What is happening to this planet!

Last night I awoke from my evening rest and decided that I should get up to go use the restroom. (I’ll skip over the details of this part; if you need more info send me an e-mail.) The RV was pitch black and I though it was very early AM, but I really didn’t know at this point. So as I exited the lavatory I looked up at the microwave clock and it startled me. It was 6:30AM!!! Did I mention that it was pitch black? No daylight. Night time like. 6:30 AM.

Let me back up here a short bit. The last few weeks I have noticed that the sun is going down earlier in the evening. Not a big deal, normally I have been in the RV reading, working on the computer, or watching a DVD by 7:30 PM or so right along. So the fading light has been noticeable, but nothing drastic. That is until this morning. Now remember I don’t see 6:30 AM much lately, or 8:30 AM for that matter. So the sun is always well up before I am. Therefore I haven’t had the opportunity to see both ends of the daylight to this point.

Not until today. When I was suddenly slapped back into reality. The sun isn’t up for 12 hours any longer. Sure, not a big deal for you, but I haven’t had a day that lasted less than 12 hours in two and a half years!!! Actually I had a couple of days that lasted for 5 months. Suddenly I am claustrophobic. I am trapped between the darkness and the darkness. What am I going to do in a few weeks when we will be lucky to get 10 hours of daylight?

Everyone asks what it is like to adjust to living on the Ice. But really it is not so much what it is to get adjusted to Antarctica life; it is much more noticeable trying to adjust back to civilization. When you get off of the Ice, you suddenly have to pay for food, obey traffic laws, and deal with civilization! It is a bit of a shell shock for a few days, and fortunately we have always stayed in New Zealand for a while after the Ice. I can’t imagine coming straight to the US and dealing with people and how materialistic the US society is.

But these adjustments are expected, and they happen shortly upon leaving the Ice. I left the Ice eight and a half months ago. I had no notion that I would suddenly have to deal with an adjustment this far out from my departure. This has had me thinking about the shorter days all day today. I can’t get it off of my mind. That is why you all get to read this drivel.

FYI McMurdo if back up and running for this season now. Mainbody started on October 1st. And even before this episode I was having some Antarctica withdrawals. And since I could not post videos on my blog during my first season on the Ice, I never posted the following video. The topic really has nothing to do with this rant, but the setting is very important. This video was taken somewhere between 10 and 11 PM. You can see why after only a few weeks on the Ice you realize that darkness is really unnecessary.

I feel better now. Or at least I will feel better if I sleep well past sunrise in the morning.
R.J.

Hiking in Yosemite…

The joy of hiking in Yosemite is the fact that most every good view in the park is about 3000’ up from the valley floor. So there isn’t much of a moderate hike available. Today we will be going back to Yosemite for this blog installment. The reason for this is because we will actually be going back to Yosemite in a few weeks. We will be volunteering in the valley from October 28th until November 12th in the museum art gallery. This is one of the stations that we staff during our summer volunteer stint in the park. The current exhibit at the gallery is called Granite Frontiers http://www.yosemiteclimbing.org/ and it is a spectacular history of rock climbing in Yosemite. And the 50th anniversary of the first summit of El Cap is November 9th and there will be festivities in the park to celebrate this event. Since this is big day in climbing history they extended the exhibit in the gallery to the 12th so that it will be open for the events. So we will get to be there for all of the festivities. Also we will get a chance to see the park in the fall, which will be a nice change.

This summer we only had one overnight camping trip in the park, but we did get our monies worth in day hikes. And when I mention day hikes, remember these are Paula day hikes. We did three main day hikes: Snow Creek to Yosemite Falls, Four Mile Trail to Glacier Point and down past Nevada Falls, and the entire Valley Floor loop. For those of you in the WNY area I will give you a point of reference; from downtown South Wales to Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park is 15 miles. Remember that fact when reading these.

Snow Creek to Yosemite Falls.
This hike takes you up snow creek trail, which is on the north rim directly across from Half Dome. From there the trail curves north around North Dome and then comes out near the rim again at Rafferty Creek. Then you cross over Yosemite Point and then Yosemite Creek at the falls (the fifth highest falls in the world) and then down the falls trail. The grand total for this trip is about 17 miles with about 3500 feet of elevation gain and then loss. If you tell most experienced Yosemite hikers that you are going up snow creek they will what you did wrong to deserve that? It has a very bad reputation because it is very steep for the first 2000’. During this time you are out on the granite rock exposed to the sun and you climb a total of 103 switchbacks. Did I mention that this is one of Paula’s favorite climbs??? And did I mention that this section of exposed granite is a favorite hangout in the early morning sun for rattlesnakes? Note for anyone that doesn’t like snakes, don’t look at the last photo. After the killer climb out of the valley you are greeted with snow creek, about a half-mile in from the rim. You hear snow creek falls the entire way up the trail, but you never get a chance to see it from the trail. The trail crossing over the creek is a welcome sight for a chance to relax and dip in your burning feet, and consume about 1200 calories. I have added these photos specifically for Brian G. so he can have stream envy.







