YOSEMITE VALLEY VISIT January 9, 2010

Finishing last year's walking season with a total of over 1,600 miles, those all done right from home, some on the Parkway, I am paying more mind to my personal carbon footprint. I used only about 150 gallons of gas for the year, and with my modest electrical use of mostly green tech items, this puts my annual carbon dioxide emissions, by my carbon calculator, at about 2 tons. That is way down from some previous years' totals of about 10 tons.

Buoyed with my reductions, and keeping so much fun with my local hiking and dining, I figured to try and get started on my new year's, 2010, travels. I'd use mass transit.

Falling asleep at about 6 p.m., Friday night, I woke back up at about 1:30 a.m., Saturday. I got to my computer and thought of what to do this day. I had it in mind to use the Yosemite Area Regional Transit System (YARTS) and pay a winter visit to Yosemite Valley. It would be nice to see what's new. I knew they had reconstructed the once classic, Yosemite Falls vista point, in a nicer way, and that the snow would be good to see. I had to kill some time surfing the Net. I printed out the YARTS schedule, then dallied about on the Net, using time.

Leaving home then at about 4:30 a.m., I took U.S. 99 south. Traffic was light. I figured to get a breakfast stop along the way, as it takes me only 2 hours to get to Merced, CA. I figured, too, to get to the Transportation Center at 16th and M Streets, early, in case there were a lot of riders.

I was the only person to board the bus, there. The fare now is $25, round trip. It left then at about 7 a.m., and picked up some more commuters at the Amtrak station. I managed a few winks as we rolled along in the fog, then we were treated to the sunrise. Picking up only a handful of riders, we came to my stop in the Valley, the Village, at about 10 a.m. I made sure not to lose my return ticket by zipping it up in my parka pocket, and proceeded to the nearby visitor center.

The forecast had been for partly sunny, or with a 10% chance of rain. It was diffuse light, so I'd do photography. Snow blanketed the Valley floor, but the south facing walls looked bare. I asked the ranger help, and they told me that I should be able to make it to the rim. I watched the movie at the adjacent theater, being the only audience. Next, I walked through the Native American village replica, then the pioneer cemetery.

Various paved trails took me west to the new falls vista that I had heard of. I managed not to slip on the icy sidewalks, and then came to a vista of the lower falls. Exploring more, I followed signs to the bridge at the base of the Lower Falls. Another few tourists were about. I used my movie setting to record the motion, and took more photos.

By now, it was close to 11:45 a.m. I figured to try going up the Yosemite Falls Trail, and the steeper grade told me I was out of shape. I had not done any great gain since my hike in Zion National Park last fall, and I sure felt it. It was nice to snap so many photos of the trail headed up, though, and I liked the many rock steps.

Finally I came to Columbia Point (5,031'), and rested a bit. I had managed to find an unlocked restroom back down at Camp Four, so didn't have to pollute, today. The light was in flux, and Yosemite Point (6,936') was just too far, today. I didn't have the time that I wished, and due to my early rising, feared that I might fall asleep on my drive back home. I had been to Yosemite Point a few times already, and with white sky, the view would not be too good for photos.

Two Spanish-speaking fellows came up, and asked about seeing the falls. I recalled a nice view a bit further up, so joined them to stroll up the trail a little more. You pass some creaky looking rock supports, and then descend a bit to another dip in the trail. The falls were going O.K., and there was a rainbow in the mist. The snow cone at the bottom was developed well, and we stopped to chat about things. I took several photos of the falls, and also Half Dome and Mt. Clark. Mt. Starr King was also seen.

After awhile, we started back, and I stopped again at Columbia Point. The view from atop Yosemite Point is higher, but you don't see that much more. I had a lot of time, then, before my planned return bus run came by at about 5 p.m. I took some photos of themselves for other hikers, with their cameras, and then decided to start back down.

I shortly came upon a hiker with one bare foot, and wielding a large tree branch as a crutch. He indicated that he had broken his ankle, but didn't seem to be in great pain. He carried his boot, and had a sock wrapped around his ankle, and I thought that I might have an ace bandage to wrap his foot. I wondered if he understood English, and I asked if he might ride a horse down. In first-aid class, it is important not to cause further injury, if he had broken his ankle. He hobbled along, and seemed capable to get down himself, slowly. I went on and asked other hikers if they had a cell phone to call the rangers. "No reception," I was told. It was only about a mile further to the bottom, so I rushed ahead as best that I could to seek to talk to a ranger.

I went to Yosemite Lodge where I tried to get somebody's attention. The desk clerks were busy. I finally wound up in the bar where the server got to their phone and let me talk with a ranger. I reported the incident, and they didn't seem to think that it was too much of a problem. The bar help said that the rangers are really fast and had some wheeled stretcher to carry people down. I waited a bit for any return call in case they needed more information, then went to the food court to get a drink. Going back to the bar, they said the rangers had not called back. I expected that the hiker would get down and would not have to walk on the snow with his bare foot.

It was starting to sprinkle lightly, and I looked at my bus schedule. A run was shortly coming by. It was getting darker, and with the light rain, I could do no more good photography. It'd be nice to get back without falling asleep at the wheel, too, but I was to be fine in that regard. I remembered that I had driven home from Moab, Utah, without any sleep the night before.

The YARTS bus came by at 4 p.m., and I rode back, again with only a handful of riders. It was of some note to see that the large rockslide down along the Merced River Canyon had buried the former CA 140 highway. The engineers built a single lane detour to go on the opposite side of the river. I knew that YARTS had been using smaller buses due to the rockfall problem, but now they were using the regular, large sized buses, with some 40 or more seats. Being a weekend, I expected to see more riders, but then the weather wasn't so good, and nothing much was going on inside the park. I saw only one rock climber, and a few deer grazing on dead leaves. Not any cross country skiers, either, on the snowy meadows, or elsewhere. Although coverage was patchy.

I had to strip down to two layers, from four, as I hiked up the hill, and liked having my light, warm underwear. I had only a small light day pack, with water and two cans of soda. So, I hiked roughly some 5 miles with 1,000' gain. I shot about 370 images and movie clips (640 x 480 pixels, 427 MB). I drove the 226 miles to Merced and back, with a stop for a juicy burger, with a small drink, and then a onion and chili covered hot dog, on my way home. I used only a half tank of gas, about 5.5 gallons.

I will have to work on my uphill muscles, and lose some more weight. The park is about the same, and I overheard people saying it was "dead." The Badger Pass ski area was said to be in need of more snow. I'd love to come back to ski to Dewey Point, one thing that I haven't done in winter, or round trip it to Glacier Point and back (20 miles) in a day. But I am slowing up, and with no great plans in my future, still wonder what I will be doing this year!

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