Lost in Yosemite

"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."

John Muir

Many years ago, I ran into an old friend, Kevin, at our ten-year high school reunion. We had been good pals and renewed our friendship. The following October, Kevin mentioned that he was going to take a trip to Yosemite for a couple days of hiking and asked if I would like to come along.

On the first day, we camped in Yosemite Valley and decided to hike to Vernal Falls. Kevin suggested we head further up the trail to Nevada Falls, which was equally spectacular. After a few minutes of gazing at the grandeur, Kevin turned to me and said, “I’m going to the top.”

I didn’t know what he meant at first. But then I realized he meant to climb to the top of Half Dome, seven more miles up the trail. Now, I’ve had a lot of outdoor experience, and this may sound strange, but I knew in a moment that I wasn’t going to change his mind, and I was either going with him or letting him wander off alone in the wilderness. So, against my better judgement, I went.

It’s a beautiful, steep hike to the top of Half Dome. Somehow steep doesn’t quite get the idea across. I thought I had passed the point of doing stupid things in my life. Not so… Since our plan had only been to hike to Vernal Falls, we had no food, water, flashlight, first aid kit, or weather forecast, and no one knew where we were. And did I mention it was steep?

The “trail” up the back of Half Dome is a sheer, nearly vertical assent for the last four hundred feet. The only footing is provided by two-by-fours bolted into the rock every five feet. Thin cables run the length of it. If you fall, you die. There is no question about that.

The view from the top is awesome. Tourist helicopters fly by at eye level over Yosemite Valley. But it’s not a great place to be at five o’clock in the afternoon in late October. Going down is even harder than coming up. We did make it past the bolted two-by-fours, but then dusk began to settle in.

In the dark, we lost the trail for hours. We found out later that we were in the part of the park with the highest bear population. Kevin had some matches, which we struck over the ground every now and then to look for footprints. Eventually we found the trail and trudged our way back to camp, sixteen hours and nineteen miles later.

The next morning, Kevin announced that he was going to climb to the top of El Capitan. I wished him a good hike, and off he went, with essentially the same provisions. I spent a great day in Yosemite Valley and never saw him again…

Okay, he did make it back, after dark, again, but funny thing was, that was the last time I ever went hiking with Kevin.

Click here for some amazing pictures of the trail to Half Dome.

-Hank

"Lost in Yosemite," from The Saturday Morning Post at hankfrazee.com