Day 59, 0 PCT miles, ~15.6 JMT miles

I woke up soaked this morning! I had camped under some trees, it was a pretty warm night, then at around midnight the temps dropped like crazy! Lots and lots of condensation soaking everything! Although I tried my hardest to sleep in, I woke up with the sunlight peaking through the trees. It was only 7am, and I knew I wanted to go get breakfast at the little restaurant. They didn’t open until 8 so I went into the meadow across the street to dry out my sleeping bag and tent. I talked to a cool hiker from the UK named Boots as he was doing the same thing. 

After eating sooooooo much food, I bought 3 single beers from the store for the next 23 miles of the JMT into the valley! Yesterday I took the PCT all the way to Tioga Pass Road and Tuolumne Meadows. Today I split off down the JMT towards Yosemite Valley. This way I can do both the PCT and the JMT this year! Two birds one stone! 

The trail and grade were soooo nice the first few miles leaving the store and parking lot areas. I stopped in the visitor center to use the bathroom, and I saw my face for the first time in 15 days! What a crazy thing! As could only be expencted, I had dirt ALL over my face, who knows how long it was all there for! 

Almost a road!!

Cathedral Peak

The views were great as I started towards the valley. I didn’t quite understand Cathedral Peak until I got around it and saw it from the side:

Cathedral Peak

The day was a little colder and windier than last days. I didn’t mind since all that meant was that I could wear my second layer shirt and there were less mosquitos! Before I got my permit to hike into the valley and see Half Dome, I decided that if I wasn’t able to do it, I’d be content with skipping it, since I’d see so many other beautiful things on the PCT as-is. I gotta day, I’m really really happy that I was able to get the permits. This place is a National Park for a reason! The scenes were all so pretty!!

Amazing! 

The trail rolled on from beautiful meadow to beautiful meadow, and every once in a while it would climb high up the side for a great view of the huge granite formations and distant snow-capped peaks. Aside from all the people within 1-3 miles of each trailhead, I saw VERY few people for the majority of my day! I loved it!

Lunch spot #2

My plan was to get pretty close to Half Dome (which is a two mile side trip off the JMT), so that I could hit it early in the morning before the throngs of people, and then have plenty of time to make it down to the valley floor and hitch out of Yosemite to Highway 395 later tomorrow to meet Claire. Because of this I took today slowly, taking many small breaks and a few big ones! 

Huge boulders and trees!

Cool pano with a burn area in the mid-ground 

My first glimpse of Half Dome! I’ll be climbing that tomorrow!!

Some deer hanging out

Can’t wait!

I ended up doing just over 15 miles today. I’m actually camped about 0.2 miles up the 2 mile detour for Half Dome. I’ve heard from many people that the steepness of the granite combined with the handrail like cables,  and the sheer drop off on the front side makes for a very unique and nerve-wracking trail. I think I’ll be just fine, but we’ll see tomorrow! The ranger told me to leave everything at camp and slack-pack up with water and snacks, and that’s what I’m planning on doing. The best thing about today is that I get to see my love tomorrow! :)

Thanks for reading!