We got up pretty early this morning - 6:15. We were both sore and tired from yesterday’s hike, and felt like Old People. Coffee, breakfast, but only after walking a short distance that seemed like miles. John had a hearty breakfast of bacon, eggs, hash browns, french toast, toast and coffee. I had sausage and my diet coke.
We started out going to the Visitor center to watch the video. We took the shuttle. We sat in the Senior’s seats on the bus. We then took the shuttle to Yosemite Falls. There is a 1 mile easy hike to view these falls, and we did it. We needed to get the lactic acid out of our muscles. Beautiful waterfall! John teases me because I caught a glimpse of it as we were in the shuttle and said, “Look, there’s a waterfall!” He said I discovered it and it should be named after me.
This is a really long waterfall. The upper and lower falls of this is, we think, the second longest falls in the U.S. It wasn’t running as fast as it does in the Spring, and by Fall it dries up completely.
We went back to the tent cabin, picked up a few things, and got in the car. We went first to see El Capitan, to see if we could spot any Technical Climbers. I found out today they are called Free Climbers. Apparently they take a week to climb to the top, and sleep in their bags suspended from the wall. Crazy.
Next, we went to Bridal Veil Falls. This one is really cool. The wind is so strong and the water is so low that the wind will actually blow the water back up. The fall will seem to stop altogether, and then suddenly starts falling and billowing out, and looks like it’s namesake. It’s amazing. We hike the half mile to the viewpoint. John continued up a little further, but I was in flip flops and didn’t want to get off the cement trail. He found a little cove with a soft downed redwood stump that he could sit on that was shaded and he watched the falls from there.
We drove to the tunnel and came back through to see the amazing view. It’s wild! It reminds me a little of the surprise you get when you go through the tunnel at Ruidoso. Not the same sights, but the same surprise at having such a different view when you come out the other side.
Next we went to find a place to cook our meal and eat dinner. We tried a camp site, but there was no picnicing, and it was completely full. We found a little place beside the road and made our own place to cook. A couple of huge black birds found us and watched us. One was just waiting for us to leave so that they could get our scraps. We saw an eagle as we were cooking fly over us.
Next we went to Glacier Point. You can drive up to this point and hike down 4 miles. John has been teasing me all day about doing another hike. Maybe an 8 mile hike. Forget it, energizer bunny! There are two points here - one is Glacier Point at the end, and the other is Washburn Point. Washburn Point gives a panoramic view of the hike we had done. When I stood on that vantage point and looked down at what I had done, I was awe-struck. It looks even harder than it felt, and it felt like it was pretty danged hard!
At Glacier Point we could see the face of Half Dome, but not as good a view of everything else. We explored a bit and then went back down to Washburn Point to watch the sunset. John had a grand old time posing for pictures - one of his favorite things in life! All sarcasm and joking aside, he was a good sport, and has been, on this whole trip about having pictures taken.
Our muscles had begun to respond to us a bit better by now. I discovered a few blisters on my feet, and a few streaks of sunburn on my arms that got missed by sunscreen. We watched the sunset here, and watched it reflect off Half Dome and the other mountains. Wow. John climbed over the wall and posed on a rock. I met a woman named Jennifer who said she thought she saw people by the waterfall in the distance and I told her I was sure there were. She asked how they got there, so I told her my whole Half Dome story. She was an oriental woman from Anaheim, but her parents were visiting and they spoke no english. She translated the whole story for them. She called me a hero, and wanted her picture with me. Wow.
Along this journey, a lot of people have said to me that I am an inspiration to them. I do not feel like an inspiration. I feel like someone who wanted to do something and just prepared and did it. Apparently it’s amazing that a 56 year old woman who is overweight can climb Half Dome. There were a lot of people on that hike, but John and I were clearly in the minority when it came to over 40. I am glad that people feel inspired by what John and I did, but I’ll tell you who the real inspiration is. It’s John. He’s the one who got me up there. I would not and could not have done that hike without him encouraging me to do one more stadium months ago, to do one more heart attack hill, to make it up the first waterfall, to get up those cables. He inspires me and always finds the right thing to motivate me. Thank you God for John.
Tomorrow, we go to Fresno for July 4th to watch fireworks. It will be a quiet, relaxing day.
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