Wednesday March 23rd, 2005 1:33 am
So I lied. I promised I'd write this by Sunday night. Are you all that surprised?
So the trip...
It unofficially started last Saturday, when Aaron, Dave, Adam, Abbey, and I went food shopping at Ralphs and Smart and Final for the upcoming four days. We bought everything known to man - clearly too much food - but that's ok. Afterwards, Abbey left and the four guys headed down to Manhattan Beach to a store called REI - basically a camping/hiking/sporting good store. I bought a sleeping pad, a Northface jacket, a pair of hiking pants, some thick wool socks, a hat, and a pair of gloves. Got 20% off by joining REI as a member, too. Not bad.
Obviously the day wasn't over yet. Down the street from REI was Chipotle! So we stopped, and I experienced my first ever Chipotle. I now know what I've been missing - that place is AMAZING!
Sunday came quickly enough, and Aaron picked me up around 8:45. We were to all meet at Hillel by 9AM. 9:20 rolled around, and finally everyone was there. (Not true - Abbey, Hilda, and Sarica drove up to Yosemite later in the day, so they didn't meet us then) We packed up the cars - literally crammed everything in - a tight fit but not impossible - and we were off! I went in a car with Aaron and Dave, and much fun was had. Dave Matthews kept us company much of the way, as did some crazy drivers who were determined to pass us. A few "RV Worlds" later, and we were in Bakersfield for lunch. We met up with the other two cars at Macaroni Grill, and a nice relaxing lunch was had - even though we just wanted something quick. No biggie. I got some combination lunch thing and had a salad, lasagna, and chocolate cake. So the best part about Macaroni Grill? They give you crayons and you draw on the table. That, and the waitress we had was retarded. From refilling everyone's water but mine to bringing everyone their food but me... yeah. She apologized profusely, but that didn't stop me from insulting her behind her back. Come on - it's what I do best. A good entree into the world of Dan Lange for those on the trip who hadn't met me before.
From the Macaroni Grill, we kept driving up north to Yosemite. A quick gas station stop, and then it was into the park. We stopped somewhere deep in the park where we saw a beautiful waterfall. Obviously we took a picture. It was here that we met Dennis, the random guy who semi-worked in the park/semi-just lived there. He took our group picture, then volunteered much information that we didn't ask for. A nice enough guy, we left him and kept driving towards the campsite.
Right before getting to the campsite, we stopped at the General Store about a mile down the street and who gets out of the car right behind us? Dennis! Doesn't seem all the weird, until you realize that we'd driven for about an hour and a half since he took our picture... and so did he, apparently. He talked to us some more while we checked out the store and took pictures with stuffed bears (see picture page).
So we headed over to the campsite, set up four tents, then cooked some dinner - spaghetti and sauce... made extra spicy by Sarah Levy, from hereon known as "Pep Lev" - that's Pepper Levy. Jeez, that sauce was spicy. Good stuff, if you could ignore the deathly spices. haha. We cleaned up, then built a fire and made some smores while hanging out and getting to know everyone. Around 11:30PM, Abbey, Sarica, and Hilda pulled up, and after saying hello, we all went to bed.
Aaron and I took one tent; Dave, Adam, and Eliza took a second; Genevieve, Leah, Mimi, and Sarah took a third; and Abbey, Sarica, and Hilda took the fourth. I forgot! Adam brought his dog - Gizmo - and she slept in the tent with him, of course. We went to bed, exhausted from a day of driving and unpacking.
