August 24, 2029
Terry drove me up through thick smoke. We were navigated to Highway 49, but it was closed. The fire was spreading out from Groveland. We had to backtrack. We went up some backroads to highway 120. About ten miles out of Yosemite the smoke cleared. The white granite mountains shone brilliantly. Our first clear vista in a week. The air smelled of air.
We were amazed by no lines or cars on the roads. You had to have a permit to enter. In a few hours we had our permits checked twice. The numbers were held to their prescribed quota. Few people get to experience Yosemite as such an intimate setting. It’s similar to winning the lottery to drive the length of Denali at the end of the season. I was driven to pursue that opportunity and this. The loneliness that is ours.
It was about 1:00. We thought we could be on the trail by 2:00, but the ranger set us straight. If your permit said August 25 that’s when you’re supposed to leave. She sent us to the backpacker campground for the night. It’s probably a good thing because between the smoke and the altitude, I was feeling it.
I put my backpack on and walked the 1/4 mile from the parking lot to the campground. I rolled the pack off onto the picnic table and deemed it way too heavy for a 1/4 mile passage let alone a 13 day trek. I had to do serious culling. All food is supposed to fit into a bear canister. I couldn’t fit it all in. So I was carrying a bag with extra food. Well this is illegal. I started there. I looked at each item of food for caloric value and weight.
Terry will hike the first day with me and spend the first night on the trail with me. Part of the idea is to carry one day of food. Good this gives him room to take my excess food. I tore apart my whole pack until I felt I had trim superfluous items. It felt much better.
We headed down the road in our car to locate the parking lot and trailhead from whence we will begin tomorrow. A hiker came from over a bridge and asked for directions to the hiker campground. it was hard to direct her. So after she got out of earshot we confessed to each other that our directions sucked. So we decide to give her a ride and show her where to go. Her voice reminded me of a friend in Hayfork . They had the same inflections. Into our conversation she told us she lived in an intentional community. She told me the name and I said I had a friend that used to live there. Yes she knew her. We had an instant connection. We’ll connect again.
Mountain Peace 