wet foot, was more than compensated for by Laura. Every so often as we walked along she would find a particular flower beside the path, and then tell me all about it. The simplicity of her joy in this was a delight, and I felt privileged to be invited to share in that.

    We came to a little creek, in Scotland we would call it a burn, and I thought, this doesn't look too big a deal to cross, which, after a stop for some lunch, we did. We hiked on a bit further, checking out the flowers on the way, and then we came to the actual creek that the Ranger had spoken about, the Illilouette Creek, it was not very deep but it was flowing fast and was icy cold. I was the only one who had never done a river crossing, and so I was the last to go. After changing into the Crocs that I had bought for this very moment, I stepped in, as I said, it was icy cold, and the bed of the river was completely covered in stones that were very slippy. Evan came back into the river to give me a second walking pole and he stayed in the river, I think maybe to rescue me in case I fell. I made it across safely.

    Within 10 minutes we reached the spot where we would camp for the night. It was a very beautiful spot with a plenty of flat ground for our tents and a good spot for cooking our meals. We set up our tents and spent a while chatting and admiring our surroundings.

    All in all, it had been a good day, and as I lay in my sleeping bag, once again I felt that my life was blessed and that I had much to be thankful for.    Read more

  • Norman GrahamCalifornia
    1
    Day 6

    Illilouette River to Little Yosemite

    August 7, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    I slept not too badly, but I woke up early, just before sunrise. I had to get up out my tent to make like a bear in the woods and then I sat in my chair in front of my tent, no one else was up, it was just me, immersed in the quiet stillness of the world. I sat and watched the sun rise over the mountain and gradually my companions got up and wandered off in different directions. we made our breakfast and packed up our gear. To be honest I was slightly reluctant to leave. It was one of the most peaceful places I had every been, but the trail was calling.

    Today we would be hiking to Little Yosemite Valley, with a lunch stop at Nevada Falls. It was a beautiful walk, and the company was great but I encountered a problem. I had borrowed a backpack as I didn't have one this large, and for which I was very grateful as it meant I didn't have to buy one. However, although it was a good quality backpack, it was an older one and the straps were a bit worn and no matter how much I tightened them, they kept slipping. It meant that the backpack was not sitting right, the weight was wrong on it, and it made hiking very hard going.

    To be fair, the hiking was hard enough, I was very slightly beginning to feel the effects of being at a higher altitude than I was used to, and a lot of the hiking was uphill...but it was all worthwhile. It was a beautiful walk, the scenery was spectacular, and the company was excellent, and Laura kept me informed about the flowers along the way so, all in all I felt very blessed to be there.

    The section from the Creek to Nevada falls was uphill for quite a while and the it levellled out into a beautiful vista, at one point we walked through an area where the trees were still recovering from last year's forest fire, in another part the floor of the forest was littered with the largest pine cones I had had ever seen, and Laura shared the beauty of flowers along the path.

    I was glad when we began to go downhill, which we did for quite a while on a winding pathway. we met and chatted to a couple of workers who were repairing the path, it looked like very hard work and involved shifting and setting boulders of all shapes and sizes. However, it was a great office to work in.

    We reached a junction in the trail, the John Muir Trail went off to the left back down to Yosemite Valley, and the right trail turned towards Nevada Falls, which, from the sound of rushing water, didn't seem to be that far away. Sure enough within 15 minutes or so we were there. It was a very beautiful spot and relatively busy with day hikers and groups like ours passing through.

    We spent some time there having lunch and resting. I crossed the bridge to the other side of the falls and was surprised to see that there was no fence stopping anyone from falling hundreds of feet to their death. In the UK there would be fencing, cameras, and probably staff to makes sure no one went too close to the edge, but children were running about and peering over the edge quite freely. You could feel the force of the water from 20 feet away, as it rushed over the edge of the cliff in a display of raw power and noise, it was a magnificent sight.

