I woke up this morning at Sheri and Gary's house excited for the next phase of my journey: Yosemite! I quickly gather my things and repacked my bag. I was really doing this!! Today was the day! I would ride with the Durans to The Wawana Visitor Center, pick up my permit, and then go set up my camp at Bridalveil Campground for the night. Rosemarie was going to camp with me and we were just going to have a great evening of getting to know each other before starting on the trail in the morning. I was so happy to have made new friends and to have some company along the trail for my first day of hiking.
Sheri and Gary said they'd be ready soon, as they had to finish gathering their gear as well. They were going to take a quick backpacking trip in Yosemite near where my trailhead was. I figured that I would use this time to call my dad and let him know I was getting on my way. What should have been a simple quick phone call turned out to be a life changing call. I asked him how his doctor's appointment went the other day, and though he wanted to wait until I got off of the trail to tell me, he is an honest man and told me the truth: he has cancer.
What? Well, how bad is it? When are you starting treatment? What do they know? When is your next appointment. I asked all these questions while trying not to cry. My daddy. My loving amazing daddy.
Cancer.
And I find out the day before I start my hike? How fair is that? Do I just quit now and go home to be with him? Do I trust that he has a good couple years left and finish my hike despite him possibly needing me while I am gone?
NO!
It could be seen as selfish, but going home just was not an option for me. I had come too far to get here literally and metaphorically. My dad wouldn't have wanted that. He knew how hard I had worked to get to this point. I decided to hike on. And I decided I would finish it for him. This hike no longer was about finishing it for me and proving to myself I could do it. It was now about finishing it for him and making him proud of me.
We talked a little more and then said our goodbyes. As tears ran down my cheek I told him "I love you" with more feeling behind it then any other time I'd ever said it.
SCREW YOU CANCER!
Breathe.
Refocus.
Ok, it's time to leave. Sheri and Gary give me hugs and tell me they'll pray for him. That means a lot to me. We get in the car and head up the road. A little while later we come to a parking lot where Rosemarie was waiting for us. I jumped in her car to keep her company on our way up to Yosemite.
Before getting to Yosemite, we stopped at a breakfast and deli restaurant, though I cannot remember the name of it. Sherri and Gary offered to pay for my breakfast, and though I tried to decline, they did it anyway. We all got our fill of eggs and hashbrowns and bacon before ordering deli sandwiches to go. A fresh turkey sandwich at camp tonight would be amazing!
Back into the cars and off we go! We're close now. I can feel it. The excitement is growing ever more!
There it is!!! The Wawanna visitor center! One step away from getting my permit to start tomorrow! We go in and talk to the ranger. After hearing a few options that were available, I decided to switch my GP->Illilouette->Cathedral Lakes permit to a GP->LYV->Cathedral Lakes permit. The catch? I had to start today! Not tomorrow. Today! This was definitely a better option because it gave me 3 days to do 26 miles with some pretty nasty elevation gain, instead of the 2 days I had planned.
Wow! Today! Ok! Let's do it!
We all got back into our cars and headed straight for Glacier Point!
Glacier point is absolutely beautiful. There are many beautiful spots in Yosemite, but this is one of my absolute favorites.
The trailhead at GP is called the Panorama Trail. It isn't actually part of the JMT, but it does connect to the JMT after about 5 miles. What makes this trailhead a good starting option is that there is less elevation gain getting to Little Yosemite Valley. Instead of starting at the valley floor and just going up, you start higher and go down, then back up, but it is all gradual. There was nothing grueling about this trail. The best part is definitely the view! We'll get to that in a minute. First, some pictures.
Ready to go! Half dome is looming in the background.
At the trailhead! Heading to Nevada Falls to meet up with the JMT! I was so happy to be here, and to be here with such great people who were such a huge source of support for me. I will be forever grateful for their kindness and friendship. After a few pictures, many hugs and even some tears, I was off on the trail!
My first picture on the trail. Half Dome on the left. Nevada Falls on the right.
Check out this video from when I first started:
Half Dome on the left. Illilouette Falls in the split of the tree.
So here I am... on the Panorama trail enjoying all it has to offer. Great views, a nice gradual decent, peace and quiet. Wait, what was that? Did someone just yell my name? Goodness, no. Why would someone be yelling my name? This made no sense to me. I keep walking. But wait! There it was again.
"KEIRNAN FROM PENNSYLVANIA!"
Ok, that's creepy. How did they know I'm from Pennsylvania? I was starting to doubt my psychological fitness for the trail at this point.
"WHAT?" I yelled back. Like someone was going to answer. Really? What am I thinking? Ok, so I just keep walking. It's way too early in my hike to be getting delusional. It's been 5 minutes since the trailhead.
"KEIRNAN! I HAVE YOUR WALLET!!!"
FREEZE!
My wallet? OH SHOOOOOOT! That means that Gary, bless his soul, is trekking after me trying to catch up. I was seriously hiking FAST. I feel bad for ANYONE who would try to keep up with me in that moment, let alone an older gentleman. I turn around and run as quickly as I can back up the trail. Gary. There he stands, breathing quickly with my small black ZPacks wallet in hand. Oh Gary, I am so so sooooo sorry that I forgot my wallet on Rosemarie's car seat and that you had to chase after me. I have no idea what I would have done had you not been an absolute saint and came after me with it. We all talk about trail angels, but by George, you really live up to that title! Thank you. Thank you. THANK YOU!!!!!
