I'm not normally a double workout kind of gal, pretty much because I don't like having to get dressed and showered all over again. But being on vacation in a place that I'm not likely to return to helps motivate me to cram as much stuff into it as I can.
Matt and I started our day with cold cereal and (powdered) milk. Then we went out to the car to grab my running shoes. We found this footprint in the frost on the trunk of our car. Oils from someone's paw were left in the water droplets.
We ran from our home at Curry Village along the trail to Happy Isles and Mirror Lake. The daytime temperatures got into the 40s for the previous two days, so almost all the snow had melted from the valley. What was left was icy roads in the early morning. Matt remarked as we ran along, "It feels just like winter running in Fairbanks. Man, I'm glad I don't have to do this all winter long anymore!"
It felt incredible to finally stretch out those tight muscles properly. The only way to stretch them out completely was to do it in the same way that caused the soreness. We went at a really slow pace and stopped for lots of photos.
When we reached Mirror Lake, we were a little bummed to realize that it was a seasonal lake and was nearly dried up. What I did enjoy was the fall color. Beautiful. After weeks of drooling over photos by my Michigan and Alaska Friends, I was finally getting to enjoy them myself. When we reached three miles out, we found another trail that continued on. I was feeling really great, and since we had planned only to run today, why not see where the trail goes? It eventually lead to a trail-closing rock slide area and we had to turn around about 3.5 miles into the run. Running along the decaying leaves, I thought, This is the perfect metaphor for the end to my running year. Seven running miles in just under 2 hours, just to show how much dilly dallying we really did along the way.
After a quick shower and outfit change, we headed out for lunch. Basically all we did on this trip was eat and explore. Matt is normally against anything processed that comes from a can, but it appears that I'm converting him. Some Corned Beef Hash and pancakes and he was practically bowing down and proclaiming me Queen of Campstove Cooking.
Matt seemed to think that the morning run was just a warm-up. And by 2pm, I'd decided that he was right. Besides, what would we do otherwise? We began our hike from the picnic area and headed to Yosemite Falls. Matt wanted to hike to the top of the falls. Personally, I didn't want to use my remaining energy on the same views we had yesterday. But he convinced me that we would only go as far as I wanted.
Yosemite was America's first national park. Every park after this was fashioned in the same way, improving gradually with the addition of each park. I haven't visited a lot of them (maybe 5 in all), but evidence of this park's story is everywhere. About half of the trails are paved. Understandable considering how much foot traffic this park sees on an annual basis. The stone work up and down the trails is incredible. It would definitely have succumbed to serious, irreparable erosion if these measures weren't take. But I have to say, it takes some of the "wild" out of it.
The trail to Yosemite Falls boasts 60 switchbacks in the first mile. Basically it was like climbing a mile of staircase. This trail was pretty quiet, we ran into a couple of school groups and solo hikers, but not much else. If we were to visit here in the summer, I'd surely run screaming into the back country for peace and quiet. But this hike was quiet enough.
We climbed 1,500 ft. up to Cathedral Rock. As we ate our snacks at the overlook, some very persistent squirrels waited for us to drop something. *sigh* Don't feed the wildlife, folks. Completely drained of energy, the break felt good. I told Matt that I was tired and didn't want to climb any more today. I also might have accused him of trying to kill me. :) His reply, in a serious tone, was this : "I'm trying to beat the endurance right out of you!" Well, mission accomplished.
Three miles hiking to and from the picnic area and I was done for the day. Matt and I decided that we had earned a dinner out, so we skipped our plan of another constipating (TMI, right?) camp food and hit the Yosemite Lodge Food Court. Burger and fries, then we split a carrot cake. Maybe more fiber was the key?
We've been averaging nine hours of sleep each night and I'm sure that's the key to what keeps me moving. I have yet to wake up with a racing resting-heart-rate. With what we have planned for the rest of the week, I'm sure I'll need a bunch of next week to recover.
Attempting to hike to Cloud's Rest tomorrow, via Happy Isles. We'll see how much of that 21 mile round trip hike we can handle.
Weekly Mileage so far : 47.2
4 comments:
To enjoy some solitude on Yosemite Falls Trail in the summer one has to start before sunrise. I trained there for my JMT and since this is a very touristy trail, and an average tourist values his/her sleep, going up, I had the trail all to myself. Loved it. :)
Cool pics.
Sounds great! I've never been to any of the famous national parks. When I was younger I camped in New Hampshire fairly often. Now though, I'm soft. Every once in a while we take a hiking vacation to NH, but stay at BB rather than camp. I have to say it is pretty awesome to spend the day hiking then take a nice shower and sleep in cushy bed...
I think the contrast between hiking in some of these busy parks and in Alaska is interesting. In Denali, they said over and over again not to hike in a straight line to avoid making social trails... and then in these other parks such as Yosemite, you are all forced to travel exactly the same route.
Ewa, I definitely couldn't have handled the summertime!
Katie, Camping just takes some getting used to. I used to be just like that! I'll take a baby wipe bath on backpacking trips and have Hubby give my hair a quick rinse. One can see so much more of the really cool sights when not tethered to a bed. :)
K, The Lower 48 hiking is different in every regard: there are trails, milepost markers, wildlife that approaches me rather than runs away, etc. Now I can see why so many people visit and get hopelessly lost in Alaska. They've never had to find their way!!
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