    After lunch we all crossed the bridge, which was, to my relief, solid and well engineered and headed back on the trail to Little Yosemite Valley. The path quickly became steep, initially there were a lot of steps rather than a path, and with the heat, the weight of my pack and the altitude, I really began to struggle. I think Chris was finding it hard going also and despite having rested for about an hour at the falls, we had to stop and sit for 10 minutes rest. Whilst we were trying to catch our breath a hiker came by and looked at us and then asked if we had any permits for half dome, to which we said yes. He then asked if he could have one, to which we said no. I can only assume that having looked at us he thought that one of us was going to die on the trail and would therefore not need our permit. Being Scottish, I was so incensed at implicit suggestion that we weren't going to make it that I put my backpack on and set off once more. The ascent began to level out and the walk became a bit easier.

    The trail split in two directions and so Meg told me which path to take and then she waited for Chris to catch up, his knee was bothering him a bit. The path was quite flat by this time for which I was grateful as I was really done in, but I had been assured that the campsite wasn't far away. The I saw Ethan and Laura coming back along the trail to meet us, Evan (who, it turned out, was a really great guy) went to look for Chris so he could carry his backpack for him. Laura offered to carry mine, which caused me a moral crisis, on the one hand it went against the grain to let her carry my pack for me and on the other, I was done in. I then remembered a camino rule that if someone offers you help you should take it, so I said yes. It was such a relief to take the backpack off, and within 5-10 minutes we had arrived at the campsite.

    The campsite was quite nice, it was fairly level and different areas were divided by logs, so we were able to pitch our tents together. The ground was however, just dust a few cm deep, but a lot of the trails were the same, it gave new meaning to the phrase eat my dust, I had always thought that was just an expression, but on the trail, if you got too close, you were literally eating the dust stirred up by the person in front of you. The campsite also had composting toilets, which might not seem like much but it was better than the alternative.

    We all got our tents set up, and got settled in. I went to explore the campsite, checked out the composting toilets and walked along to the Merced River, it was all very lovely.

    After a very welcome dinner around the camp stoves, we all retired to our tents, the plan was to leave about 0530 in the morning to ascend half dome, Chris was going to stay at the campsite, so he very kindly gave me his much lighter modern backpack for the trip. With that we all went to our tents where our sleeping bags were waiting.    Read more

  • Norman GrahamCalifornia
    Day 7

    Half Dome

    August 8, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Everyone was up on time, and unlike some of our fellow campers, we quietly got ourselves ready to start the hike up to half dome. Some campers had gone back and forth to the bear cage all night and were either fumbling around in the dark or else they were just incapable of being quiet.

    After a quick breakfast and trip to the wonderful composting toilets, we set off. We left between 0500 and 0530 and we could the lights of head torches bobbing along on Half Dome, so some folk must have set off hours before us. I found it much easier with Chris' backpack, plus of course all I was carrying was water, which was just as well as the next few hours would be all uphill, quite steeply uphill in fact. It was hard going. It just seemed to go on forever and the joy of hiking began to be replaced with the sense of slogging on, just keeping going.

    We eventually reached a plateau and the views were spectacular. The ranger hadn't yet arrived at the bottom of sub-dome but our permits were all in order. You cannot ascend to Half-Dome without a permit, I'm not sure if you can be prosecuted for it but there are certainly punitive fines.

    We started to ascend sub-dome, and it was more than a little bit scary. It is a very steep ascent, with not very wide but uneven steps of all shapes and sizes cut into the granite. As you are ascending there are people descending. If you are afraid of heights it is a definite no-go, at various points there is a sheer drop of 1-2000 feet just inches from where you're standing. At one point there are no steps, just a slab of granite to walk up. Meg had told me I needed to get shoes that would give good grip on smooth granite and so I went to TISO Outdoor experience in Glasgow and chatted with one of the shoe guys who recommended a pair of LA Sportiva shoes. They were immensely comfortable, but crucially, as I was finding out on Half Dome, they also provided amazing grip, and so despite the conditions, I did feel quite firmly attached to the stone. I made a mental note to take them a box of chocolates when I got back.

