07/22/2010 – Down in the Valley

Having completed our goals of reaching the top of both Clouds Rest and Half Dome, and a little too intimidated to hike back to the Tenaya Lake trail head (mostly uphill from where we were at the Little Yosemite campground), we decided that the best course of action was to continue southwest and head to [...]

07/21/2010 – A Full Day in the Wilderness

Everyone who goes backpacking in the wilderness of Yosemite National Park is required to carry a bear canister.  If you do not have one, they will rent you one for about $5 dollars (if I can remember correctly).  You must place everything which has a smell associated with it in the can at night, and [...]

07/20/2010 – Heading Out to Clouds Rest, and Beyond

It took us alot longer than we anticipated to actually embark on our three day backpacking adventure.  The previous day we spent romping around Tuolomne Meadows without a care for preparing the next day.  We figured, we’d throw out things in our packs and head out.  We hoped to be on the trail no later [...]

07/19/2010 – A “Free” Day in Yosemite

I found myself to be surprisingly comfortable, wrapped in a high-tech sleeping bag, laying on the concrete slab porch of the Tuolomne Meadows Wilderness Permit Station from about 3:30 until 7:30 when the station opened.  Though the temperature was no warmer than the lower 40s, the sleeping bag was more than adequate.  At first I [...]

07/18/2010 – Arrival at Yosemite, Continued…

Before I continue the narration of our Great West Tour 2010 (Which I am determined to finish!) I wanted to be sure and include more pictures in each post.  As I have already detailed our arrival into Yosemite National Park I will not go back and edit that post.  Instead, I will link to some [...]

07/18/2010 – Arrival at Yosemite

Sunday morning, we had driven for a day and a half, crossing two timezones.  So, when we naturally woke up around 7:00EDT it was 5:00 local time.  This made for a great start as we were on the road before sunrise.  Our destination was Yosemite and we originally planned to make it there at some [...]