Kings Canyon National Park – Like I’ve never seen it before

Brief cap of what I've been up to out there!

I absolutely love Yosemite and have been there at least a dozen times this summer alone. With that said, I have found that it's time to explore new areas.  I have ventured out to parts of the Kaiser Wilderness and areas of Huntington.  My niece and I visited Rancheria Falls on August 7, Rancheria is a short mile hike with a beautiful fall at the end of the trail. It was her first hike and she finally admitted, she is not ready for Half Dome quite yet! The night before our hiking adventure she "nagged" me about wanting to hike half dome, she even was on the internet looking up pictures and saying how "cool" it would be. :) The following weekend I went back to the area to attempt Kaiser Peak. With my navigating skills still in training, I decided to stop after about 2 miles because I could not figure out where the trail went. Needless to say, I have registered for a map and compass class to learn about how to read topo maps and use a compass properly. When hiking in the wilderness, it is kind of an essential one should know. After my short 4 mile hiking that day, I ended up taking the Jeep on some OHV trails to explore different areas that I haven't seen before. I saw some amazing views of Kaiser Wildness and other areas surrounding Huntington and Shaver Lakes.

Another exploration I have discovered recently, is the outdoor school at REI. They offer so many free workshops for hikers/backpackers. I had the privilege of going to three in the past month. Two were backpacking, one specifically for women, and the other one was Fresno County's Search and Rescue team, I found that one fascinating. The stories alone were amazing and what got my attention was that 60+ of the men and women are volunteers. What an amazing thing for one to do. I volunteer through activities at work all the time, but hadn't really thought about volunteering for something near and dear to my heart.  I have this opportunity on my mind. :)

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks...

The drive to these two parks is simple yet beautiful. The view of the foothills and everything surrounding has a way of just letting you be free of worry like nothing else matters. My first stop was Hume Lake. I had never seen this lake before. This was a great place to stop for lunch. A view of a lake and mountains while eating, it just doesn't get any better than that, well for this day it didn't!

Mist Falls – Sunday,  August 14, 2011

This adventure took place where the road ends (literally that is what the map says!). Mist Falls in Kings Canyon National Park is a simple and joyful hike.  With about 800 feet in elevation gain over 4.6 miles, it’s almost like a walk in the park.   Most of the trail goes along a beautiful meadow that has wild flowers and is mostly shaded for those who are enjoying this hike on a warm sunny day.  The trail has gorgeous views of the river and the water is so clear and crisp. Fellow hikers even took this as a chance to cool off in areas where the water wasn’t flowing down stream, this isn’t advisable. Many of the fellow hikers warned me about their bear sitings they had seen. I luckily did not see this bear everyone was talking about.

This particular trail is the path to Pacific Crest Trail if you keep going about 18 miles. And if you past Mist Falls, it will take you to Paradise Valley! There were many backpackers hiking on this trail.  I always find it interesting to ask them where they have been and where are they going. Kind of like Forrest Gump.

For a spur of the moment trip to the park, this has to have been one of my favorite hikes in this area thus far. I guess it's kind of hard to have other favorites when I haven't really done much hiking in Kings Canyon National Park.

Miley Cyrus - The Climb - Official Music Video (HQ)

Half Dome 2011 - Thunder, Lightning, and Rain, Oh my!

Sunday, July 31. – My second trip to half dome.

After hiking the 4-mile and Panorama trail on July 17, I was eager to hike to half dome for the second time.  My only obstacle was getting a permit. After several posts on the Yosemite and National Parks Facebook pages checking to see if anyone had an extra permit, I had no luck obtaining one.  During my venture to get a permit I learned that the NPS was releasing an additional 50 permits per day for the following day to climb the cables at Half Dome. I still had no luck on Saturday trying to secure a permit for the 31st.  The reservation person said there are 300 plus people fighting to get one of the 50 available permits.  I didn’t let that stop me. I decided I would still go on Sunday regardless of getting a permit.  I remembered that last year when I did half dome there were two people in my party who were able to get extra permits by other hikers attempting to go the distance to the top of Half Dome.

I had checked weather reports all week and it said there was a 30% chance of thunderstorms.  Thinking the odds of 30% was pretty low, I didn’t let that stop me either.