    I was almost at the top when I encountered a problem - vertigo. I had had a very bad episode when I was in Berlin, (see another Findpenguins trip) and then another one about 2 months after I got back home from that trip. However, in Berlin and Scotland I wasn't 8500 feet above sea level with a very big drop just inches from where I was standing. And I was standing, doing my best not to move as I started to get quite dizzy. I thought if I fall off here and die, it's going to be a real hassle for a lot of people to recover my body, if the bears and mountain lions don't get it first. I don't know how long I stood perfectly still leaning on my walking pole but the dizziness eased off a bit. I then had a decision to make, to carry on or go back. It was actually easy to make, if I continued and got dizzy again and fell off it would probably have ruined the rest of the day for Meg and the others. So, I slowly turned around and began my descent.

    I hadn't gone far when I came across another hiker, an American guy in his late 20's - early 30's who was sitting down, too terrified to move. I spoke quietly to him and told him I would go in front of him and lead him down every step, I gave him my pole and got him to his feet. I talked to him at every step, every turn and it seemed in no time at all we were at the base of sub dome. The ranger was there and asked for our permits so I gave her Meg's name as instructed by Meg.

    I stayed to chat to the ranger whilst waiting for the others, and she said that I had done the right thing coming down, apparently there have been 20 recorded deaths on Half Dome and another 40 on the ascent to it. I was glad not to have added to that number.

    I wandered around taking some photos, the views were amazing, but I didn't have to wait long before Meg arrived and we headed down the mountain together. The walk down was quite a bit easier, and faster than the walk up, but I was still glad to see the campsite come into view.

    Evan and Hannah arrived having had a super time on the mountain and then Laura, who had gone off on her own to chill out for a while in the mountain air.

    It was another sunny day, and the Merced River was just a few moments walk away from the campsite so we made our own way in our own time to a nice quiet spot in the river. It was an opportunity to wash our clothes and ourselves. It was a lovely afternoon spent sitting in the sun and chatting. I even went in the river, half dressed to wash my trousers. The river was deep and flowing fast, it was mostly snow melt and it was without doubt the coldest water I have ever been in, and I have been in the North sea off the coast of Shetland!

    It was nice to sit and relax and chat. Evan and Hannah are a very lovely couple, smart, very funny, and kind, it has been a blessing to have them on this trip, they are the kind of young people who give me hope for the future of humanity. In a strange way it feels like this has been another camino gift, if I hadn't met Meg on the Via de la Plata I wouldn't be here to have these experiences and meet these wonderful people, and who knows what will become of these new friendships and where they will take us.

    We had a lot of fun chatting around the camp stoves, the conversation was free and easy and once again the food was good, much better than I had expected. The only thing that was terrible about the food was the toffee coffee, which was an abomination, but everything else was great.

    It had been a long but glorious and amazing day, and everyone was quite glad to retire to our tents and our sleeping bags.    Read more

  • Norman GrahamCalifornia
    Day 8

    Little Yosemite to the Valley

    August 9, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Today would be our last day in Yosemite. It felt a bit sad packing up the tent for the last time, though I was a little bit pleased with myself with the speed and efficiency with which I packed everything away. With the exception of one short section this side of Nevada Falls today's hike would be entirely downhill, as we returned to Yosemite Valley where Meg's car was waiting for us.

    We set off at a decent pace and were quickly at the falls. In theory we had a choice of trail at this point, however, we had been advised that one of them was closed (despite people coming up that trail, but they may have tried to go that way and found it closed and had to do a U-turn). So our only option was to go down to the valley via the John Muir Trail. I was very happy about this. John Muir was a Scotsman, who emigrated to the USA and was, among other things, a mountaineer, botanist, environmentalist and was an early advocate for the preservation of wilderness spaces in the United States of America. He also co-founded the Sierra Club. It was Muir who in 1903 met with President Roosevelt in Yosemite and persuaded him to create a national park, thereby protecting the site from 'development' and preserving it for future generations. April the 21st in John Muir Day in California. So, all in all it felt right to be leaving the mountains on the John Muir Trail.