After a mile or so, you leave the creek and start heading mostly east. You come to a junction for the trail to North Dome, which is well traveled. To take the trip to North Dome adds about a mile and a half to the total trip, and since we are at 17 total we decided to take the more direct route down Rafferty Creek. This trail is very steep downhill and takes you just about back to the north rim. At the rim trail junction we saw a small cloud of smoke in the trees. So we went to investigate. This is what we found:




It was a poorly extinguished campfire in an illegal campsite with a fire ring build on top of a dead and rotted tree. For anyone that has ever taken the NYS Grass, Brush, and Forest Firefighting class, you know how they describe Duff fires to you, since we really don’t have real duff in WNY. Well they have duff in the park. This ring was built on a tree that was down and rotted into the ground and you couldn’t see any evidence of it unless you dug around some. The little fire that we found was burning about 8”-10” underground. As you can see the area of the fire isn’t huge, but it is a 5-mile hike into it from any direction and the entire state of CA is on fire at this point. Actually there was a 10-acre fire from a campfire about a mile north of this location as well.

So, since it was an obvious set fire we decided to extinguish it. Pull an 1 3/4” line and no problem right? Not so fast. Where do we get water from? And forget the 1 ¾”. Luckily we were about 50 yards from Rafferty Creek and it was still flowing slightly. Now all we have to do is get the water from point A to point B. Well we have our water bottles and I have a 1-liter water bladder. After we dumped the 2 liters on the fire we realize that this will take days at this rate. So we dig into the packs and we find a zip lock baggie and a Target plastic bag. Now Paula is really being a tanker. Up from 2 liters to about 6 liters a trip.





You can’t imagine how difficult it is to dig out a deep seated fire until you get somewhere without any tool and not even any gloves. We spent a good hour messing with this thing.

The remainder of the trip was uneventful. The top of Yosemite Falls is busy with backpackers and dayhikers since this is one of the more popular trips. The climb down the falls trail is the worst in the park in my opinion. It has lots of switchbacks, lots of traffic, and limited scenery. And it is a full 3000’ down to the base. We arrived back at the valley about 5:30PM just in time to go to the lodge for Chicken Fingers and Chili. A great meal when you are that hungry.

The next day hike was up Four Mile Trail (our favorite) to Glacier Point. This is actually 4.9 miles and 3200’ up, and the view is looking across to Yosemite Falls and East to El Cap. And later in the trip you get a great view of Half Dome. From Glacier Point (about 10 AM) we head down into towards Nevada Falls and then the John Muir Trail. This is about a 15-mile day with 3200’ up and down with great views. We though about going up Half Dome as well, but when we got to the trail junction it was starting to be overcast, and that means storms. Being the highest point on a granite rock is not a good idea in a lighting storm. So we headed to the valley and when we got down the rains let loose. So we got a little wet on our way to the lodge for Chicken Fingers.

Next we did the Valley Floor loop. Which is not nearly as strenuous as the others, since you are on the floor the entire time, but it is still 14 miles long. I only have on photo for this one, but it is a cool landmark in the valley. It is Fern Spring, which is directly adjacent to the road entering the park. It is a natural spring that has a good flow all of the time. It is a historic Indian meeting place from years past and many folks make it their first stop on the way into the park,



Our next trip was our lone backpacking trip. It is one of our favorites and we have done it several times now. It is a 14 mile one way trip across Clouds Rest then down to Half Dome and then on to the Valley. We start out the day riding the hiker’s bus that takes us up to Tioga road and drops us off at the trailhead. From Tioga road it is about 7 miles to the top of Clouds Rest and about 2000’ up. Clouds Rest is my favorite view that I have found in the park so far. And this peak is interesting in its form. If you look at it from the east or west, it is a very long sloping mountain that rises up to 9986’. If you look at it from the north or south, it is a very narrow and exposed climb that drops off thousands of feet. This first photo is me on the way up to the peak. You can see how it drops off to the right side of the photo. And there are areas where it is only 20’ across before the sheer drop off. Then the top of the peak flattens out and you have a great viewing platform to enjoy. If you look behind me, you can see the first forested area that we came through and then in the distance you can see a line of trees before the high peaks. This is where Tioga Road is and the start of the trip.



The next photo is a southern view of the approach to the peak. You can see how narrow it gets. And the great view of Half Dome in the background. This is actually the northern face of Half Dome and it is the face that you climb to get to the top. More on that later. You can see the stand of trees just at the below Half Dome, that is where we spent the night under the stars. It is a great place to camp because most Half Dome hikers stay about 4 miles away at an established campground and that helps keep the pesky bears away from us. Also, snow creek falls that I mentioned earlier that we didn’t see; well now it is right across the canyon from us. So we listened to the falls all night.



And because we camped so close to the base of Half Dome that means that we were on top by 9AM before the crowds make it up. To make it up to the top you have to climb the subdome, which is about 600’ of stairs and scrambling over granite. Then you make it to the cables. Think of it as climbing a 600’ extension ladder. East Aurora #2 on steroids.



Yes this next photo is me trying to drag my sorry butt up. The problem with the climb is that you use your arm muscles more than you legs for a good portion and you arms are tired. But if you stop to rest, you have to use your arms to hold yourself up. So it is not a very restful rest. Under me is the top of the subdome that you climb first. If you look closely you can see tiny dots and those are the next people that will be headed up. Paula is taking this photo from about 500’ up the cables.



And at last on the top and you have the token Marmot that wants your food. And you get a good view of Clouds Rest off in the background. Now from here it is just 4800’ down to the valley over 7 miles.



Later on our way out of the valley we took a hike into the Merced Grove of Sequoia Trees. It is the smallest grove of sequoias in the park, but it is a great place to view them up close. It is about a mile down into the grove from the road.



And lastly here is our friend the rattler sitting up in a bush about 3 feet in the air about 3 feet from the trail. This was about 9AM on snow creek trail. Once the sun hits the rocks here he will be sun bathing out in the trail likely.

Until next time.

R.J.