Road Trip to Yosemite

After the EMT course, I wanted to head out to San Francisco to visit my brother. I didn't know how I was getting there, but I figured I could book a plane ticket once I figured out if anyone was going to be doing some hiking or backpacking. I had never been to Wyoming, so it would be nice to make it to Yellowstone.

But instead of heading to Jackson Hole or Yellowstone, I tagged along with a group of people going to Yosemite to hike up Half Dome. Close enough to San Francisco.

We left Lander, WY on Friday after taking the national registry test. We headed south to Salt Lake City (which is quite near Wyoming, look it up), where we ate dinner, crashed a wedding and saw the Mormon Temple. As we headed out, we saw a thunderstorm over the Great Salt Lake, which was pretty spectacular. Right outside of the city is the desert. We headed out into the flat landscape as darkness fell, and hit Nevada just as our endurance flagged. We pulled off onto a dirt side road, then pulled off that and made camp.

Daylight came early the next morning, since it was a wide-open desert. There was nothing to block the light. No shade for miles, except the nearest casino, which was kept in a disorienting neon-lit semi-darkness. We hopped in the car and headed across the whole state of Nevada.

Nevada's not flat. It's full of spectacular landscapes with dramatic mountains and views across miles-long plains. It also has two big cities, and we were traveling in the direction of neither. The largest town we passed through was Tonopah, "The nation's #1 stargazing destination." Yeah, no civilization to get in your way of the night sky. We had lunch, got gas, and moved on.

Once we hit California, the landscape became a bit more green. We were headed into the Sierras. We were checked for any citrus fruits (contraband!), then on our way past Mono Lake, toward Yosemite.

We got our passes at the visitor center at Mono Lake, then headed into Yosemite National Park from the east. The back entrance!

Our plan is to dispersion camp tonight, wake up early and hike Half Dome tomorrow. Then I'll bum a ride with a friend of a friend back to San Francisco for a brief visit with my brother. Then it's back to Philly to switch some luggage, pack some props, then Edinburgh for the Fringe Festival.