    The first part of the trail went alongside a rock overhang that ran for a good distance along the trail, and it was like walking through a shower as a fine mist or water rolled off the edge. It was a nice spot to stop and look back towards Nevada Falls, after a few pictures were taken we carried on.

    The trail was very busy, there were loads of people coming up the trail towards Nevada Falls, possibly because the other trail was closed. Chris' knee was still giving him a lot of bother so Meg said to Laura and I to go on and she would stay with Chris. So, we set off. I had become very fond of Laura so I was looking forward to a chat on the trail...but it's hard to chat when you are hiking at 200 miles an hour. She was fast, and with my short legs it felt like we were running down the hill! The path zig zagged reasonably steeply down the mountain, so, it was short stretches with tight turns. We did pause a couple of times and again the views were great, but there was a steady stream of people coming up the hill, it was like being on Princes Street in Edinburgh. We eventually arrived near the bottom of the trail where we met the young and super fit Evan and Hannah. There was an actual toilet there, apparently it was built for a visit of Queen Elizabeth II, but she never used it. Meg and Chris arrived and under Meg's expert guidance we set off on an unmarked trail (it was a pony trail I think). The really good thing about that trail, apart from the fact it was quite beautiful, was that there was no one else on it. We had a very pleasant and much more leisurely walk back into the Valley.

    We found our way to the car park, which was really busy, there were cars just driving in circles hoping someone would pull out of a space. We dumped all our stuff in Meg's car, and she, Hannah, and Chris set off to drive up to our starting point and the Mono Meadow trailhead to collect the other cars.

    The rest of us walked into the town, and it was a surprisingly long walk, the first thing we did was go into a shop and buy ice cream and a beer. It was great. We were not expecting the others to return with the cars for a while, as it was a 34-mile round trip. Fortunately that meant that I was able to go into the Ansel Adams Gallery. I remember as a young teenager seeing some of his photographs and being amazed by them. The Gallery is very well laid out with a selection of Adams' prints but nothing tacky, as well as stuff by more contemporary photographers, and artists. I really enjoyed wandering around, and I ended up buying some cards and a print.

    We then went to a standard tourist store and with a lot of help from Laura and Evan I got some souvenirs for the tribe back home. Laura wanted to post a card from the Yosemite Post Office so we headed there, she didn't have enough cash so I gave her a dollar. She wanted to give me the change but I said I wasn't taking American coins home with me, just as she was putting the coins away she noticed that a quarter in the change was a Yosemite/John Muir quarter, and they were hard to get. It was a really lovely moment.

    We met up with Meg, Chris and Hannah in the car park where Chris had charged the car earlier, redistributed our gear, and then we set off, it was going to be a long drive back.

    It wasn't long before the range anxiety kicked in. We stopped at a town where there was supposed to be a charging point, but after driving around it was clear that the only charging points were Tesla. So we had no option but to keep going.

    Some time later, we arrived in the town of Atwater where we had stopped on the way to Yosemite. The four chargers were still there and available. Chris pulled in to one then out again to another one. A large electric SUV had pulled in at the same time then out again then in to another one and then out again. It turned out that the one Chris had chosen was the only one working.

    Whilst the car was charging we went over the The Habit fast food restaurant we had visited on the way a few days earlier, and the food was, if anything, even better than before.

    We changed things around a bit for the final leg back to San Francisco. I went in Meg's car with Laura, and Meg went in Chris' car. We were using the built in SatNav but we had also opened up the navigation app on Laura's phone, whihc turned out to be a good thing as during the drive Laura made a noise laughing or something and the built in Sat Nav read it as a new set of instructions. So, we basically navigated with me holding Laura's phone with Google Maps open, and I would give directions every time we were approaching a junction of any kind. I don't think it was easy for Laura to do the driving as she wasn't totally sure where she was going and it was dark and there was a ton of traffic, and the occasional crazy driver. However, I definitely couldn't drive but between the two of us we managed not to get lost, and we arrived back at Meg's around 10pm.

