Second, my Mini Cooper is ideal for some of the roads through the National Parks (winding, narrow, etc.) but not so much on others (dirt roads, bumpy roads, etc.).
- Day 12 - I left Olympic National Park and saw a really large spruce tree on the way out. I then drove across Washington and into Oregon before reaching Crater Lake National Park. The crater is awesome! Tall mountains surrounding a really deep lake. Supposedly the lake is about 2000 feet deep. And, there is an island formed by a volcano in the middle. I did a short hike to a vantage point overlooking the lake. Part of that hike was along the Pacific Crest Trail, so I am now a partial triple-crowner :) (i have hiked some of the 3 major long distance trails in the US: Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, and Continental Divide Trail). I camped in the park campground and was able to get laundry done.
- Day 13 - I left early and drove through Oregon and California. I went through Redwood State and National Parks, doing a few short hikes. The trees are enormous. I took pictures, but they won't capture the sheer size. One was 24 feet in diameter. Unfortunately is was raining and foggy when I was along the coast, so I didn't really see that aspect of the parks. I then continued on to Sacramento, where I spent the night at a hotel.
- Day 14 - I drove to Yosemite National Park and discussed plans with the rangers. After I figured out a backcountry route to take in a few days, I went to get the backcountry permit. Then, I found out that the permits can't be issued prior to the day before departing. D'oh! I found a spot at one of the campgrounds (almost all the campgrounds in the park were completely filled). I decided to make this my base camp for a few days rather than trying to find another site at a different campground.
- Day 15 - I drove through the park and went to Glacier Point. I hiked out to the point and then up to Sentinel Dome. There were fantastic views of the valley from both points, but there were way too many people. I then drove to Wawona, where I had to board a bus since the parking lot was full. Yes, there were that many people. I felt like I was at a zoo or Disney World and not at a National Park. I took a hike through the Wawona Sequoia Grove and saw even bigger trees than at Redwood National Park. The Sequoias had wider trunks (one was 28 feet in diameter), but they were shorter than the ones in Redwood NP. Also, the forest was thinner and more open which made it feel like the giant Sequoias were few and far between.
- Day 16 - I day-hiked directly from the Campground up to El Capitan. There was nobody in this section of the park. I saw about 6 people all day outside of the campground (and two of those I had met the other day when they were picking up backcountry permits). The view from El Capitan was great. I could see the full valley without having to deal with the crowds.
- Day 17 - I found the people again. I drove down into the valley to first get a backcountry permit and second to begin a hike to Half Dome. I was prepared for the people on this hike though since it is probably the most famous peak in Yosemite and gets tons of foot traffic. You even need a permit to hike it on the weekends, they limit the permits to 400 people, and there are no permits remaining for the months of September and October. So, even though it was a weekday I still figured there would be lots of hikers. I hiked part of the John Muir Trail and got to the trail junction leading up to Half Dome. I was sitting and having a snack when I hear "Drew?". I turn and Lindsey, a friend from College, was there. Unbeknownst to me, she had been following my blog (hi, Lindsey!), so she knew what I currently look like and that I was somewhere on this coast. What are the chances that we were on the same trail at the same time though? After that surprise I hiked up to the point where there are cables to the summit. The ascent and descent were much slower than I anticipated. There was a line of people going up and down and you couldn't move any faster than the person in front. I am glad I had my climbing harness, two slings, and carabiners though. It got really steep through most of that section. After that, I hurried down (half running, half hiking) to try to beat the sun setting. I almost made it. I then had pizza at the "village" before returning to the campground. Two things to note about Yosemite: (a) the valley layout seems to me to be chaotic. There is way too much traffic. Sometimes the road is one-way; sometimes it is two-way. The one-way doesn't go in a circle; it is more like a figure-8. I had no idea where I was going. I just followed the signs to my destination. The parking lot is half a mile away from the visitor center. It is recommended to take a free shuttle to the trailheads. (b) The animals in this park are way too habituated to humans. Squirrels, chipmunks, and birds will beg for food and show no fear of humans. I poked multiple squirrels with my treking pole to get them to go away and they wouldn't budge. I was eating my pizza, turned around, and a raccoon was sharing the table with me. I shouted at it, swatted at it, and hit it over the head with the pizza box and it didn't care. I even pulled out my trekking pole and struck the leg of the table right in front of the raccoon. It just walked around my pole. I think too many people feed the animals here. No wonder they have a bear problem, even though none of the bears are grizzlies.
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