Woke up around 8 the next morning (naturally!) and left the tent for some breakfast. We made some eggs and had granola and other various little things. After the semi-quick breakfast, we organized ourselves and took a bus over to the entrance to the Upper Yosemite Falls hike - 3.5 miles each way. Didn't seem too bad, until we realized it was all uphill! We started the hike right around 11:15AM. Reached the midway point, after several stops for some rest and water and GORP/CRAP (trail mix, or literally GoodOldRaisinsandPeanuts/CandyRaisingAndPeanuts), around 1PM. Finally reached the top of Upper Yosemite Falls around 3, and what a beautiful site. Overlooked all of where we had been, beautiful waterfalls, trails, etc. everywhere. It was an amazing feeling. Laying on the rock, knowing that if I moved up two feet I'd fall thousands of feet, was exhilerating and awesome! Something I can't wait to do again. We had lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches (after searching for the missing bread and only finding one loaf!), then started to make our way back. Crossing a mini-river by walking over a log, I slipped and skinned my knee - but nothing terrible. Hilda and I began to set a quick pace - going down is much easier than going up! Abbey slipped and fell, injuring her knee and leg, so we slowed down quite a bit. After she got all wrapped up in an ace bandage, the quick page began again, and Hilda and I kept going rather quickly for a long while. In doing so, we became distanced from the group and discussed things ranging from popular music to smoking pot. Dave joined us at one point, and joined in the fun conversations. We finally reached the bottom of the trail around 7PM (but not before Hilda, Dave, and I found some shortcuts - not intended as shortcuts - to cut off pieces of the trail... that ended up not cutting off anything at all!). We were all daed tired (see picture on picture page), and took the bus back to the campsite. We were greeted with a giant RV across the way from us. Abbey, Adam, and I went over and introduced ourselves - and it turns out the people there were graduate students at USC, so we talked to them for a while. Had a dinner of macaroni and cheese and then got around the campfire again. I attempted a scary story that turned more into a comedic story - my speciality - and had a great time. Several people went to bed around 11, and the remainder of us (about 5 of us) stayed up for another hour or so and talked about various things - from different perspectives on being rich to the class system to Hillel... and everything in between. Then, bed.
Tuesday morning came quickly, and I was out of the tent by 8:30ish (again, woken naturally). We made oatmeal and eggs for breakfast, and then headed off on the hike. We started from our campsite around 11:30 and only made it a few steps before a park ranger told us the dog couldn't come on the trail. We "okayed" her, then brought Gizmo anyway. Aaron led us to believe that this hike was much more tame and easier than Upper Yosemite Falls, but that didn't end up being the case. It's ok, though, because this hike was amazing! Prettier, even, if that's possible. We hiked up the side of a waterfall on a "mist trail" where we got sprayed by water constantly, much of the trail was iced over, and there were rainbows everywhere. It was amazing. Upon reaching the top, we attempted to spell out HHAC with our bodies (see picture on picture page), then retreated to some shade on the edge of the water for lunch. We were probably about 50 feet back from the waterfall. We made soup and tuna melts (brought our stoves with us) and all enjoyed ourselves. Before continuing, Leah, Dave, and I took an amazing picture standing on a log on the river. And then, as if that wasn't enough, Leah and I walked to the edge of the log - which was overhanging the waterfall - and took another picture. Unfortunately, you can't tell just how ridiculous it was - just how scary it was! But I'm glad I did it.
So we continued hiking to what we thought was the end of the trail, and home. We constantly went uphill, though, so we were confused. We thought maybe we'd gone on the wrong trail. Turns out we were right, and we started going downhill soon enough. This time, it was Leah and I who set the quick pace - and apparently our East Coast walking was too fast for everyone else. Upon reaching part of the original trail, Aaron, Leah, Adam, Abbey, Genevieve and myself went boulder scrambling up a side of the mountain - about 100-200 feet up, just climbing the boulders. It was great. The climb down consisted of "Wet Hot American Summer" quotes. From there, we walked back to the campsite and cooked some dinner - pasta, cous cous, grilled cheese. Another fire was made, and we all gathered around. Some made smores and some cooked some salami in the fire. All the while, we played various games - from Psychiatrist - which we apparently suck at - to Mafia - which is amazing and we played several games of - we all had fun. We continued just hanging out until about midnight, when we went to bed for one final night. Woke up about 7:30 the next morning to Gizmo (the dog) scratching at my tent. After yelling "Gizmo, if you don't get away from my tent I'll punch you in the face" and apparently waking others with my yell, it was out of the tent and time for pancakes! Adam, Abbey, and I made them all, while the others packed away the tents and the rest of the food. In the man vs. woman pancake competition, clearly the men won, though Abbey did an alright job. The pancakes were devoured, and we were ready to depart for home.
So we left. And stopped again in Bakersfield for some lunch. This time, we hit In-N-Out, and wouldn't you know it - there was a Chipotle right across the street. So Aaron, Dave, and I hit Chipotle ALSO and picked up food for dinner that night. We drove the rest of the way, unpacked everything, put it away as best as we could, and went our seperate ways.
It was a great four days, and I'm beyond glad I joined HHAC for the trip. I can't wait for the next hike, and look forward to being a part of HHAC for the rest of my time at USC!
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