Out of Office: Ode to John Muir

Yosemite and Redwood Forest National Parks, California
May 10-16

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike. -- John Muir "The Yosemite" (1912)

The picture perfect Yosemite Valley

Before Shaun and I left on this part of our journey, we felt it was important to understand the National Park system. We wanted to get a sense of how the parks were created and why, so we went to one of my favorite documentarians; Ken Burns. His documentary, "The National Parks: America's Best Idea" is an absolutely gorgeous tribute to the parks and the people who created them. He starts all the way back in the 1800's as pioneering Americans pressed ever westward, hunting and logging and building along the way. Soon great cities were appearing, but bison and forests were disappearing. One man in particular saw the destruction and realized that we would live to regret it if we didn't protect some of these amazing places. His name was John Muir and he worked tirelessly his entire adult life to get people to understand his vision for protecting places like the Yosemite Valley. So I'm dedicating this post to John Muir, without whom there would likely be no Yosemite National Park, or any other National Park for that matter.

Beautiful Half Dome off in the distance.

The drive from Bryce Canyon in Utah to Yosemite in California is about eleven hours of long, open roads so we decided to find a place to stay somewhere halfway between the two parks. There aren't very many cities or towns along the way, so while I drove, Shaun checked out the route on the map and tried to find a decent sized town that would have a few choices for lodging. We were looking for someplace cheap but with a little bit of character. The Mizpah Hotel in Tonopah, Nevada was exactly what we wanted! Built in 1907, the Mizpah is just a small place with 47 rooms, but it makes up in character what it lacks in size. It has a wonderful old saloon, a nice restaurant and great old furniture throughout the hotel. It even has a resident ghost called the Lady in Red. She was a call girl who was murdered there in the 1920's by a jealous lover, and rumor has it she still haunts the 5th floor, which is exactly where we stayed! Sadly, we did not see the Lady in Red, but we did have a fun night staying at the Mizpah and we would definitely stop there again if we ever find ourselves in Tonapah, Nevada!

After our ghost-free evening, we headed back out on the highway toward California and Yosemite. We were determined to camp in the Yosemite Valley, but so far the only thing we had been able to book in the valley was one night at Upper Pines Campground. We had continued to look online every few days, but there were simply no spots available in any of the central campgrounds. The only available places were way out on the fringes of the park, with upwards of an hour drive to get to the real heart of Yosemite. And those were first come-first served, so we wouldn't even know if they were available until we drove there! That just wouldn't do. So that morning on our drive, I called the good folks at Recreation.Gov and asked if there was any chance that they had had a cancellation for the following two nights. The woman on the phone immediately started telling me how unlikely it was and then abruptly stopped.

"Wow, it looks like there was a cancellation at Upper Pines!" she said. I grabbed my wallet and pulled out our National Parks pass and my credit card and she started booking the site for us when all of a sudden I heard the telltale beeping that lets you know you just lost your call. I called back as fast as I could and Shaun pulled the car over into a rest area. We prayed the spot would still be there and that my signal would hold out for a few minutes more. The next woman who picked up listened to my panicky story and told me she would try to find the available site, but she also warned me that it was highly unlikely it was still there. She said she had worked there for a year and had never been able to book a last minute site in all that time. But lo and behold! After a minute or so, she found the same open site and she told me it was actually available for three nights! I don't know who was more excited! She very quickly booked the site and gave me a reservation number before even taking my credit card info, just in case the call died. We had a reserved spot at Upper Pines Campsite for the next four nights!

Arriving at Yosemite!

We arrived at Yosemite National Park via the East Entrance after stopping for supplies at a little town called Lee Vining. Our first glimpse of the park was of snow-capped mountains over crystal clear lakes. It was cold and quite beautiful but we were anxious to get to the valley so we only stopped a few times on the drive into the park. The drive itself was quite the adventure. Most people enter the park from one of the three West entrances which are much closer to the valley. The drive from the east entrance takes about 90 minutes on Tioga Road, a steep, winding, two lane road with lots of sheer drop-offs along the way. The views are spectacular but it was quite scary at points as you wind your way down from to the Valley. Needless to say, I was pretty happy when we finally arrived at Upper Pines campground.

First stop inside the park. Luckily our campsite was in the valley where it was much warmer than here!

