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Back in San Diego now, but man, what a phenomenal weekend. Here's the good, the bad, and the ugly of it:
The Good:
- Getting back to basics and in touch with nature. Always good, and especially so after having been in the city for so long. Brushing teeth by the stream. Washing your face in it. Bathing upstream from a waterfall. Drinking water which not so long ago was snow. Gathering firewood for the fire... Love it.
- The people! A very international bunch, we had representatives from Ireland, [South] Korea, Aotearoa (all 4 of us!), Aus, the UK, Japan, China, Spain, the Netherlands, the US, Thailand, and probably more that I've forgotten (sorry!). 27 all up. Was definitely the people that made the weekend what it was.
- Yosemite. (Duh! I guess that's a given). Smaller hike Saturday to Chinualna Lower Falls and up. Big hike Sunday to the top of Yosemite Falls. They weren't kidding when they called it "very strenuous." 2,700 feet gain. But what a view from the top! And it definitely got the endorphins going.
- What I like to call "travel angels":
#1: Amongst the many people who offered to help us when we got a flattie on the way to our campsite, there was one who really helped make our day. The bolts were bolted on super tight, so that none of the guys could get them off, even when standing on the un-bolter thing (techincal, I know! ). But this guy had the genius, Archimedes-ish idea of making a lever with a long piece of metal pipe on the end of the un-bolter thing (yes, even more technical aren't I?!). Success!
#2: After our driver had pretty much resigned himself to driving to a hotel for the night, cos our campsite was so difficult (and so far) to find, and was driving back towards town, we stopped one more person and asked if she knew where it was. Sure enough she was headed there: "Follow me!" She had a super big 4WD ute-type thing, so would have taken the shortcut through the stream, cutting off a good twenty minutes or so. But we had a space saver on by this stage, and a not-so-big car and would probably have ended up having a bath inside if we'd attempted the stream, so she went the long way just so she could lead us. And there was no way we could have found it without her.
- The campsite: Though the road there was torturous, the campsite itself was really nice. No running water, but a stream running right next to our campsite. Perfect for washing dishes, faces and hands in. And, another vital camping ingredient: a campfire.
- The wildlife: seeing deer and even a snake (possibly the first one this Kiwi has ever seen in the wild!) was pretty amazing. Was a little disappointed not to see any mountain lions in the wild though. Come to think of it, maybe that shouldn't be so disappointing.
- Helpful people. Co-ordinating rental cars, a campsite and three days worth of water for nearly 30 people is tough work, and wouldn't have been possible without the help of others. Big thanks go out to our drivers - Esther, Bron, Dor, Jessica, Jose and Moh; to Shuhei for reminding me to delegate; and to Veronique for lending me her polar fleece and sleeping bag again so I wouldn't freeze, plus her tent, flashlight and wisdom!
The Bad:
- The road to the campsite. OK, so when the website said it was 7.8 miles straight-line distance from Yosemite, it failed to mention that meant about an hour off the main road, about half of which is down a road so bad I don't think I've ever seen one like it outside of Africa. Seriously. Like the ones where sometimes you think there's pothole than road.
Unfortunately, unlike Africa, there were no self-employed people mixing dirt to fill in these potholes with, even though we would have ever-so-gratefully given them a donation for their efforts.
I found it really ironic cos in La Jolla, where I'm living, and I guess a lot of California in general, people love to drive big, huge SUVs or trucks, even when they don't live on a farm or have big loads to pull or stuff to cart around. For the look of it, not cos they really need one. But it just so happened that none of us going, in a time when we really did need one, had one. How ironic.
- Humans leaving more than footprints on nature. Like the unnecessary souvenir shop at the top of Glacier Point, or the car parks ruining the scenic view from there. Was reminded of the Counting Crows song: "They paved paradise to put up a parking lot."
- Bears!! Seriously, we could hear grumbling sounds on one of our hikes and it was not a comforting noise to hear. Coming from NZ, it's strange to feel so scared to sleep in a tent at night too. But, don't worry, Ian suggested the guys sleep on the periphery to protect us all. (How exactly, I'm not sure. Surely not as bait so the rest of us could escape? But I can't think how else, except maybe screaming at them, which is about the only other thing you could do in face of a big bear. Though Sunny thought maybe she'd get her camera out and take a photo. Thankfully we never had to find out and this is one photo opp I was glad to miss!).
The Ugly:
- No shower for three days. Need I say more?
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