Our Longest Hike in, well, Forever

Brett and I used to love hiking together.  Then his knees quit working and my feet started screaming so we pretty much quit.  Brett now has two bionic knees and I have wonderful inserts in my shoes.  In the past year, we've started going on short hikes together.  While we were in Yosemite, we decided to tackle the mist trail, which leads to Vernal Falls.  Our plan was to go as far as the footbridge, which gives you a view of the falls in the distance.  The climb is pretty steep but not too long to get to that point.  We stopped on the bridge, admired the view, caught our breath and waited for our heart rate to return to normal... and then we kept going.

At the junction of the mist trail and the John Muir Trail we veered right and headed towards Nevada falls.  We put our heads down and made our way up the switchbacks.  One, two, three... a look at each other, a smile ... four, five, six ... glancing up, the sheer face of the cliff rising above the last switch back ... seven, eight ... legs like rubber, we hit the top and the trail started to level off.  Then we hit ice.

We turned around.  I tried to walk on it a bit, but it was slick and slippery and I almost fell.  I sat on my butt and slid back down the trail to Brett.  And we headed down.

At the trail junction, we turned back onto the mist trail and continued up towards Vernal Falls.

We got fairly close, but didn't climb the stairs carved into the granite.
I took a picture and we headed back down.

We hiked almost six miles.  SIX MILES!  And it was a steep six miles.  Brett's knees were a bit sore and our feet were screaming by the time we got back to the car, but we were thrilled with ourselves.

This morning we left right after breakfast.  A storm was coming in and we didn't want to be caught in the snow.  We barely made it out.  The snow was falling thick and fast, the road obscured and cars on the shoulders -- either giving up or sliding there.  We managed to get through (gotta love a Subaru).

We stopped at a couple wineries on the way home and were gifted with a gorgeous sunset when we left Cooper Vineyards.

Back home, Chris had tucked the horses in the barn.  Brett went to the neighbors to fetch Kersey while I got the wood stove going.  It was 48F in the house; in the 30s with slushy ice on the ground outside.

The Mariposa Grove

Sunday was our last day at Yosemite. Camille wanted to see the Mariposa Grove of giant Sequoias on our way home. The grove is near the south border of Yosemite, a good hour in the opposite direction of Sacramento and the airport. I'd been to Yosemite a few times before but this was Camille's first time so we had to go see the trees.

We went on a short, two mile hike, through the grove.

There was a ranger at the tunnel tree, taking pictures of tourists. We got in line. I remembered a tree from my childhood that you could drive through. I wondered if perhaps my memory had it wrong because this tunnel tree was not wide enough for a car, but no, there were originally two trees. The larger one, the one you could drive through, died and fell in 1969.

We looked at the trees and the chipmunks.

And we laughed. Silliness is required on these weekends together.  Our weekend was full of long talks about life and men and family; and silly laughter, erupting with snorts and ending with tears streaming and gasping breaths of giggles.

We're already plotting where we will go next year.  I feel very lucky to have a daughter who no longer needs much mothering; a daughter who is a good friend.

Vernal Falls and Tioga Pass

Saturday morning after breakfast we boarded the Yosemite Valley shuttle bus to go out to the Vernal Falls trail head. After a number of misfires, including having to disembark from a bus with radio issues, we finally arrived at the base of the trail and headed up.

The ranger had told us that the trail was "moderate" at the start and "strenuous" past the first bridge. He estimated that the 3 mile round trip would take us 2-3 hours. I thought the first half would be moderate and the second strenuous.

I can walk 3 miles in under an hour at home so the 2-3 hour estimate should have been a clue. The trail was "moderate" for Camille and no doubt for the ranger and the 20-something fit men with rock climbing rope slung over their packs who marched past us. For me, it was strenuous. We passed the bridge shortly after starting, and it was heart pounding, breath gasping, steep the rest of the way. But I made it.

We chose to hike to Vernal Falls because it is just about the only waterfall in Yosemite that has water at the moment. It was also relatively short -- being the first section of the John Muir trail, that goes past Vernal Falls, then Nevada Falls, up to Half Dome (closed for the season) and beyond. We were only in Yosemite for the weekend and there was a lot to see.

The colors were amazing. The morning light made the granite glow above the trees blazing orange and gold.

The last 1/3 of the trail was up slippery, steep stairs carved out of the granite mountainside. Camille bounded up ahead of me as I cautiously picked my way up the rock.

After carefully making our way back down the stairs and then trucking at a fast pace downhill to the trail head, we caught the shuttle back to Yosemite Lodge, ate a late lunch, and then drove part way up Tioga Pass. It usually closes in October due to heavy snow -- and was closed as recently as last week. But the weather has been warm the past few days and much of the snow melted. The road was open this weekend. We drove as far as Tenaya Lake before turning back to the valley.

We arrived back at our room with just enough time to take a quick shower and head to dinner.

It was a full day and much busier than our usual languid pace on these weekends together. A busy, full, active day; dinner and a good night's sleep. A perfect day.

Mother Daughter Weekend in Yosemite

Camille and I spend a weekend together every year; a trip someplace; girl time at its finest. We always play cards, drink champagne and laugh -- a lot. It started with a trip to France and England when Camille graduated high school. We had so much fun that we decided to do an annual mother-daughter trip. The following two years we went to Santa Barbara. This year we went to Yosemite.

We drove down Friday. Yosemite is only 3 1/2 hours from home, straight south, through the mountains (no freeway at all).

We had breakfast with Brett at Katie's Country Kitchen -- then he headed to the tractor dealer to look at augers and we headed south.

We arrived in the early afternoon, checked in, and walked around for a few hours. We talked to a ranger who gave us some ideas for hikes and things to see.

We took the lower Yosemite Falls trail on our way back to our room. The falls are dry (drought) but still beautiful.

There were more deer (or same pair) munching the grass in front of our room.

We sat outside on our little patio and popped the champagne. A herd of deer bounded by as the sun set over the ridge. A perfect start to our weekend.