We stopped at Olmstead point where we met this Yellow Bellied Marmot!

After checking in at the campground, we set up the tent and got our site organized for the night. We had to move to our crazy-lucky last minute site the next day, so went pretty minimalist for the first night. After the heavy lifting was done, Shaun went off for a run while I explored the area around the campground and prepped for dinner. Upper Pines was a great place to stay. The campground was much like the one at Grand Canyon, with good sized sites with fire grates and basic bathroom facilities within walking distance. A short drive down the road got us to Curry Village, where there were hot showers, a cafe and a general store that was surprisingly well stocked. Besides the touristy items like T-shirts and hats, they had loads of camping supplies, water and ice and a veritable grocery store with fresh meats, vegetables, dairy, snacks and a pretty good selection of beer and wine. Prices were a little more than what you would pay at home of course, but still a heck of a lot less expensive than eating out.

Our campsite was nestled among the tall trees

We made a new friend right away. We called him Rufus! He seemed to like our fire pit.

The most interesting item at the campsite was the bear box. For the first time on the journey we were in bear country, and there was no missing that fact. When you check in, they actually make you sign a piece of paper promising to keep a clean camp and to store all food and scented items in the bear-proof storage lockers at each site. And it isn't just food that has to go in the lockers. Anything with a scent, including deodorant, lip balm, gum, sunscreen and soap had to be stored in the locker. A bear can apparently pick up a scent from two miles away and if it smells delicious, they will want to eat it. The lockers won't prevent the smells from emanating, but if a bear does come sniffing around they can't open or destroy the metal lockers, so they quickly lose interest. To make the point very clear, they have pictures up at the ranger station of a car that had had the doors ripped off and the interior torn to shreds because some people chose to leave food in their car instead of in the lockers. A 600 pound bear is apparently no match for a Kia.

Shaun packing up the bear-proof storage locker at our campsite

Fortunately for us, the bears at Yosemite are black bears and not Grizzlies. Ask any ranger and they will tell you that the black bears are very shy and a bit cowardly. The advice we got at Yosemite was to obviously avoid encounters if you can, but to be very aggressive if you do happen to come across a black bear. Shout and throw things and make yourself look larger by waving your hands above your head. As long as it isn't a Mama bear protecting her cubs, the bear will most likely turn and run. It all sounded a little scary, but the rangers assured us that most people will never encounter a bear so we ate our dinner, sat by the fire for a while and then curled up in our sleeping bags for a chilly but uneventful night's sleep.

The next day we had to move our campsite, but as luck would have it, our last minute site was right down the road from our original site. We unstaked the tent and literally carried it over our heads down the road to where we were spending the next three nights. Once we had the new site set up, we took the shuttle over to check out Yosemite Falls, the tallest waterfall the United States and the 5th tallest in the world. It was absolutely gorgeous, but it was also packed with people so after spending some time at the lower falls, we headed off to the visitor center to get some ideas for hikes. The ranger suggested a hike called the Valley Floor Loop which would not be very strenuous, but would give us a good appreciation for the layout of the whole valley. The full loop was 13 Miles, but we decided that was a bit aggressive so we chose to do the half loop instead.

Hanging out by the amazing Yosemite Falls

Our hike that afternoon was just over 7 miles through absolutely beautiful country that we had almost completely to ourselves. It's so funny how one minute you are at the falls with hundreds of people and the next you are almost completely alone, even though you only walked a mile down the road. The majority of people who come to the parks only go to the places that can be reached by car, shuttle or the shortest of walks. On the one hand I find it really sad, because they miss out on so much of what makes these places special. On the other hand, the behavior of so many park visitors is obnoxious, so I guess I should be happy they don't invade the trails as well!

