gonzo and brandy's yosemite adventure

“got a late start on monday morning due to a super breakfast spread laid out by jeannie at oak knolls bed and breakfast in mariposa....arrived at the wilderness permit station at tuolumne meadows (12:00 noon) and convinced him that we were the party that had previously arranged for a late start....got the permits and headed down to tenaya lake....nice cool day...perfect for hiking!!!

daughter number one (new trail name c-rex) had some hipbelt adjustment difficulties that needed to be dealt with early on....once we got that figured out, everything was aces!!! we hiked up an incredible (for us flatlanders....1100 foot) elevation gain and found a great stream with some campsites nearby, so we called it a day....pitched tents, brandy and daughter number two (new trail name a-rod) made up some mac-a-cheese and chilled some puddin’ in the creek....life’s good!!! slept out under the stars that night....bugs were bad but i rigged up a mosquito net from our tent’s cargo net that worked out pretty well....next morning a big doe came wandering into camp....we heard urgent grunting and snorting coming from out of the brush (c-rex and a-rod thought sure it was a bear) and then we saw this huge buck calling out for his lady friend....they don’t even know that they are supposed to be afraid of humans!!!

hiked through a beautiful valley with streams and lakes....wildflowers were in full bloom and there were butterflies flitting about everywhere!!! we took the trail that started upwards toward cloud’s rest....the air got rarer and rarer and we required more frequent water and rest stops as we approached the summit....but when we got there, what a reward the view was!!! we ate our lunch up there enjoying the 360 degree panorama and getting a kick out of the antics of the panhandling marmots and ground squirrels....after lunch we started down the mountain towards our day’s destination of little yosemite valley....we passed many weary, tired hikers heading for the summit....arrived at the valley and secured a campsite over by the (cool, refreshing) merced river....enjoyed a leisurely stroll and turned in early after a great dinner of minestrone soup and mashed taters and applesauce and lemonade....

took a rest day....went swimming in the river....the half dome trail is closed on weekdays from 8:00am until 4:00pm this summer....brandy, a-rod and i (c-rex took a pasadena this time) started hoofing it up the mountain and were ready to continue on up the trail at 4:00....the park rangers opened it up and we started scrambling on up the rocks till we reached the cables....i last climbed those cables in ’76....they seemed to be a little steeper this time around, but the remarkable view made it worth the effort it required to get there!!! hiked on back down to camp and enjoyed some rice-a-roni (the san francisco treat) and ice cold gatorade....

woke up early and broke camp....started hiking along the john muir trail which parallels the river down until it meets the mist trail....the mist trail descends down into the valley alongside the nevada falls and then the emerald pool and vernal falls....met a lot of day hikers coming up from the valley and enjoying the beautiful (hot) day....still a whole lot of water coming down out of those waterfalls even in late july....made it to happy isles by early afternoon and checked in at the yosemite lodge for the luxury of a real bed and indoor plumbing....

this was a great hike to take my wife and daughters on....not too strenuous (although it did have it’s moments!!) but with outstanding views of the tenaya canyon most all of the way....we all had a great time and i would highly recommend this trip for the intermediate level hiker!!

we have a lot of pictures we will post later on....”

“Rice-a-Roni, don't leave home without it! What a great trip report gonzo. It sounds like it was a wonderful family vacation. I can't wait to see the pictures.”

“Sounds like a great trip...of course any trip in Yosemite is great! Looking forward to seeing the pictures.

Clouds Rest is on my "to-do" list. I'm going to try to get there before the snow flies this year.”

“Cool report, makes me jones even more to get there. Looking forward to the pics. Glad you and your family had a good time.”

“Sounds like y'all had a great time Gonzo...Can't wait to see the pics!

Hey Mike give me a holler when you get a date lined up for Clouds Rest, it's on my "to-do" list also....I'll go with ya :)”

“Great report Gonzo! Glad you had a great time.”

“You bet! I was going to go Labor Day weekend, but had to reschedule. I don't have a solid date yet, but will let you know.”

“Sweet trip gonzo. It sounds like you are raising those kids right! Glad you had a safe and fun trip!”

“Hey Gonzo,

My family (wife, 7 year old son (trail name Froggy), 5 year old son (trail name Toadie), my brother and I) did a similar trip last week.

We started off from Glacier Point on Monday. Froggy and my brother took off. Toadie took a while to get in the backpacking spirit asking when we would going back to the car and heading back to the Valley to play in the water again. We made less then a mile an hour. So when we finally came to Illilouette Falls it was time to call it a day. The boys had a blast playing in the water, far from the falls. My brother and I fished. Because we had planned to make it all the way to Little Yosemite Valley we didn't bother with Bear Canister so we had to use the counter balance method. Sleeping near that river was nice.

Tuesday we made our way to Nevada Falls where Toadie sacked out for an hour. Then looked around the falls for awhile. Man it gives me the creeps when I see people playing in the water directly above the falls.

Then we head up to LYV. A deer came through came and we played Frisbee and a mean game of Uno. The boys were so tired, there was no fight putting them to bed.

Wednesday we slept in then broke camp late for a leisurely stroll down the Mist Trail. It was funny seeing some of the looks other parents would give us. Some would stop and talk about how great it was seeing a kid so young backpacking, while others looked at us like we were abusing our kids by making them carry packs (Toadie carried his jackets and toys, while Froggy carried all his clothes, sleeping gear and toys. It looked like they were caring a lot but they weren't). Within a mile of the Ice Cream stand at Happy Isle both kids started to melt down. But they made it and once back at the backpackers campground they were once again playing in the water.

The next day we went to rent a raft from Curry, because Toadie was less then 50 lbs they said he get hypothermia and would rent us a raft, what did we do? Played in the water. It was a great trip. We didn't do the most mileage, carry the lightest packs, or stay out for a long time, but it was just enough to get the kids (and wife) to ask when we could do it again.”

“Music to your ears eh? LaRock.

My youngest son used to drag his feet and say he was tired..when can we stop? So I would stop at the first suitable site set up camp. He would run and jump and carry on all afternoon....tired my foot! ;)”

“On our last backpacking trip, my oldest (4 years) said, and I quote, "I don't think hiking is a good idea". That was on a trip less than a mile and around 1000' elevation.

Once at the site she was running up and down the nearby hill.

Just two weeks ago she hiked all the way from our site at the Tuolumne Meadows group camp to Dog Lake and back, about 3.5 miles and an elevation of over 9,000'.

Kids.”

“larock....

you guys were apparently at little yosemite valley at the same time that we were....what part of the campground were you located in??

we were in the extreme southeast (near the path parallel to the river) and had two kelty vortex tents set up....”

“Did ya see some short dood with a big cowboy's hat and long red mustache amumblin' I'm'a gonna get that roottin' shootin' no good low down dag nabbit of a rabbit!"?

Glad it was a great trip 8)”

“he told me to "back off"”

“Did he ask you to call him Sam?”

“Gonzo,

We were in the most north/west part of the campground (near the trail leading to the composting toilet). Had two Hennessey Hammocks hangin and a purple and green dome tent. We got into camp around 4-5 then headed down to the river to play and filter water.”

“Wind Walker,

I was music to my ears. I'm already in the planning stages for our next family trip. There are so many trails and views I can't wait to show the family from my wanderings. But I gotta keep it slow and fun. Hiking at a 5 year olds pace was kind of fun.”

“Gonzo, glad to hear that your trip with the ladies went well. I hope to do real mountain trips like that someday with my family.”