Sunday morning came and after about 3 hours of sleep, I got into my jeep and headed to Yosemite to hike to half dome.  The drive there was amazing. There is nothing like seeing the clear night sky and the stars shining so bright.  I arrived in Yosemite around 6:30 a.m.

 7 a.m. – I made it to the Mist Trail trailhead. The weather seemed clear and Vernal and Nevada Falls were on my horizon.  When I reached my first stop, Vernal Falls, I stopped for a moment to look to see how someone could even attempt to cross the barrier into the rapid water headed towards the 300 plus foot fall.  There are signs posted everywhere and barriers to the rapids. Just a day after I was there the last time, three hikers crossed the barriers to take a picture and sadly all three went over.  The search and rescue teams still have not recovered their bodies.  

 9 a.m. – I made it to the top of Neveda Falls. This point was exciting because the sign posted said 4.5 miles to go. I knew I had already gained 1900 feet in elevation gain and about 4 or so miles which was close to half in mileage but still about 2000 feet higher to go. The next two miles included scenic views of Little Yosemite Valley and Half Dome from different angles.  During this time half dome permits were secured and I finally knew this hike was going to be worth it – I would get to go up the cables!

10:30ish – The two mile to half dome mark. The weather still seemed ok.  As I continued on the trail clouds began to form and the sprinkles had started.  Being optimistic, I decided to continue on the trail. The higher I got in elevation, the darker the clouds got.  I began to hear thunder. I had never heard thunder so loud and so close.  With about a mile or so to go, I had decided, I am not going up the cables. There is just no way in this weather. At this point I had not seen lightening, only heard the loud rumbles of the thunder in the distance.

Sometime between 12 and 1230ish – I made it to the base. At this time I can honestly say, the weather scared me. I saw lightening clearly in front of me, it wasn’t off in the distance like what I see at home.  It seemed to get closer and the thunder was getting louder.  The air became cooler and the wind was blowing.  People began rushing down to get out of the open and the rain started pouring down. I followed.  I remember reading that when stuck in a lightening storm to go towards groups of trees or forest areas. Luckily most of the trail was protected by trees.

1:30ish – The rain continued for about 2 miles.  Luckily going down is much faster and easier than going up. While going down in the storm there were several hikers “parked” on the side of the trail under trees trying to stay dry.  I had an emergency rain pancho in my pack that I put on to keep dry.  I had never hiked in the rain before. I had hiked in the snow and dark but never in rain.  It wasn’t that bad. The lightning and thunder became  less and more in the distance behind me. While headed down I passed search and rescue teams, one was in a hurry talking on a radio. When asked what happened, she was hesitant to say anything because it wasn’t any of my concern, but did say the dome was hit by lightning. My thoughts were that there were people who freaked out and wouldn’t come down the cables.  I couldn’t imagine anyone going up those cables with the weather the way it was or even knowing it had rained or sprinkled for thatmatter.  Common sense is when granite gets wet, it’s slippery.     

3:30 – 4 ish – Made it back safely and unharmed. I looked up to the sky and saw a helicopter.  And again, my initial thoughts were people are stuck on half dome because they were scared to come down because of the lightning. I got back to my jeep to remember I had the top off, thankfully, the warmer weather dried up the wet seats for the most part.  Blister free and in good spirits despite the weather and not actually making it to the top, I went to Curry Village to enjoy some pizza and beer.

The next day…

Sad news hit the internet and news stations. Another person died in Yosemite and this time it wasn’t from crossing barriers, it was from descending on the cables on half dome. This was on the same day I decided not to go climb the cables because the weather was incredibly horrible. Approximately 400 people had permits for the half dome cables that Sunday and only about two dozen people chose to climb the cables at half dome.  There were several people who I talked to along the trail. Some who I saw up at the base choosing not to go because the weather had just gotten too bad.  I even talked to a group of girls before starting asking about extra permits, I wonder if I had come into contact with her in my quest to get a permit.  Another group who I talked to  were up at the base at the same time as me and even offered me their permit if I was planning on going, I said no thanks! I still can’t believe this happened to that young girl. I couldn’t even imagine what her friends and sister experienced or any others who may have witnessed this tragedy.  It is a sad reminder that people should use common sense and read the signs posted.  At the base there is a sign that states “If a thunderstorm anywhere on the horizon DO NOT PASS BEYOND THIS SIGN lightning has struck Half Dome during every month of the year”. And it struck on Sunday, July 31.