By some miracle of nature, I managed to get a backcountry permit for my dream backpacking route on the night we planned to spend inside Yosemite National Park. There are two ways to sleep in Yosemite: staying at one of several developed campgrounds that are fully booked months in advance and the other, and to me, more exciting option is to get a backcountry permit, which are limited in number and run on a lottery system. Basically, you enter your route and dates, and then a computer randomly picks groups who get permits. I entered our information at 3 am on a Tuesday with very little hope, but three days later, I got an email with my very own backcountry permit! The stars had aligned or whatever... I was stoked.
We got an early start on the day we were planning on backpacking, but we were by no means ready, and when we got to the trailhead and still hadn’t packed our bags. Classic. We hiked from McGurk Meadow to Dewey Point, a five mile trek to a peak with a stunning view of El Capitan, Yosemite’s legendary rock face. Every person we passed on the way up raved about the view, but it surpassed any possible description. We sat in silence for a while once we got to the top. Dewey point shoots out over Yosemite valley, and even sitting there, I couldn’t fathom how rocks could be that big. Seriously, of all the existential idea I could have been having at the time, my brain went to “how the heck did the earth just decide to create something so momentous.” We (well, it was only fun for me) played a little game called “how close can I get to the edge before Declan says something”. Spoiler, not that close. After rooting around for a bit, we found an adorable camp site, and I used my pro level ground spotting skills to find a place to pitch the tent. Whoever was there before us left a neat pile of firewood. Outdoorsy people are the best! We made dinner, a scrumptious rehydrates chicken teriyaki feast. I have yet to find out if backpacking meals are actually delicious, or if it’s just that every time I’ve had one I’ve been super hungry, but man, they always hit the spot. I don’t plan on testing this, because I want to keep the magic of backpacking meals alive.
Now, prepare yourself for the dreaminess of this scene: we made a cup of tea on the mini stove and walked back over to the peak to watch the sunset. We were a little shy because there were three girls already sitting at the very top of the peak, but they were so friendly and invited us up! The three girls told us it was their fourth annual girls backpacking trip, and they called themselves the “rainbow sisters” and had matching rainbow shorts. It was adorable, and reminded me so much of my two best friends. I was missing our 4th annual “unicorn camp” on this trip. Unicorn camp is the annual camping trip I’ve taken with my best friends and our families for years. I missed them, but I how could I focus on that when I was dangling my feet over Yosemite Valley? We talked with the three girls about about podcasts and music, then about our hopes and dreams while passing a pack of Starburst. I’ve never seen the earth glow like it did during that sunset in The Valley, and our viewpoint and company made it all the better. We climbed down an hour later, still playing the “how close can I get to the edge without Declan saying something” game, which hadn’t changed much but was still entertaining. Exhausted but still alive, we played cards on a blanket by the light of the fire until we couldn’t keep our eyes open.
That night was the best sleep I’ve ever had. When four in the morning rolled around, Declan felt the need to wake me up because he saw some grouse. Even if you’ve never seen grouse before in your life or wildest dreams, they are underwhelming. I was certainly underwhelmed, and also felt a little (read: VERY) violent towards the person distrusting my sleep for some dumb birds. Eventually, my rumbling stomach woke me up, and I tried to rub the crankiness out of my eyes as we headed back to the point to make some breakfast, and most importantly, coffee. Another dreamy scene: Sitting on the ledge while the smell of my brewing coffee mingled with the crisp morning mountain air.
I started to notice a pattern where every morning we would pack up to leave somewhere. and all I wanted was to stay. No matter how exciting the plans were for that day, all I wanted was a little more time in each place. That’s how I knew I was lucky, each thing I described as one of the best things I’ve ever done, only to be one upped the next day. Even with the sadness of leaving our little wilderness home, we kept our chins up as we trekked back down to earth, wondering how we could possibly top a fireball sunset over a world famous valley.