Day 24 - 28

Day 24

We made it to Yosemite last night after- yes- a long car day. We all were melting down around 7:30, so we found a pullout, made dinner and went to bed. I don’t like breaking those rules, but we didn’t want to drive another hour just to drive back in the morning, and it is offseason, and we were out by sunrise. My excuses are done. And it was a great night sleep - Kolton didn’t make a peep all night. 

We got into the village around sunrise, and thankfully had time to figure it all out because that place is not made for trailers! We found a spot for the trailer, unhooked, made a long-awaited pancake breakfast in the trailer, and went to learn about backcountry permits. As we drove, I got the email that we didn’t get a half dome cables permit. I will say it was disappointing, but Narendra was positive, and we were optimistic about getting a good backcountry permit. When we walked up the lady said that all of the half dome spots were gone. She asked us what other trails we wanted to do, and we were a little dumbfounded. We went and looked at a few trails and got in line inside. When we got to the desk we told her we went to Cathedral Lakes and she said it was open. Then we said we wanted to do two nights and asked if we could go to half dome the second night. She said yes, so we decided to do a one-way trip from Cathedral Lakes to have to go down to Yosemite Village. As she was ringing me up she told me we owed $20 for the cables permit. I was a little confused but I thought everyone had to pay for it with the backpacking permits. Then she started reading me the rules of the cables and I stopped her and asked if we were allo
wed to go up. She said oh yeah I don’t you want to. I was shocked and excited. After two failed lotteries this seemed almost too easy. But alas we got a permit for that night, which was another surprise as we were expecting a Sunday night permit, and we were going on a 20 mile jaunt including half dome cables.

We skipped on out of the wilderness office and started preparing. The first call was to ask my parents if this was an OK plan. Thankfully they like being grandparents and said yes. We went to the store, we organized the camper, we ate some lunch, we got Kolton a nap, and then we took the trailer down to meet my parents at their hotel.  There was a lot of excitement about our upcoming plans, but we also got to shower in their hotel room. That was a huge bonus. After 17 trips of transferring Kolton’s stuff and our stuff we we’re off towards park- the whole fam.  My parents dropped us off at Cathedral lake trailhead around 330 which gave us just enough time to hike into the cathedral Lakes and set up tents before sunset.  We heated up for mac & cheese and chicken and enjoyed a lovely dinner on the water. It was beautiful for the few minutes before the sun went down. We were in our tent before sunset, and didn’t come out because it was so cold.

 

Day 25

Today we woke up to some beautiful views, anxiously awaited sunrise to warm things up, and did some nice morning yoga to stretch ourselves out.  We then hiked from cathedral lakes to near the half dome trailhead, via Clouds Rest. This was a 16 mile day with probably 2000 ft of elevation gain. This route was longer than the 12 mile flat Muir trail we initially planned on taking, but our detour to sunset lakes and clouds rest made for some amazing lake and high point views. The Muir trail still had a lot to offer in the first 7 miles from slabs to spires to meadows to forest. It was beautiful! But Clouds Rest was an amazing vantage point above Half Dome with 360 views.

 

Tonight we are resting our legs and bodies, camping off the main trail near a creek.  I wish that lady hadn’t told me about the bears- it makes falling asleep a long process. 

Day 26

We did the cables! After a leisurely morning where Narendra gained control of his anxiety, we enjoyed an oatmeal breakfast and packed up camp to be on the road by 7:30. The hike in was full of beautiful views of half dome with sunrise colors. We hit the cables around 8:30 after a steep hike up the small dome. I realized (or so I thought) that o didn’t have my gloves- knit gloves. So Narendra found some gloves left behind on the cables. That was a saving grace because my knot gloves- which were in my bag- would never have worked. It was steep and slippery and gorgeous and dangerous all at the same time. It requires hoisting my upper body and shimmying my feet from one cable bar to the next. But getting to the top of half dome and seeing the entire park as the sun was rising was absolutely beautiful. It was a reminder of how small we are and how narrow our views are when we can only see from the road or trail.  Then we did the decent and realized how many people were coming up the cables... and how many more people were coming up on the hike! We probably passed 100 people- some who had hiked from the village. When we came down I realized how hard that hike is from the village! My legs were beat as we were rounding out our 30 mile trip. The downhill was steep and rocky and just plain painful.  I wish I could have enjoyed it more because there were beautiful waterfalls and awesome trails (kudos to these trail maintainers as these were the best trails I have seen!). Eventually we made it down, and my legs almost quit when I had to go another 0.4 miles to meet my parents where they could park the car. Eventually we found them- and Kolton. I realized how much I missed him. Narendra and I talked about him often, wondering what he was doing or if he was sleeping or if he would want to do this with us in the future. But it was so good to see him and squeeze his cheeks- he’s a bit of a chunker these days.

We got pizza and beer with my parents and Kolton at Half Dome Village which was the perfect celebration to a successful trip. We were limping and walking funny from sore legs, but we were thankful no one got hurt or had problems. 

We then treated ourselves to a nice hotel room where my parents were staying. It was glorious! We had hot showers, fully charged devices, and a BED! It was so lovely, I didn’t even care about missing sunset in the valley. I loved watching the broncos on TV and sitting rocking Kolton to sleep. 

Day 27

Owwwww... it hurt to get out of bed. Everything. But a little stroll to see Kolton- my parents watched him another night- was helpful. He apparently was a trooper sleeping for them, only waking up once to get a bottle and then went right back to bed.

We had a delicious buffet breakfast this morning. My parents said Kolton was a hit, but we didn’t realize it until an Asian girl came up and asked to hold him and took a picture with him. That was a first. 

We had a nice leisurely day working a little in the village, eating lunch at the majestic hotel fancy dining hall, and then walking around El Capitan and taking photos at the overlook. It was a perfect way to rest our bodies and hang with my parents. We learned that Kolton is very spoiled. 

And tonight we had to come back to reality, pack up all our things, and trek down toward town for an RV Park and internet.

Day 28

This was a laundry and catch up on work day.  We got pretty good internet at the RV Park in Oakhurst, and my parents missed Kolton enough to stop by and hang out with him for a bit longer, so it was a productive day!  We did dishes, cleaned, worked, showered (yes this counts as an activity), and did laundry.  These are actually very rewarding days after a lot of outdoor adventuring.