Whenever I go on a trip to Yosemite National Park, I always cringe at the thought of entering the valley and competing for parking with the masses of tourists that come every summer. Every year, it gets worse and worse. One day, I decided I was not going to go into the valley and explore the other side of Tioga Pass (Highway 120).
Lower Cathedral Lake and Peak
I ended up at this place called Tuolumne Meadows and the first thing I did was check out the visitor center. It was busy and full of tourists but not nearly as bad as Yosemite Valley. This part of the park is where the real hikers come to sojourn. The first I did was talk to a ranger and ask what is a good day hike or overnighter in the area.
That is how I found out about the Cathedral Peak trail. It is apparently a popular trail/hike and the famed Naturalist John Muir wrote about it. If I have done the research beforehand, I might have found out and learned about it. However, blazing the trail and finding it out firsthand is always my preferred method of discovery.
Upper Cathedral
So here, I was discovering an outstanding location to photograph and I am pumped and ready to tackle it! I have all my gear and freeze-dried food ready to cook under a full moon out in the dark of the wilderness. I strapped my backpack on ready to hit the road when the ranger asked if I had a permit.
"A permit?"
"For what?"
It turns out that you need a permit if you wanted to go gallivanting around the wilderness for more than a day! I do not have one. Ouch! I asked the ranger if I could just get one of the spots and unfortunately, they are over quota, however, I could get a permit that has reserved for walk-ins for a hike the next day.
Well, what other options do I have? Therefore, I got a permit for the next day and I will just have to rough it out on my jeep for the night. I parked the jeep adjacent to the street where the trail starts and went on to sleep. Around midnight, I heard a rustling just outside the vehicle and for a minute, I thought it was a wild bear looking for food.
I love sleeping under this
Suddenly I saw a very bright flash of light emanating from my window and then I heard knocking on the door. I looked up and through the bright; I could discern a ranger’s hat and then I heard a stern voice.
"Sir, you cannot car camp in the park!"
Dazed and confused. I hastily fumbled around to find my keys and started the Jeep.
"I am sorry, officer, I did not know."
The ranger lets me go with just a warning but now I had to drive all the way outside the park and find someplace to sleep. I drove to the edge of the park border, found a place to park on the side of the road, and tried to salvage the rest of the night with some sleep.
I woke up at 5 am the next day and rushed to back to the trail so I did not have to deal with the possible onslaught of other hikers I have to contend with. I got a quick breakfast at the cafeteria near the ranger station and prepared for my hike.
Quick breakfast at Tuolumne Meadows with Tabasco and Coffee to Wake me up!
The trail starts at Tuolumne Meadows (8000 ft.), and take the John Muir Trail, on the south side of Tioga Road. I hiked for a bit and after about 1 mile an unmarked trail appeared on my left it appears to be a less traveled route and probably used for mountain climbers. I stayed on the main trail and continued the slow ascent towards the first lake.
There's Cathedral Peak on the background
According to the little brochure, I got at the visitor center the trail should only take about 3-5 hours to complete round trip. There is roughly around a 1,000 ft. of elevation gain if you were to go all the way to Upper Cathedral Lake. For this trip, I just wanted to camp at Lower Cathedral Lake and do Upper Cathedral Lake another day.
On the Cathedral Lake trail
About 2 hours into the trail, I took a break near a fork off the trail where the famed JMT (John Muir Trail) merges. I saw another couple emerging from the JMT and they too wanted to take a break. We started to have a conversation and I learned that they have been on the trail for 16 days.
I asked how it was and they raved about how great the hike was regardless of how tiring and difficult it was. The only thing they complained about is that they have had to eat freeze-dried food for weeks and really miss a warm home-cooked meal. I saw the sadness in their eyes and wish I could offer them some comfort but all I had were some freeze-dried food and crackers.
