5:45: A hike through the night
“Dad, we haven’t even made it a mile and it’s already 5:45. How are we going to make it to camp before dark?” I asked.
“The ranger said it should only take about three hours, if your mother would stop taking so many pictures…”
My mother and her pictures were beginning to get annoying. We could hike for about five minutes, and when we turned around, she was way back taking another picture!
“At this rate we are never going to make it”
My dad was starting to get irritated “, Hurry up! Give me that freaking camera!” he commanded my mom.
I wasn’t going to let hiking in the dark ruin the first day of the trip ruin everything. After all, we have everything we could possible need and want. We’re in Yosemite for God sakes.
The view was truly amazing. I could not believe how far we were going to hike in one day.
“We are truly going to go all the way over there today, where those switchbacks are?” I asked pointing to the other side of the valley.
“Yes,” my father replied.
“Seriously, that’s more than just a couple of miles. Can we do that?”
“Yes”
“And you’re not kidding?” I asked again, in awe.
He was getting annoyed, so I knew he wasn’t fibbing.
We continued our hike along the Panorama trail. About 7:00 we passed the footbridge at the bottom of the valley. Unfortunately, that meant no more downhill climb; now it was uphill.
Time rolled on, nothing amazing happened. Shortly after the bridge we resorted to our $1 flashlights for luminescence, although they didn’t work so well. We stumbled along through the night, going up, down, left, right, above and over the nooks and crannies. It was an adventure of its own; now even more exciting without light.
Clouds rolled in giving the air a damp feeling. The atmosphere felt good, it was the perfect temperature between too hot for a jacket but too cold not to wear one. The sun set above the ridge to our right, luminating the sky with its rainbow splash of colors. As it continued to travel under the ridge, we were left in a shadow of darkness. Campfires down from Curry Village and Happy Isles began to appear down in the main valley, and the stars shown like office lights in the city.
I wouldn’t wish for anything better, except for, of course, the backpacks. That was the only downfall. Our backs ached and out feet throbbed, but it was all remedied by a quick break every now-and-again. Everything else counteracted the pain, so it wasn’t even noticeable unless we specifically talked about them, which we did often. (Moral of the story: Pack light)
11:00: Camp
Honestly, at this point I didn’t remember anything but the relief I felt from taking that packs off my back and shoving food down my throat. I know we set up camp, and I had to build the tents while my parents unpacked, but the minute I hit the sack the entire night was washed away from my mind. I do remember, however, yelling at my father for bringing two cans of propane when there was tons of wood to burn and yelling at my mother for bringing two cans of beans...moms don’t know what it means to pack light!
