Tuolumne Meadows and the Act for Survival

By far one of the most unsettling experiences in my life was on September 18th 2010. On a Friday afternoon I packed up my things and headed to my friend Renee's house. About half an our later five of us packed up her SUV and headed out from San Jose to Yosemite National Park. It was the first visit to Tuolumne Meadows for all five us and the first trip to Yosemite NP for a few of us, so the excitement was high. About 6 hours later we finally arrived our campsite in the pitch black and a shocking 30 degree temperature. It felt like we had traveled to Alaska in the dead of winter. I had heard it was going to be cold at night but I didn't think it was going to be freezing temperatures. We set up our tents and huddled by the fire. We were the second carpool to arrive so we hung out and settled in while four more cars arrived. Eventually we had a village of tents and a group of about 20 people. Even though it was beautiful and clear I had never been so cold at night then I had those two nights in Tuolumne.

Hiking Group_ready to go!

On Saturday I woke up as cold as I went to bed. Normally trees are great to have on a camping trip but it kept the sun off of us and every degree of warmth mattered. The fire was going at 8 in the morning. I walked 20 feet from the fire pit to the parking lot where there was a small clearing just so I could dethaw. Eventually everyone was awake between 9am-10am. Half of us packed up and got ready to go on a hike while the other half decided to go on a car tour of Yosemite park. We didn't start hiking until about 1130am and by the time we got to the trail head it was 1pm. We decided to do a 6 mile out and back, really it was an up and down. We climbed about 1500 feet up to about 11,000 feet elevation, past the hight of Half Dome. It was definitely one of the most challenging hikes I have been on (Half Dome definitely remaining my number one). This hike was different though. It wasn't that my legs couldn't carry me, it was that I couldn't breathe. The saying "my heart is going to jump out of my chest" had a very literal meaning to us. My heart was pounding so hard I wasn't sure if my frame could contain it. My breathing had to be slow and deliberate, I tried to control it as much as possible. I had never regretted not having my abuterol more than at that hike. We got half way when about 80 percent of us realized we had to take it as slow as possible or we would never make it to the top. We would take 3-5 steps then stop for 3 seconds and repeat this procedure, for the last 1.5 miles to the top. You can see how frusterating this was for all of us including the ones that had to use this procedure. When we finally reached the top it was windy and clear. We could see the amazingly blue glacier lakes below us and the silver waves of rocks and sparse trees surrounding us. In the distance we saw Half Dome and Cloud's Rest. It was extermely beautiful.


Lunch at the Lake Mayo



Looking down as we hiked up!



Prairy before our rock climb!



Christine taking a breather

  


Smiling and wondering if we'll make it to the top


We found a valley where snow was still attached, what we didn't realize was that it was melting and on the other side it was completely unsupported. Luckily no one was an idiot and ran to the edge because I'm sure I would be writing a much different story right now. Our climb back down was about 200% times faster than the climb. We practically ran down the mountain if the gravel hadn't slowed us down. It felt good to breathe again.

When we returned to the camp site the rest of the group was already hanging out and beginning to play games. Erik, John, and I walked over to the river to wash our legs. We were soaked in dirt from our knees down. The water was very cold but felt good after that hike. It took us about 3.5 hours. After we joined the rest of the group, made dinner and hung out at the fire. Unfortunately I get altitude sickness, so I had a splitting headache near migraine so I kept throwing back water while the others were able to drink to their delight. From the lack of sleep the night before, the oncoming migraine and the physical workout, I decided to hit the hay early. I had to use my ipod to try to drain out the campfire conversations. A half past midnight I felt like I was about to pass out so I took out my earphones. Erik and a few others or so I thought were still at the campfire. Not even 3 minutes later I heard Erik yelling "Hey! Hey!" and then I heard ruffling run past my tent. At first I thought it was Erik but I knew from my brief experience earlier that day (about 6 AM Saturday) that Erik was yelling at a bear which meant the bear was in our campsite. I could hear Erik and our friend Jason get closer to my tent so I knew the bear was near me. I sat up, called Erik's name and quickly looked for any sharp object in the tent. I also searched our bags inside the tent for any food or anything that might smell good incase the bear decided to continue search nearby after he was finished with whatever he already got a hold of. Erik yelled back to me telling me to stay inside the tent. I could hear Jana and Christine next to me moving around, whispering but mostly squealing under their breath. On the other side of me I heard Dave asking where the bear was. I told Erik to grab a pot and pan and try to make loud noises to scare it away. It didn't do a thing. I opened up the flap of the door to the tent. I kept the bug flap zipped, as if either really could do anything to help me if it decided it wanted to come in, but it made me feel slightly safer. The bear was only concentrating on the food. I felt like I could have opened up the tent and ran the other direction and I would have been fine but I didn't. I didn't want to risk getting the bear angry especially with so many people around. I peered out at the bear, not believing how close it was. I grabbed my camera but the only way I could take a picture was if I used flash, so I switched it to video but the screen was pitch black and I didn't think about just audio recording it, I was so flustered at the time. While the bear was chowing down he sat about 6-8 feet away. It quickly finished its snack then decided it wanted to go back to the bear boxes for more. Erik challenged it yelling, "no, go get out of here!", the bear had taken a few steps towards Erik, so it was no almost directly in front of me. I sat completely still. It was on all fours but it too stood still, trying to decide which direction he could go or whether Erik was a real threat. I kept praying, the bear wouldn't turn and try to come into one of our tents. Finally it ran off in the other direction, we heard the campers in the next site scream at it for only a few seconds. It was the most unsettling feeling because had the bear chosen to attack me, there would be nothing I could have done. I had to sit there waiting and be as ready as possible to defend myself.

I jumped out of the tent the first moment I could. I ran over to the fire place and bear boxes trying to find any food, or any boxes that might still be open to make sure the bear would not return. We found metal sticks that still had marshmellow remnants on them. The main reason the bear had visited in the first place was because someone hadn't closed the bear box completely. The bear knew how to open the box and dug right in. It was PITCH black out so I was surprised Jason could even see it. We were up for another hour or so. Took me awhile to relax enough to get back to sleep. And again it was freezing cold so I only got a few hours of uncomfortable sleep. 

Sunday we munched on some food, cleaned up the site and packed up the cars. Some people had slept through the entire ordeal and never heard Erik or near by campers yelling. That amazed me. I guess if Darwinism still existed we would know who wouldn't be here.

As beautiful as Yosemite was, I was happy to be in a large mechanical vehicle barreling back towards the Bay, where I knew four walls and door locks existed, plus 60 degree nights and warm soft bedding. I couldn't wait!