Can you believe that we slept ten hours? That's recovery for you!!! After a toasty shower, we ate breakfast and were off to the trail by 9:30. The ascent up Four Mile Trail was killer on stiff legs. They weren't heavy, but lacked any agility to correct a near fall. Even the slightest slip on the icy trail would surely throw me to the ground. This was the slowest hike ever. Even though our hike gained 3,000 ft., I didn't notice it in my lungs and heart like I normally do on a hard climb, my legs saw to that!
The trail was beautiful. We zigzagged up the valley wall. Every few minutes brought the same view of Yosemite Valley, exposing a little more of her each time. Kind of like those old mystery movies that reveal just bits and pieces at a time.
We had lunch at a lookout point about 3 miles (and three hours!) up the trail. The sun warmed my back as we ate. Perfect. We continued to climb as the icy trail turned to snow. Climbing up, deeper and deeper it got. I always prefer to hike in the snow rather than on ice, so we sped up a little on the snow, from a snail's pace to that of a turtle. We decided to turn around at 4 miles (just shy of the top at Glacier Point we later learned) so we didn't have to navigate the icy portion in the darkness. The snow on the trail was melting. Matt lead our way downward. I grabbed a handful of snow and launched it at him. It narrowly missed his head. No response. I threw another, and another, until he finally turned around. Even then, I just got a snarly face and he turned back ahead.
More snowballs. Dangit, I wanted a snowball fight. I kept launching them until he finally gave in. With drenched gloves and snow down our shirts and in our packs, we called a truce and continued on.About an hour into our descent, I decided to jog a dry downhill spot. Suddenly I realized something : running this downhill actually felt better than walking it. The steep grade was better taken quickly rather than each footfall being a slow motion jarring of each leg. Soon we were zipping down the endless switchbacks. The snowy area gave way to wet trail and then dry again. My legs finally felt good.
We stopped at a picnic area and had dinner, then did a little bit more walking around in the valley.
Running tomorrow and then a short hike!Total weekly mileage : 37.2
1 comment:
Oh, sweet, the trail was still open. This is one of the very few trails that gets closed when it gets too snowy. Lucky you, I have not hiked it in snow.
Good thing about Glacier Point is hot coffee, that is unless the pipes are frozen - had that problem last spring. ;(
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