I have rarely been as nervous as I felt when this photo was taken. I’m like that before every adventure: a nervous wreck of anxiety and anticipation. Lucky for me, I would need to climb several thousand feet up out of the valley that morning. Nothing cures anxiety quite like straining lungs and burning quads.My first black bear sighting, only a mile from the Happy Isles trailhead. It was fairly young, probably a yearling.The top of Nevada Falls provides spectacular views down into the valley below. This is also where it became obvious that I was trekking into a dry wilderness – the Merced River was barely a creek.My second black bear sighting, still on the first day, just before the junction for Half Dome. Bear #26 was obviously accustomed to seeing people, he scratched at something on the ground while we stood and watched for nearly five minutes before ambling off down the trail in the opposite direction.When I say I was nearly killed by a pinecone, this is what I’m talking about. I was standing at the Half Dome junction, talking to some other hikers, when I heard crashing overhead. Suddenly, I felt a “whoosh” by my head and a massive thud inches from my heels. In a cloud of dust, I turned around to find this. Still green, and weighted substantially from internal water storage, I’m not sure why this fell in the first place, unless it was the work of an industrious squirrel. For reference, it was roughly ten inches long and probably weighed around two pounds. A couple of inches to the side and I would have been in the dirt.When they say that Half Dome is a tough climb, they are right. When they say it’s steep, nothing could be more accurate. The final climb involves clinging to the infamous cables for your life. If you meet someone going the opposite direction, it is customary for the person going up to make way, which involves sliding under the cable and swinging to the outside (there is only room for one person between the cables). I thought it would be a good idea to climb with my full pack and gear. The ranger at the base suggested I leave it at the bottom of the cables. Let’s just say that if I ever climb Half Dome again, it won’t be with 30 pounds on my back.From below, Half Dome looms large, but the top appears relatively small, with only a limited flat, walkable area. I was amazed when I reached the top, that there is a large, flat area, probably the size of several football fields, in which it is possible to explore on foot, without need for climbing. Looking out over the valley, the smoke became apparent, as there was a thick, white haze that disrupted the horizon in every direction. From the top, it feels like you’re on top of the world.My first camp, in a burn area, with Quarter Dome in the background. I was exhausted.On my map, I could see many creeks near the trail. What I found, however, was that with the snowpack melted, those creeks were dry. It wasn’t particularly hot by my Tennessee standards, but the combination of the lack of humidity, exposure to the sun, and crossing dry creek bed after dry creek bed, I began to get a little nervous.I have rarely been as excited to finally see Upper Cathedral Lake. For nearly an hour, I sat on the shoreline, drinking liter after liter. My camp for the second night was just up the hill behind me. There were many hikers scattered around the shores of the lake, as it turns out, even the members of my future tramily. I wouldn’t meet them for two more days. This lake was one of my favorite places along the trail, perfect swimming conditions, great campsites, and one of the best views I have ever laid eyes on.The hike through Lyell Canyon was spectacular. The Tuolumne River still providing ample water to the valley, melted from the snow surrounding the peaks above Donohue Pass, twisted and turned through the valley, often right beside the trail. I felt a feeling of home in the green forests and grassy meadows.This curious deer followed behind me for a while, through the valley.The view from Lyell Canyon up towards Donohue Pass provided my first views of the “High Sierra.” The climb to Donohue Pass included several steep climbs that led to relatively flat valleys on the side of the ridge. The alpine pools that form here are ice-cold and the clearest shade of blue-green that I have ever seen. The last hospitable place on this side of the pass, this pool was still collecting melt-water from the snow and glaciers above in early September. This precious water provided a refuge for the last stunted trees and stubborn grasses at the top of Lyell Canyon. Above this, it was just rocks, rocks, and more rocks.My first high alpine pass, the view from the top of Donohue Pass provided incredible views down into the canyon and towards Tuolumne Meadows from which I had come the day before.Descending into the valley on the other side, clouds began to rise among the peaks. As I would find out, it was actually smoke. The Creek Fire had ignited.By afternoon, this was the view of Banner Peak over Thousand Island Lake. A normally pristine lake, crowned by the towering peak, it appeared ominous through the smoke plume. As we hiked, thunder began to rumble in the distance and lightning flashed within the massive pyrocumulonimbus cloud, a dry thunderstorm, fueled from the energy of the fire.We ultimately reached Red’s Meadow, our first resupply, as the air quality continued to decline. We debated various options, including pushing forward and hoping the wind would blow the smoke west in a couple days. From this point forward, the trail stays high enough among the passes and peaks that we felt fairly certain that fire wouldn’t be an immediate danger. Our main concern was the long-term affects of smoke inhalation and the fire danger to our next resupply locations at VVR and MTR, rural backcountry resorts that ended up evacuating later that day. Ultimately, all National Forests in California were closed, making our decision for us. Our newly formed tramily decided to head north, to Washington, to attempt to outrun the fire and smoke and, hopefully, spend some more time on the trail.After our JMT thru-hike attempt was cut short at just over 60 miles, I returned to Yosemite Valley to retrieve my car. I then headed to Reno to meet up with the rest of the group and to continue north. On my way out of Yosemite National Park, I passed this fire, raging through the valley below. This was a small fire, and relatively contained, I can’t even remember the name of it. The Creek Fire, that ultimately burned nearly 380,000 acres, was many times larger than this fire, and the fourth largest in California history. It burned from September 4th to December 24th and destroyed over 800 buildings. Amazingly, there were no fatalities.
