Day 0 : Yosemite Valley

Saturday June 28, 2014
0 Miles Today
0 Total Miles

We had a great breakfast this morning at Barretta Gardens B&B. we sat with Ilin and Kelly from the Bay Area. They were up to hang out before Kelly headed to Durham from some post-graduate work. Olin was a geek after my own heart and worked in IT while Kelly found purpose in studying Environmental Management. 

Astrid and Danny are great hosts and served an excellent breakfast of soft boiled eggs, hashbrowns, and a delicious fruit salad. After breakfast we said our goodbyes, paid our tab, and headed off to Yosemite Valley. 

Danny reminds me a little of Dennis Quaid.

It was surprising to me the sense of loss that I experienced when Kelli drove away and left me standing at the entrance to Curry Village. The air temperature was in the mid eighties as I stood there in the shade. Gosh it's hot. I was still clean and fresh and trying to avoid sweating. I'll do enough of that tomorrow. Just thinking cool thoughts wasn't helping. 

Bye Kelli, bye MINI, see you in two weeks and two hundred miles.

I meandered over to the cafeteria. My goal was to find out when the Peet's Coffee bar opened. Six thirty, I found written on the sign. I was still feeling like a part of my life had been ripped away. Sort of like when you first skin your knees. It doesn't really hurt yet, you are still in shock, but you know something ain't normal.

For the next two weeks I am functionally homeless and alone. It's a weird feeling. The air was cooler inside the cafeteria. I sat their where Kelli and I had sat a few months ago in front of the fireplace. No fire now, thank God. I went through my pockets and resorted my gear. I was sweating when I didn't want to and my permit was getting moist in my pocket.

Getting a wilderness permit. It's like being at the DMV except you don't get to drive a car. The rules and regulations made my head swim. The are all things that I had steadied before, in fact I have been practicing for years. Yet, when the ranger asked how I choose my campsite, my mind went blank, if he hadn't of walked me through it I would have stood there forever babbling incoherently. 

I had made the decision this morning to leave my microspikes in the car. I was convinced that the snow conditions were such that carrying an extra thirteen ounces in my pack was a foolish waste of effort. In my discombobulated state I completely forgot to take them out of my pack, so I will be foolishly carrying thirteen extra ounces for the next two hundred miles.

I've got a brand spanking new pair of shoes and against all common sense and advice, I put them for the first time when I got out of the car with my pack. They certainly feel comfortable right now. Just about any pair of shoes feels comfortable prior to walking in them. Alas, it's not like I haven't had blisters before.

I walked in my new shoes over to the backpacking camp to break them in. Ok, now they are broken in. I met a young guy packing up. His name was Wiley, as in the road runner coyote cartoons. He's traveled all over from his humble beginnings in Chicago in January in forty below weather. He headed first to Florida and hiked around there. He's hiked in New England and in Minnesota. This is his first foray into California. He's heading to Santa Cruz.

It's hard to sit around on a warm afternoon and do nothing. I set up my tent and put my food and good smelling stuff in a bear locker and walked over to Yoemite Village. It's like the only place in the valley with good cell coverage. After I get this post sent I'm heading over to Curry Village for dinner.

Happy Trails,