July 19 - Yosemite

We arrive in Yosemite Tioga pass around 4:30am PT. (gained another bonus hour!) Tioga Pass road is only seasonally open - and usually only opens around mid-july. We are lucky that the road is open otherwise it's a LONG way around. The Yosemite park entrance @ Tioga pass is at 10000 ft and there's still snow all around. The cold air is a shock after coming from the desert. The white capped mountains below a star filled sky are just beautiful.



Sienna in Yosemite



I park the car facing west and nap until the sun lights up the mountain tops. We drive across Tioga pass to the west entrance to try and get camping permits. The sign at the entrance says that all campgrounds are full and everything was completely reserved when I checked before we left Toronto. Seeing people camped out at the East entrance at Tolumne Meadows doesn't give us any better hope. However, I'm the first in line at the Big Oak Wilderness permit station - problem is he can't issue permits from near Tolumne or from Happy Isles in Yosemite Valley. I take what I can get - a wilderness permit for a party of 5 starting at Tenaya lake with a stop at Half Dome. Yeah! we have our permits - I'm so excited! We also get two small bear canisters for our food.


It's still early so we spend the morning taking in the tourist sites in the valley before packing our backpacks and setting off on our trip around 4pm.


Nathan washing up under Yosemite Falls










As soon as we start our hike there are swarms of black flies and mosquitos - and the hike starts with a hip deep water crossing! what a way to start our adventure. Funny thing was we didn't pack much bug juice or mosquito nets because we hadn't seen any mosquitos until now!

Christian crossing Tenaya Lake with N&E preparing to follow

We hike about 4miles in and gain about 1000 ft of elevation.

going UP...

and UP through snow too!

We camp at ~9000ft just below Cloud's Rest. It's such a beautiful view.

Cloud's Rest and Half Dome in the distance

We get to use our new 5-man tent for the first time. It's huge inside! It's much bigger than our old 6-man tent that was falling apart.

Christian throws up at night - but luckily NOT IN the tent. It may be due to the altitude. Nathan also has a bleeding nose. Hopefully the puke and blood don't attract the bears....

Cooking sausages at Camp 1