November 8, 2021 – November 21, 2021
Monday, November 8th of 2021 saw us making our way to Yosemite, and compared to when we were last here to climb half dome in prime park season, it’s a totally different place!
The weather up north in Washington and Oregon was getting chilly, and indeed it’s a bit cool in Yosemite as well. But it was time to start making our way slowly south to run from the cold, and to be in Phoenix for Thanksgiving and Mona’s dads 90th birthday celebration.
Yosemite felt much different with smaller crowds as compared to summer prime times. That said, the campgrounds were still nearly 100% full (although several were closed for the season), and we had to change our campsite spot at least once just to stay here for a few days. At least there weren’t traffic jams and people crammed into the camps like rats on a ship…
On Tuesday we hiked up to the upper Yosemite falls to see the impressive sight of the falls, which were running for us given recent wet weather. The hike up was not easy! Lots of switchbacks, and a pretty steady incline means that this hike is rated as “difficult” by most hikers. The cool weather made it enjoyable, and we were rewarded with some excellent views of the falls, and very few crowds to contend with. Unbeknownst to me at the time, from the top of the falls one can keep going and make it to the top of El Capitan. Ramona wasn’t sure she was interested in doing that (quite a few more miles of hiking, and more vertical to be gained), but it was something I was excited to do the next day!
After getting up early and having a little breakfast (and a few Motrin for good measure), Ramona dropped me off for my El Cap ascent. Hiking it is of course nothing like climbing the face, but you still have to complete the vertical, and I wanted to push hard enough to complete it under 3 hours (the ascent anyway). It turned out to be a great day to hike – once reaching the top of the falls, there was no one on the trail – it meant breaking through a bit of snow, but I had the mountain to myself, which seemed surprising given the notoriety of the mountain. The upper hike is very nice – it flattens out, and one can enjoy the scenery without quite so much effort required to take every step. After losing the trail a couple times (snow), I made it up to the summit area, and carefully eased my way over to the “edge” where climbers make their way to the actual summit. Peering over the precipice leads to a great appreciation of just what is required to climb the face – even the “easier” routes would be a huge undertaking. I saw no one – just the mountain and myself on the summit. I found some hidden water bottles, and a few other remnants of supplies and things people likely cached, only to never make it back up the wall to retrieve their items. The hike down was nice – I made good time up (under 3 hours), and was able to hustle down to meet Ramona at the base. Mona did a hike across the valley as well, and enjoyed all the great sights from a different vantage point. We celebrated by going to the “fancy” hotel (the Awahnee) located in the valley and having some good (and of course overpriced) food. We found a table, and were able to enjoy the completion of a very adventurous day.
We took it much easier on Wednesday – after two hard hiking days, it was time to relax a bit and just look around. Nothing crazy… The Park was still relatively quiet, which was very nice. The campground continued to be busy, but had a relaxed feel to it with people out seeing the sights and staying warm in the cool temperatures.
After our adventures in Yosemite, it was time to head to Fresno, slowly making our way to our next climbing destination and to AZ. We looked around Fresno a bit, and ultimately decided to stay at a Harvest Host location that was, effectively, a parking lot and restaurant they encouraged you to eat at. The locals were having a sing-in that night, and we enjoyed our time listening to them, and having a couple very large burgers. And speaking of burgers…. Our time traveling has not been a great thing for our waist lines. It’s too easy to eat, and too easy to make excuses to not work out! We have our moments of being pretty disciplined, but we have days of enjoying the local dishes!
After Fresno, we headed up to Kings National Park and luckily found a nice camp spot in a campground largely closed, but with a few spaces (and water) still open and available. We checked out some more amazing trees and did a little bike riding. We’ve had a chance to see so much that it’s easy for things to start blurring together (even though almost everywhere we’ve been has had many things to offer).
After spending a couple “casual” days in Kings Park, we made our way down to Palm Springs CA to hobnob with the rich and famous….
We landed in an RV park in Palm Springs that had some amenities – namely a warm pool and a large hot tub. There were quite a few older people at the park, but very few were using the pool or anything else in the park for that matter…. On our first evening, we went up a local tram that offered some amazing views of the surrounding valley. Once again, we also found some good restaurants to maintain our waist line inflation running strong.
We spent some time on one of our days in Palm Springs going out to a true palm springs oasis. It was fun to once again see the level of diversity that can be found.
Sadly, right before we were to leave our RV park, one of our bikes was stolen off the back of our van – when we were in the van sleeping! We knew some of this could happen, but you never really expect it when it does. Thankfully they got the cheap bike, and nothing else got vandalized or stolen. We collected a few insurance dollars for it, and will be on the lookout for another bike for me…
Next up was Joshua Tree, which is not very far from Palm Springs. We had heard that good camp spots can be hard to find in the prime climbing areas, so we weren’t quite sure what to expect. Thankfully, since we got to the area at a good hour in the day, we found a good site without any problems. We also “wheeled and dealed” a bit to get a nearby spot on the following day when our neighbors were leaving. We spent the first day looking around, and going on a good hike in the park.
The next day was a day of climbing with our guide from Devil’s Tower. Just he and I went out the first day, and we had a great time on the smooth, slabby faces that Joshua Tree is well known for. We did a bit of hiking to get to a few places, and never had crowds to contend with. Adam had made it to the park and he and Mona spent the day site seeing. Jack got in that night for a big climbing day the next day.
Greg (our guide) had a great spot lined up for us on our full climbing day, and he had already gotten some gear in place before we met him early in the morning. We got right to it, and found a great mix of climbs that kept all of us challenged. After many climbs and some sore fingers, we wrapped up our day and left for Phoenix. The climbing in Joshua was good – lots of friction climbing on slabby faces that would, on first appearances, appear to be unclimbable. The rock is clean and sharp, and with good shoes you can work up near vertical slabs if you can figure out how to trust your feet!
With Phoenix and Thanksgiving not far away, it was time to head out, where we knew we’d have a break from the van and time living on limited water. And how is life in the van? Good! It takes good organization skills and a level of constant planning if you are going to be on the move, but if you plan ahead and figure out where to get water, it gets easier as time quickly flies by. Our power situation seems to be largely worked out (everything works!), and while we don’t go crazy with running the microwave, etc., we never run out of power now. And… our new water gauge helps us know exactly where we stand on water so we can fill up accordingly (typically a campground, a park, a gas station, or a few things in between (e.g., fire stations, etc.).
View of Yosemite Falls on our hike up to the top. Rainbow across Yosemite Falls. At the top of Yosemite Falls. The view on Mona’s hike to Glacier Peak. Fresh bear tracks on the hike up to El Capitan. Looking down at the valley after hiking to the top of El Capitan. Riding up the tram in Palm Springs. Sunset looking down on Palm Spring. Lee in the Palm Grove, looking small 🙂 She thinks she is so powerful! GQ shoot after a hard climb. Joshua Tree Looks like a scene from The Flintstones in Joshua Tree. More cool scenes in Joshua Tree. A very cool Joshua Tree. Mona making her way up the slab in Joshua Tree. Adam making his way up the wall. Jack heading to the top. Lee doing a little crack climbing.
