In summer of 1994, a close friend of mine talked me into backpacking Yosemite. Before that, I had very little experience with the park, despite living just 4 hours away in the Bay Area. Little did I know this trip would change my life.
My friends and I returned to backpack Yosemite just about every year since then. We’ve visited just about every major place in the park on our trips – from the top of Half Dome, Clouds Rest, Yosemite Falls and El Capitan, Little Yosemite Valley, Merced, May and Buena Vista Lake and Mt. Dana, Lyell and Hoffman. Each year we’d set out for something new.
I have logged over 750 miles over the years and each trip is burned in my memories (and camera film). None of us will forget the trip we took in the SE part of the park starting at the Chain Lakes. After 3 long days of hiking we arrived at the backside of Red Peak Pass only to find the entire mountain side covered in snow. Unprepared for this challenge, we forged on, found the actual pass (somehow) and made it over the top so we could continue the hike without turning around.
The crazy thing is, despite all the time and miles we’ve done in the park, none of us are in amazing “hiker shape” (both now that we are in our 50s and even back then in our 20s). The hikes are not easy for us at all. It is the allure of the Yosemite Wilderness and it’s inspiring beauty and our friendship that brings us back year after year.
Yosemite is a major story in my life. Anyone you ask knows because I never stop talking about it. Beyond the backpacking experience, the park impacted me in so many other ways. It propelled my love of nature and the outdoors and the importance of connecting with them as part of the human experience. It inspired my love of finding, identifying and photographing wildflowers.
My home has many pictures of these Yosemite wildflowers on its walls. As a biology teacher, I use Yosemite as an example in many lessons. I could go on and on and on. Thank You Yosemite!
