“How many people have they killed?” I asked.
“None here, yet.” The woman answered.
“But they have been known to break into cars?” I asked.
The woman nodded. The bags under here eyes had flakes of concealer bunching up and her hair was tied in a greasy ponytail. She looked more than tired, she looked exhausted. I figured she was at the end of her shift, it was 40 minutes from midnight.
“Just remove all the food and toiletries from your car and put it in the bear safe locker near your tent.” The woman said sliding me my Yosemite parking permit.
I thought of that gruesome scene from The Revenant and shuddered. “Thank you.” I took the slip and walked out into the smokey night. Somewhere in the forest, a campfire burned. The smell of pinewood and cold air stirred around us as we walked in the pitch of night. I walked back to my car with my girlfriend, Ashley Rose.
“You think there will be bears?” I asked nervously.
“No. I want to go to sleep.” She said.
I thought my concern was overblown but every 10 feet signs are warning you about bears. There were no bears at camp, just a chipmunk, and a few deer. As the temperatures dropped to near freezing I was lulled asleep by the perpetual hum of Yosemite Falls. Our plan was to hike to the top of those falls in the morning. 3,000 feet of elevation gain, not bad for a day hike.
Since we arrived in Yosemite Valley at night I didn’t see anything passed my headlights. When I climbed out of my sleeping bag I looked up and saw the towering granite walls surrounding us. The grayish white cliffs looked like molars from a monster’s mouth, all broken and jagged. Cataracts glistened from all sides. The historic amount of rain that hit the West Coast in the winter was responsible for this. A seasoned climber told me it was the best the falls have been in 50 years.
Onyx ravens circled the camp and cackled. None of them had three eyes. They picked at a woman’s bag and unzipped one of the pockets and picked out her Clifbar. I swatted it away.
The air is different here. It’s exactly what you’d think a dense forest smells like, piney, tilled earth.
We drank coffee that tasted like chalk and headed for Camp 4 where the trailhead for Upper Yosemite Falls starts. Camp 4 is the famous dirtbag campsite where all of the legendary rock climbers and mountaineers spent time. From Yvon Chouinard to Royal Robbins to Tommy Caldwell to Alex Honnold. It smelled of Douglas firs, bacon, and cigarettes. Most of the climbers were awake, they piled multicolor ropes onto Patagonia packs and were refilling water bottles. They were quiet. They reminded me of monks, dedicated to a way of life.
One crew was getting ready to climb near El Capitan. This would be akin to climbing the height of the Empire State Building. These guys and girls have nerves of steel.
The hike began with a relentless amount of switchbacks. I forced myself not to stop until we were over the switchbacks, I didn’t want to diminish our water supply in the beginning of the hike.
The path soon became submerged. The water falling from the cliffs had streamed down the paths to the point where we found ourselves leaping from rock to rock to stay somewhat dry.
View of Half Dome from Columbia Rock
After we traversed another torrenting stream I rounded the corner of the trail and saw something strange. Something you ordinarily wouldn’t find on a 12-mile hike in Yosemite. A twenty-something-year-old girl in vans, leggings, a tank top, holding a canvas tote bag filled with cookies and a bottle of ice tea. She seemed to have just left Coachella and was commuting back to Brooklyn via Yosemite. She was wringing out one of her socks and eating an Oreo.
I noticed the falls were getting louder, like a rolling series of thunderclaps. Ashley Rose, who hiked on ahead, called for me. Hustling up the granite and mud path I made it to an overlook and saw the falls.
Had to black and white the shot in honor of Ansel Adams. 🙂
Hours later, we made it to the top of the falls. We found a place where the snow had melted away and set our packs down to rest. Using my belt as a tether system, I set up my camera rig to my pack so it wouldn’t fall off the cliff as I photographed the valley below.
I wanted to get a better view of the falls below and found a path that led us to a somewhat terrifying path along the cliff face. My mouth was dry and my hands were clammy as I balanced my 35lbs pack on a narrow cliff lip. To add to the stress, a lone woman, who looked like she lived in the mountains, was trying to start a conversation with me. Not wanting to be impolite, I nodded and agreed to all the crazy stuff she was saying, as I carefully stepped down the face. It was worth it.
Afterward, we made our way back down to the base of the falls. As the midday sun burned away the humidity we passed by hikers who had late starts. At certain switchbacks on the trail you can see the falls, I noticed the sun was falling to the perfect angle. Hopping off the trail I climbed as high as I could to get a proper shot, never before have I wanted a drone so bad. Still, though, the shot came out right.
Rainbow FTW
Shortly after we completed the hike we celebrated with surprisingly good pizza. Being from New York City I’m usually suspicious of anything made outside the five boroughs, but the melted mozzarella, sweet tomatoes, and spicy sausage went well with the local beer that tasted bitter and cold.
The following morning we got up before dawn to capture the valley’s glory before it was overrun by people and the amber light had faded. Stubborn clouds arrived when we did and were blocking the rising sun. Improvising, I found areas nestled in the forest that I could shoot.
Straight out of Game of Thrones
From there we headed to Mirror Lake because the mosquitos hadn’t hatched yet. El Capitan stood gallantly in the distance like a frozen chunk of the moon.
El Capitan reflected in Mirror Lake
Trying to photograph the beauty of Yosemite is challenging because every angle is awe-inspiring. Focusing on the right places to shoot made me forget about the possibility of bears.
The Manfrotto tripod is my favorite piece of gear
Tilly Hats are great investments
In September Ashley Rose and I are returning here to climb Half Dome with a group of friends. If you ever have the opportunity to come to Yosemite, take it, it’s something that can only be experienced in person. I hope this story helped illustrate the grandness of it all.
I’ll be writing more stories here and photo essays. Let me know what you think of it (hi@robertmaisano.com). Lastly, if you enjoyed this, please share it to the world.
Keep close to Nature’s heart… and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.
John Muir