Standing in the shadow of "El Capitan", the world's largest Granite Monolith

The hike was beautiful and long but not very strenuous

The interesting thing about our hike that day was that even though it was gorgeous and long (three and a half hours), it was also just a tiny bit unsatisfying and at first I couldn't figure out why. I've always loved walking outside, even when I was a little kid. It's a great way to get exercise, stock up on vitamin D and clear your head all at the same time. Before we moved from Waltham I used to go walking on the Minuteman Trail in Concord for hours by myself, just listening to the wind and the frogs and watching the leaves fall. But somewhere along the way in the last year, something changed. Maybe I've become a "real" hiker? With all it's beauty and scenery, what I missed that day in Yosemite was the climbing. I realized with a bit of a shock that I now get my kicks from battling our way up steep switchbacks or scrambling over things. I certainly still don't like heights and I could do without the sense that my heart is going to burst in my chest, but I love that feeling of having conquered some small thing. I love getting back at the end of the day exhausted and sweaty and full of pride. And I love the fact that I'm doing all this with Shaun. I may not be able to go at the same pace as the Ironman, but I'm definitely staying closer now than I was a year ago. And that is saying something.

The next day we took a drive down to the south end of the park to see the Mariposa Grove that was the impetus for State and later, National Parks. The Mariposa Grove is home to over 500 giant Sequoia trees; trees that are the second largest living things on earth. (The Redwoods are the largest). This particular grove was put under the protection of the State of California way back in 1864 in the time of Abraham Lincoln. That early State protection would pave the way for what would become the nations's first National Park, Yellowstone, in 1872. Alarmed at the continued destruction and development of the Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove under the stewardship of the State of California, John Muir began writing a series of articles to bring attention to the issues and to call for the US government to offer the same protection to Yosemite as it had to Yellowstone. His grass roots campaign worked and as public interest grew, Washington paid attention. Yosemite National Park was created in 1890 and the Mariposa Grove would be incorporated into Yosemite in 1906.

Even the toppled trees were incredible to see!

The Giant Grizzly. I was pretty far back from the tree.

As we walked though this grove of magnificent trees, it was incredible to think that there was once a time that they were in danger of being cut down. We saw this in New Zealand as well. There they have a tree called the Kauri that can live for more than 2000 years and grow to a height of over 50 meters. Up until the 1700's there were massive forests of Kauri throughout New Zealand. By the early 1900's, ninety percent of the mighty Kauri trees had been cut down for ship building timber or resin. It makes me proud of our country that we listened to people like John Muir who had the foresight to see beyond his lifetime and to understand that places like this are worth saving.

Can you imagine wanting to cut this down?

The Mariposa grove was a surprisingly long adventure. We were only there for about an hour and a half before we realized we were pretty much starving and needed to get a shuttle back down to the parking lot. In fact, we probably could have spent the whole afternoon there if we were better prepared for the size of the grove. Either way, it was a fascinating and wondrous experience and something I would not skip if you find yourself at Yosemite. Just pack a lunch so you can stay for a while!

Our third day Shaun and I split up for our hikes. Shaun had already done the Vernal Falls and he wanted to do one of the most difficult, steep hikes at Yosemite, Glacier Peak to Panorama Trail. He left early in the morning with a pack full of food and water for his 13 mile adventure. I had a leisurely breakfast and then headed out to do Upper Vernal Falls. Although the hike wasn't extremely long (about three and a half miles round trip) it was pretty steep and followed the river almost the whole way, with lots of scenic overlooks to stop at and catch my breath. And this was one of the trails that actually had pretty good foot traffic, so I was never concerned about hiking by myself as I might have been in the back country. My big excitement for the day came near the summit, where they were keeping the crowds off the stairs. Apparently someone had fallen and broken their arm up near the top. It was a bit chaotic and I ended up turning back just before the top because of the chaos, but I got to see the emergency crews in action, which was pretty cool.

The Vernal Falls hike

A peaceful moment on my hike

You can see the chaos at the top as they work to get the injured man down

How cool are these guys. They hike in with all this rescue gear strapped to their backs!

That evening, we stopped by the General Store to get a few things for dinner and Shaun went to find something to read. Once I had what we needed, I stopped over to see what he was getting. He showed me a copy of Outside Magazine with the headline "The Terrifying Truth About Bear Attacks". Now, I normally would not tell anyone what they should or should not read, but I was adamant that he should not get that magazine. And when I read the inside headline ("Are Hungry Bears at Yellowstone Attacking Humans for Food?") I was even more adamant that he should not get that magazine. Of course, he got that magazine. As he drove us back to the campsite I started to read the article. "Seriously", I said, "You should not read this article." So that evening as I cooked our nice romantic campfire dinner, Shaun sat down and began reading the article about people being pulled from tents and eaten by angry bears at Yellowstone National Park.

