Yosemite Valley North Rim Hike

Labor Day weekend was the culmination of my church men's summer group that was designed to "stretch" a group of men spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and physically to become or be better leaders.  The physical part of the stretch was a 31 mile hike along the north rim of Yosemite valley.  In short, it was awesome.  It was a challenge (more so for some than others) but very rewarding.

We left the church parking lot on Friday afternoon with the goal of getting 4.5 mile hike to our first night's camping spot.  The drive, however, proved to be about as exciting as the whole hike.  A woman driving in the opposite direction rounded a corner too fast, lost control of her car, and went over the side of the road, landing about 100 feet from it and down next to the river 30 feet below the road surface.  We were flagged down by another driver on the side of the road right after it happened.  The car landed on it's side facing away from us so we couldn't see the status of the driver inside.  Six or seven of us made our way down the bank toward the car, which approaching was a test of nerves for us.  I'm sure each of us considered turning around and running back up the bank at some point during the descent.  I wasn't the only one throwing a bunch of prayers upward that I be able to handle whatever I was about to find.  Of course, the pastor (mister fitness), another man (Tony- also mister fitness), and myself (not mister fitness, but somewhat agile) were the first down, although I'm not ashamed in saying I deliberately slowed down to let the pastor round the car first (I noticed Tony did the same).  We didn't know what we were going to find and would judge going around the corner based on the pastor's reaction.  The woman was relatively uninjured but quite shaken (not surprising).  We helped her out of the car and up the bank to a waiting ambulance (that happened to be passing by) and she was taken to the hospital.  Did I mention there was no cell service?  Who knows how long she would have been sitting on her side in the brush if the car following her hadn't stopped.  Once she was on her way to the hospital we got back on the road and got to the park only an hour behind schedule.

The hike went pretty well.  Several weeks leading up to the hike, Atalie and I "trained" by doing several day hikes and I think that made all the difference (that and my job).  Guys were in charge of bringing their own snacks and we all pitched in money for the meals.  However, the amount of snacks brought could have filled a 5 gallon bucket (overkill!)  I, of course, didn't bring enough snacks so got help all the other guys along the way with theirs.  By the end of it, we did 31 miles or so and the views along the way were amazing the whole time.  Time to drag Atalie along on it now... :)

I would have more pictures but getting them from the other guys is like pulling teeth...  oh well.

 The woman's car as viewed from the road.

The group (minus one) at Yosemite Point.

 Hanging out at Eagle Peak.  I'm not alone in thinking it was the best view of the valley in the park.

Walking up to the edge of Yosemite falls.  The water was really low.

View of North Dome with Mt Starr King in the distant left.