    Everyone was exhausted, and we quickly unpacked the cars and headed to bed. It had been another long but wonderful day.    Read more

  • Norman GrahamCalifornia
    1
    Day 9

    San Francisco

    August 10, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    It was nice to wake up in a bed rather than on a sleep pad, and to know that I didn't have to pack up a tent...and to get a hot shower! Chris made us a great breakfast and then we had to decide what to do with the rest of the day.

    With Yosemite now behind us, the next two days would be spent in and around San Francisco. Meg was keen to take us to the Mission District in the city to see an alley where all the garage doors /walls were painted with murals and so we set off.

    As we drove through the city it was interesting to see the wide variety of architecture, and to think that many of these houses, that would have been poorer districts 100 years ago are now valued in the millions. San Francisco is one of the most expensive places in the USA to live and so it is not surprise that it is in the midst of a housing crisis. It is also a very busy city, lots of traffic.

    At the start of my trip, Chris had told me about the epidemic of car crime in the city, apparently it is so bad that the police don't even investigate car crimes anymore. When we got to the mission district we saw an example fo this right away. Parked on the street just a few spaces behind where we parked was a newish rental car, but it was missing its front and rear bumpers and lights. There was a notice on it saying the police were aware of it. Chris reckoned that it had been targeted because it was a rental. It would sit there until the insurance company sent someone to collect it...if there was anything left to collect.

    The alley was amazing, with a very wide variety of artistic styles, but all vibrantly colourful, many of them represented something or someone that the artist loved, like an old movie star. Most however, were political statements, or rather human statements of racism, oppression, social inequality, and the triumph of people working together in community unbowed and unbeaten by the hardships they have faced. It was quite moving.

    It was time for lunch, and I was happy to leave that to the foodies. On the way to find a restaurant we spotted some of the new driverless taxis driving around, apparently just a few days earlier the licence had been granted to allow them to operate in the city. I think they were not yet picking up passengers but were simply driving around so that people could get used to them being there. We all agreed that the idea of being in a driverless taxi was not appealing, it was interesting that some young people (late teens) who asked us if we knew what they were, when we told them they were driverless taxis, their immediate reaction was, cool! I guess there might be a generational divide on that one. It was another reminder of the incredible pace of change, the world that I grew up in has long gone and i can't help but wonder what's ahead of us. The rise of AI will change our world in ways that we cannot yet imagine, and not necessarily for the better.

    We settled on a Peruvian restaurant for lunch, another first for me. Meg was, as always, great and she spoke to the waiter about my food allergy. He came back and told us that there was no sesame in the food. Unfortunately for him, a few minutes later Meg noticed two dishes on the menu that included sesame in the ingredients. She called him back over for a word. I felt sorry for him.

    I have to say that the food was outstanding, delicious, beautifully presented. I am sure it was very expensive, I don't know as, once more, Meg and Chris insisted on paying the bill.

    We headed back to Meg and Chris' as today we would be saying goodbye to Laura who was flying home this evening. Goodbye is the hardest part of these trips - I will never forget the sense of loss saying goodby to Mirjam in Santiago bus station. Although I have only known Laura for a week, I have become very fond of her, she is smart and kind, funny, generous with her time and knowledge. I've learned a lot from her this past week. I hope that today will not be a final goodbye, and that we will keep in touch, she strikes me as someone worth taking the time to get to know.

    Meg took Laura to the airport and when she got back, Chris made us a nice dinner and we spent the evening in the snug watching a movie, it was nice not to do very much. Tomorrow, we would be going across the Golden Gate bridge like proper tourists.    Read more

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