Glacier->Illilouete->LYV->Mist Trail – UPDATE

[bill-e-g]

Got GPS coordinates? I can mark Bill's Log on my map.

37 41'13" N
119 32'49" W

(yes it's THAT close)

Here's the log:

[Hitech]

Just a quick update and thank you to all of you who helped me with this trip.

I am assuming that the buffet at Curry Village is what everyone meant by the cafeteria. We had dinner there Saturday night (along with a bottle of wine from next door) and breakfast there Sunday morning. We quite enjoyed it. Thanks for the recommendation.

Sunset at GP was great. Got some really nice pictures.

The hike down from GP to Illilouette was gorgeous. It did end up taking a little longer than it needed to however. I had it stuck in my head that we needed to go to Illilouette fall and turn right. We made it to the fall and stopped for lunch. I pulled out the map (for the first time) just to see where to pick up the trail. Uh, honey, I have some bad news... At least she was a good sport about hiking back up the hill. We did get a nice picture of the fall for our extra effort. It still only took us five hours to make camp.

The next day on our way to LYV we stopped at Nevada Fall for lunch. We ended up “rescuing” two day hiking couples coming back from Half Dome. They had taken a total of 5 liters of water for the four of them for the entire trip! The youngest girl (20 something) was on her way to heat stroke. Sitting with her head between her knees and not very responsive. My wife had given her something to eat while I was filling up their water bottles. We dumped water on her head and then with my wife’s “mister” bottle wet her down until she had goose bumps. I hope she made it okay. At least they had some water for the trip down the JMT...

Half Dome was quite the experience (we took 5 liters for the two of us and ran out about 10 minutes from out camp site in LYV). My wife was quite the trooper and made it to the top. She couldn’t look down the cables without getting vertigo! After recovering a bit she ended up posing for a picture - sitting on the diving board with her feet hanging off! I was not happing and quickly took the picture and frantically waved her back. Its okay if I do stuff like that, but not her!

Other than not having enough time to prepare (my fault) and a few minor navigation errors (repeat after me, check the map/gps at EVERY trail junction...) it went well, especially for our first “real” backpacking trip. Yosemite is gorgeous. You just can’t describe it in words and pictures really don’t do it justice.

Thanks again for all the help.