Ok. Shake it off. Refocus. No time for feeling guilty. I have a task at hand!
At this point the weather was starting to get a little darker. We were supposed to get storms, so I was really hoping that it would hold off until I got to camp. This video shows the clouds coming in.
Not too long after I took that photo I ran into a lady named Bobbi. She looked at me and I looked at her and we knew right away that we were THE Bobbi and THE Keirnan from our Facebook group: Ladies of the JMT (also the group that I met Jan, Sherri and Rosemary in). We giggled and embraced. I was so excited to run into her. As previously stated, I wasn't to start until the following day. I knew she was starting a day before me. So when I picked up my permit and started a day early, it put us on the same schedule! She introduced me to her husband and we hiked for a little while together before parting ways. We were both camping in Little Yosemite Valley that night, so we new we'd run into each other again.
Half Dome
After a little while I met a man and his three children. We ended up talking and hiking for at least a mile or so. They all had matching TShirts and he explained that he owned a printing company and that every year for vacation they make family TShirts. It was pretty cool actually. All of the kids said they really liked it too, which surprised me, especially from the preteen. The older boy was a Boy Scout and when he found out I worked at REI he was pretty excited. We all went to the overlook to take pictures of the Falls. The dad was quite nervous about the kids getting too close to the edge. For some reason it really warms my heart to see Dads out with the kids, whether it be in the woods or just in a store. Dads didn't used to spend quality time with kids as much as they do now. It's really great to see that. His wife and baby were back at the campground because one of them wasn't feeling well. I hope they were able to enjoy the rest of their vacation after some rest. The dad and kids and I all walked together to the bridge before parting ways.
Illilouette Falls
The bridge over Illilouette Creek. You can see the dad and the three kids that I hiked with in this picture to the right of the tree in the center. At this point my decent from GP has ended and I am not beginning my trek up towards Nevada Falls and the JMT.
View of Yosemite Valley from the Panorama Trail.
I found it interesting that some of the trail had once been paved.
FINALLY JOINED UP WITH THE JMT!!!!! I was so excited at this point that I let out a little "Whoop!" This picture is looking northbound on the JMT. If I would have started at the Happy Isle trailhead, I would have come up from that trail.
This sign was near the other, but this is going southbound. Only .2 miles until Nevada Falls crossing.
Looking down over the falling water of Nevada Falls.
The JMT crosses a bridge above Nevada Falls. This picture is looking northbound. I had just crossed the bridge.
The last picture I took of the day. Only 1 mile to go until camp.
After a little over 6 miles I finally reached my camp for the night. Little Yosemite Valley is a pretty awesome little campground. There are probably around 50-100 people who camp there any given night, and you have to have a permit in order to camp there. They have elevated (up on stilts) composting toilets for use. There is a river that runs near by (The same river that feeds Nevada Falls). There are JMT hikers, PCT hikers, Half Dome Hikers, Boy Scouts, and I'm sure several other types of outdoor people. I was looking forward to engaging with them. One lady, Kim, had a LotJMT (Ladies of the JMT) headband on, so I went up to her and we started talking. Yep, I knew who she was from the group too! Her and her hiking partner had a ZPacks Duplex, so we talked about that a little as I set up my ZPacks Hexapod Solo-Plus (Thank you Catherine!!! After I got use to it I absolutely loved it!!!). There were two other gentlemen there named Don and Val who camped behind me. I met Dan there. And Bobbi and her husband showed up as well. All of these people played a role in my hike and more stories of our interactions are to come.
There's wildlife here too. I actually had a coyote come within 3 feet of me when I came out of the restroom. I rounded the stairs and there he was! Just trotting along without a care in the world. He looked at me like he had seen a thousand other just like me. I bored him. He continued on his way. There was also a bear as well. Now, the ranger came around and warned us that a bear had been coming by. She gave us all of the instructions we needed and said that if she came around, we were more than welcome, and encouraged, to join as a big group to scare her off. This kind of excited me actually. I have always wanted to see a bear in the wild. I saw some up in Alaska at Katmai National Park, but for some reason, that just didn't feel the same as seeing a bear unexpectedly near your tent or on the trail. It felt more like seeing them at a glorified zoo. Catch my drift? So anyway... the bear came. Did I get to see it? No. Why? Because I slept through the whole dang thing! I didn't hear her. I didn't hear everyone getting out of their tents. And I didn't hear all of the yelling! WHAT?! How? I must have been absolutely exhausted. Of course, crying profusely in the morning (because of my dad) and then hiking 6 miles unexpectedly (because I started a day early) can do that to you.
So here I am, in one of the Nation's most beautiful parks. My tent is set up. I have my REI Flexlite chair out that I am relaxing in while eating my fresh turkey sandwhich with some Honey Mustard and Onion pretzels. I have great people around me. I have the satisfaction of knowing that my hike started a day early and I have many wonderful days ahead of me! What more could I ask for? I was definitely content!
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