So this is the third Imperial College Fellwanderer's Alumni trek. And this time we decided to take on Yosemite and Sequoia National Park in the Western USA. This is the group on day 1 before we started the climb up Chilnulna Falls.
So this is the third Imperial College Fellwanderer's Alumni trek. And this time we decided to take on Yosemite and Sequoia National Park in the Western USA. This is the group on day 1 before we started the climb up Chilnulna Falls. | |
 | The hike up the falls was reasonably short and we all seemed to make it up to the top without too much trouble. Here we have Mark and Peter taking a bit of a breather. The weather was brilliant. |
Dinner on the first night went over well. I can't remember if we had beef rotini or sierra chicken... but because nobody had had either yet there was no complaining over the food being "boring". |  |
 | Our first nights in America always seem to go a bit odd. In Yellowstone we went into a panic when we thought a grizzly bear had entered the camp (it was a racoon) and in Yosemite we realised that we didn't have enough space in our bear canisters to store all of our scented stuff so we did our best to hang our toothpaste and sun cream in a tree. This is Matt Vanderpol (honorary fellwanderer by association) standing proudly in front of his food hanging solution. |
The following morning we had to ford our first river. It wasn't very deep but what the river lacked in depth in made up for with its freezing temperature. Only a couple of us yelped or screamed as we crossed, but we all were in agony during this crossing. For the record, I screamed loudest. |  |
 | Our next river crossing was not nearly as bad. We could make the crossing by taking our packs off and leaping. This is Peter and me right in front of the apron above our crossing point. |
And of course, what kind of a fellwanderer trip would it have been had we managed to make it all the way through the trip without getting lost. Anyhow, this is us lost (for the first time). |  |
 | We eventually made it to the area where we planned on camping behind Johnson Lake. As we prepared our camp and fire pit, Braky and Peter went ahead to scout the trail in the snow for the following day. |
Evening entertainment was provided by Matt and his juggling sticks. Because we got into our campsite so early we built up a proper fire and cooked on hot stones rather than burn our own fuel. |  |
 | It may not look it, but the temperature was rather low. It was nice having such a large fire. Our only concern was that our rocks (some of which came from the river bank) might explode as they heated up. |
Chefs Alex and Matt hard at work. I think this photo was taken just before Alex lost most of the hair off the back of his hand. |  |
 | The following morning we made our way along the trail scouted the night before. We swiftly made our way to Royal Arch Lake. The weather was simply amazing and because we were on the South face of the mountain the trail was virtually snow free. |
Unfortunately, the brilliant weather conditions did not last. As we crested the peak and started down the North face, we hit miserable snowy conditions |  |
 | That evening we camped in a sort of eerie forest full of dead trees. Not sure what was happening with my camera at that time, but I don't seem to have any pictures from that night... must have been the ghosts of the haunted wood. Anyhow, the following day we followed the trail towards glacier point got this stunning view of Yosemite Valley. That odd peak like thing is Half Dome, which we would be climbing in two days. |
Dinner on night four. This was an amazing campsite. The peak with "alpin-glow" in the back is Mt. Star King and right next to us was a lovely river. It was really a pity we had only one night there. |  |
 | This was by far our toughest crossing, simply because the current was so strong and the water so deep. The water wasn't quite as cold as it had been on the other rivers though. |
The weather was scorching hot on our fifth day. It was hard for any of us to believe that we were snowed on just two days and twenty miles earlier! |  |
 | We made it to Little Yosemite Valley, which was not very nice compared to our previous campsite, and started making our plans to summit Half Dome. The following morning it rained quite a lot, but the weather broke around 11am and gave a short window to try and climb to the top. Four of us made it. This is Braky and me bravely standing near the edge of the drop. |
And this is Braky being very brave (foolish?) indeed! |  |
 | We made it down the cables of Half Dome just in time. The weather turned just as we made it down. As we were following the trail back into the valley we looked back and saw the dome entirely enveloped in cloud. |
As we descended into the main valley we passed waterfall after waterfall. This is Nevada Falls. |  |
 | Vernal Falls creates so much mist at its base that there is perpetual rainbow in the valley next to it. The trail coming down from Vernal Falls is rather aptly known as the "Mist Trail". |
So, then we went off to do a trek in Seqouia National Park. I was nearly out of battery power for my camera and completely out of energy... so you might say that I didn't really have my heart in it. |  |
 | Jens was the mastermind behind this trek. Here he is taking big leaps across one of the rivers we had to cross. |
After the second day of trekking I had lost the will to do anything else particularly challenging. So, when we reached this beautiful valley filled with a lake and surrounded by waterfalls I said farwell to all the guys as they went to climb a peak (the one in the top left corner) and I sat on my thermarest reading all day. Ahhh... it was SO nice. |  |
 | Our campsite in this valley was swarming with marmots. They took up residence on Jens' sleeping bag and started chewing on the straps. I valiantly shewed them away. |
And I wasn't the only one who was dead tired. Braky was a bit knackered by the end too. |  |
 | And Alex's knee started failing him towards the end. |
So in the end I think we were all well pleased when the trip came to a close. |  |