Just hanging out having dinner. No bears in sight!

So here's how that night went down. After our cozy evening by the fire, we settled down to sleep in our little tent with everything locked away as usual in the bear box. I was somewhere deep in dream land at about 3AM when I was awoken by my husband attempting to forcefully remove me from my sleeping bag because he was convinced there was a bear outside our tent. He looked like a crazy person! After I absolutely refused to get out of my sleeping bag he unzipped the windshield and tentatively looked outside and realized it was not a bear, but some ill prepared campers who had arrived in the middle of the night. They were attempting to find their gear in the back of a pickup truck. The combo of them rifling through their stuff and the sleep-apnea victim next door grunting and snorting away was apparently just the right combination of noises. So bear averted, he finally put down the ax (yes, apparently he was planning to bludgeon the bear!) and lay back down for what ended up being a very fitful sleep. I, on the other hand, zipped myself back up and after a bit of grumbling fell fast asleep again. And that was the end of that. Or so I thought. What I didn't know at the time was that that ridiculously frightening article would end up messing with our heads the whole time we were in bear country. And we hadn't even gotten to Grizzly Country yet!

OK so there was a black bear that showed up down the road from our campsite but the rangers had it under control.

The next morning we packed up the car and began our slow, scenic drive out of Yosemite. It was yet another gorgeous day and we were only headed as far as the Sonoma Valley so we took our time on the drive, stopping whenever we saw something amazing, which was often. Once we left the park, we headed North. Shaun knew a great little Best Western in Healdsburg that was inexpensive, had free laundry, was close to a winery and best of all, was highly unlikely to have bears in the rooms. After checking in, we made a quick visit to Seghesio Vineyards, went out for a pizza and then settled back at the hotel for a good night's sleep.

Sad to be leaving beautiful Yosemite...

But happy to be back in wine country!! This pizza was so yummy!!

The next morning we packed up our freshly clean clothes and headed for the Redwood National Forest. The Redwood forest is a perfect day trip. You can literally drive right through it, stopping along the way to look at the incredible groves or take hikes farther in to the groves if you have the time. We both thought the drive was incredible, but to be honest we were a little rushed because we had another goal in mind; Gold Bluffs Beach Campground. We had heard about Gold Bluffs from one of the rangers at Yosemite who said it was his favorite campground anywhere. He explained that it was first come, first served but he thought we would be able to get a spot considering the time of year. So after we finished our drive through the Redwoods, we headed for Gold Bluffs.

Redwood was interesting because parts are National Park and parts are State Park

The fallen trees are amazing here

They leave the trees where they fall and they become "nurse trees" which eventually decay and feed the living trees

To get to the campground, you have to drive 6 miles down a heavily wooded dirt road until you finally come to a little ranger station. There you pay your fee (our most expensive of the trip at $35) and then drive just a little further until you come to a campground nestled among the dunes along a 10 mile stretch of beach. It was foggy and cold that day but still absolutely gorgeous. We set up our tent and started a campfire and made hot dogs and beans for dinner. As we drifted off to sleep that night we could hear the ocean crashing along the shore. It was one of my favorite spots of the trip.

Our campsite with the bluffs behind them

Coffee on the beach in the morning! It was cold and foggy but still lovely.

The next morning we packed up the car and then drove a little further down the beach to the trail head for the Fern Canyon trail. The plan was to go for a long hike, but two things got in the way. The first was the Elk! There were two amazing male Roosevelt Elk hanging out by the trail head. We sat and watched them for what seemed like an hour, taking pictures but also taking care not to scare them. When they finally moved off the trail head, we gingerly made our way past them and onto the Fern Canyon Trail, but to be frank, this time it was my turn to be scared. There were bear warning signs up in the area and this was exactly the type of place they warn you about in bear literature. It was overgrown, with blind corners and loud bubbling brooks all around. Surprising a bear is a very bad thing and I was super nervous. Strangely Shaun was not bothered at all by this and was even going to hike a bit by himself but we ended up scrapping the idea. There was still plenty to see on our big journey and we still had five hours to drive to our next stop in Oregon. So we headed back out the long dirt road and back onto the California Highways headed for Crater Lake.