| |
|
| | |
|
| Backpack | 12.50 Miles |
3,214 AEG |
| | Backpack | 12.50 Miles | 2 Days | | |
| 3,214 ft AEG | | | | |
|
|
| |
| Linked |
|
none
[ show ]
| no linked trail guides |
| Partners |
|
[ show ]
| partners | | I once again was fortunate enough to be included in a Chumley adventure; these consistently include tons of laughs, beautiful landscapes and always end with great food!! I was excited to be part of this group before we even left!!
Typically, "Hunter" Chum will bring one beautiful girl along for our journeys. This time he upgraded and brought two...Now if I could only convince him to drop 9L and Boots and make it four!!! 
The group of 5 picked me up in Kingman in a spiffy new Town & Country Van rented for the distinct purpose of comfort, efficiency and Sirius Sex Talk radio. I met Clair and Liz, who politely said hello and after getting gas, we hit the road for Vegas where I had setup the group with a delightful, air-conditioned home to sleep in that night. The next morning, after free coffee and protein shakes we once again hit the road for Yosemite.
The real adventure started with demonstrations of Liz's great willpower along with Chumley's Parnelli like driving skills as we sped through the twisty passes to Big Pines, California - it was either have an accident IN the van...our OUTSIDE the van. After those crazy movements (pun intended) we grabbed Subways while Claire took over driving doo-ty until we reached Lee Vining  (nuff said about that).
Ben(foot) (Liz'es friend) meet us in the Park and we were soon prepping up at the Sunrise trailhead near Teneya Lake. I was very, very excited to be back in Yosemite as the trip the year before was just so freakin' fantastic!!! However, this joy quickly dissipated as the mosquitos completely annihilated me along the watery Cloud's Rest Trail!! I'll bet I had 30-40 bites that first day alone - filtering water was like sitting in a Red Cross Bloodmobile. It was truly my first experience with BAD mosquitos and I was ill prepared with NO long hiking pants and "all natural" non-DEET spray. Much to Chumley's delight, I wore my sexy black tights and survived the next two days by covering up. (and I hardly griped at all, right guys?)
That next morning as I mercifully scratched within my tent - I counted mosquitos on the outside mesh (15 at one point) and dreaded the thought of my early morning regularity. After quickly getting ready for the day and with fresh bites on the buttocks, we started off for the summit of Cloud's Rest. The 360 views at the top of this peak are the best I've seen in my two trips to Yosemite!!! Before descending, Chumley presented us with the Quarter Domes off-trail option before setting up at Sunrise Creeks for our second night. Kyle, John and I quickly were on board!!! It was well worth the extra bit of effort to reach these tremendous vantage points!! Highly recommend!
On the return from Quarterdomes, Chumley [pulled a BobP and] completely disappeared (to look for Liz & Ben I think) leaving John, Kyle and I to find the trail and campsite....Chum and I had previously mentioned using the same sweet camp-spot as the year before and we soon reunited with everyone at that location!!
This site once again did not disappoint! Located on top of a small hill near the creek, a gentle breeze blew hard enough to keep us cool and helped with the skeeters (which THANKFULLY were not as thick). We also were entertained by 3 doe nibbling around the bushes within our site. It was pretty awesome. Other wildlife included a pesky squirrel who swiped my empty snickers wrapper, forcing me to chase him down 20 yards or so in order to retrieve (LNT) When he came back for seconds, he was very unwelcomed and I darn near nailed it with a stone; I had every intention of skinning and roasting squirrel for dinner that night!
The second evening was filled with another campfire and more laughs, but with much less beer...(Chums did come through with his patented Kool-Aid libation) Two other small groups decided to setup camp near me that evening; staying up later than me of course and causing a restless night (ear plugs will now be staple on my list). Chumley woke me up at 3am for our night climb of Half Dome hike (my next trip-log). |
| _____________________
| | |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Route Editor
Route Scout
