Last week, I returned from a trip out West to Yosemite and San Francisco. I met up with a friend from college, Nick, and two guys from Indiana, Ryan and Nathaniel. We spent one night at Nick's place in SF before heading out to Yosemite.
Yosemite was my favorite place of all the parks I visited this summer during my long road trip; so, I was excited about the prospect of returning, especially knowing that there would still be snow on the ground. With much of the higher elevation areas under significant snow cover, we weren't able to do any hikes that went much over 5000'. Still, we managed a nice scramble up to the edge of Lower Yosemite Falls and, the next day, a fairly strenuous day hike past Columbia Rock to a nice view of Upper Yosemite Falls. I think the highlight of our hiking experiences, however, was a short, easy trip around Mirror Lake with some spectacular views of Half Dome and North Dome. The stillness of the lake provided the perfect reflecting pool for the huge rock walls.
We spent both nights camping in Upper Pines campground. There was plenty of snow on the ground and the sleeping situation was pretty frigid with temperatures dipping into the low 30s. My three partners didn't bring sleeping pads (inexperience, I guess), so they were pretty miserable the first night. The next day, all three of them bought sleeping pads at the Curry Village store.
I was sleeping in my +20F rated REI Kilo Plus, on a Therm-A-Rest 4 self-inflating pad. Even so, I was pretty frigid; but certainly not miserable. I could've worn more layers inside the bag; but I was using most of my insulation for a pillow. Since we were car camping, we didn't have to worry so much about weight. Nick bought a cheap 6-person tent from Wal-Mart (can't remember the brand, Ozark Trail or something) and it actually seemed pretty solid. It had a tremendous amount of space. I'm 6'1" and I was nearly able to stand straight up inside; and, with four big dudes, we were able to keep some nice buffer room in between us. However, considering how cold it was, we might've been better off huddled together in a smaller tent.
Having lived essentially all of my life in the Southeast and Southern California, I don't have a lot of experience with snow and this was my first multi-day experience with significant snow exposure. Truthfully, a lot of the valley was clear of snow, but Upper Pines is so thoroughly shaded by the, well, pines that temperatures there seemed to stay a lot lower than in much of the rest of the valley. Anyway, I learned the importance of having plenty of warm, dry socks to rotate as they become wet, which they inevitably do (especially if you're just wearing trail runners). Still, I don't regret my shoe choice. My feet were only cold at night, and I think I could've avoided even that if I had just brought one extra pair of socks (I brought 3). I should've been fine with 3 (one to wear, one to dry and one to sleep in) if only I had been a little more conscientious about drying the wet socks.
On Sunday, we headed back to San Francisco and started recharging the batteries. The next day, we headed over to Berkeley to check out their campus. It's definitely very active in terms of protests, which shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. There's basically a Swiss Family Robinson living in the trees at the proposed sight of a new athletic building.
After leaving Berkeley, we headed back to San Francisco to visit Telegraph Hill and hopefully catch a glimpse of its famous wild parrots. We didn't have any luck, though. I was lucky, however, in that I unwittingly bagged another peak by walking to the top of Telegraph Hill. I wouldn't have guessed that the only high point I'd reach on this trip would be in the city of San Francisco and not in the wilderness of Yosemite.
I still think San Francisco is a great city. Not sure if I'd want to live there; but it is a place I'll probably consider when it's time to look for a residency in about 3 years. Being back out West, I realized how much I miss it, even though I'm pretty happy with my life in Charleston.