We bantered on while eating energy bars when we saw this rather elderly man carrying an external frame backpack. This dude could easily be like 70 years old (or older) but he’s walking on with this massive metallic backpack. I mean, the thing could have easily been twice the size of my backpack.
Here I was tired as hell and this old person is strolling along with this brick of an object on his back, as it was goose feather.
He decided to take a break as well and joined us for a conversation. I proceeded to tell him about the couple’s plight and how they have not had a decent meal for weeks. I can see that this fired something up from the old man because his eyes suddenly glowed and said.
"I got you covered."
He then proceeded to crack open his massive backpack and reached in to pull out (and I still could not believe it to this day) **a whole cooked rotisserie chicken.
A whole rotisserie chicken?
What in the hell?
Who goes backpacking through the mountains with a whole rotisserie chicken in their backpack? Has the world gone mad? I just sat there slack-jawed at what I was seeing but the couple just could not see how weird this whole thing is because they have not eaten normal food in days. They were ecstatic that this old man would be offering them a real cooked meal.
Ready to fly away and catch that rotisserie chicken
I asked the old man if he had a whole kitchen in this backpack and that sent everyone into a raucous laughter.
After the break, we all went our separate ways and I was already just minutes away from Lower Cathedral Lake. I was lucky too because I can see from the horizon that a freak thunderstorm was underway – very common in the Eastern Sierras. I just barely finished pitching my tent when the hail of ice and rain came falling.
I sat inside the tent for no more than 10 minutes and the storm stopped. I was lucky yet again because at this time, the sun was going to set and from my experience, the best sunsets always happen just after a storm.
The following photos were from that event.
Before the sunset
Moments later
A few minutes more
The final take
I believe I've witnessed the best sunset I’ve ever seen in Yosemite from all the other times I’ve been there. Happy with the photos, I relegated myself back to my tent before it got completely dark. My freeze-dried food was waiting for me for dinner. I turned on the stove and I can hear the water boiling and the crickets are chirping. I can feel a light cool breeze blowing through and the scent of the pines freshened up the air. I really wanted to enjoy the serenity of the moment and drift into a calm dream but all I can think about was rotisserie fuckin’ chicken.
Do you like Rotisserie Chicken?
"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness." - Mark Twain
All photos are taken and articles are written by Adonis Villanueva of Always Wanderlust unless otherwise stated.
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Amazing Post!!
I wish I had these incredible photo motives that you do. Damn! That first picture is just amazing
Amazing ! :)
I grew up in the Buffalo National River area, and it used to be quiet around there. Almost like the locals had a secret the rest of the world didn't know about...
Now, you can drive through Ponca or hike Lost Valley without tripping over tourists. You can't swim in the river without dodging kayaks every few minutes. Parking is a problem. Trash is a problem. Accidents and disrespect of the land are becoming huge problems.
It seems like there is a larger urge for people to get back to nature and make a connection lately.
I think our advance in technology is both driving this urge and forcing quiet communities and parks to have to deal with more tourists than ever before.
I really enjoyed hearing about your adventure! I'm sorry you had to deal with all the people. haha!
Unfortunately, that's the case nowadays...
Beautiful pictures, I'll love to see all these with ma eyes. I'll just freak out if I see it now
That's life!
It's pretty hard to beat the value in those $5 rotisserie chickens, considering the amount of energy it takes to roast a chicken yourself.
I know right?
Wow man just WOW these pictures are honestly sooo nice as soon as I seen that mountain peak in the distance i just wanted to start hiking there until I reached the very top.
I did that last summer, I pointed at a mountain and said "I want to go to the top" So I did. it was a easy hike up the mountain until I reached the near top area where sweat started to drip from my hands as I grasped on to ledge to ledge hoping I wouldn't slip!
LOL, yeah that's a class 3 climb :)
Yep for sure! All the better when you reach the top!
Absolutelyamazing pictures...nice work
Amazing photos! Go to my blog and see my new content, greetings :D
What a great adventure you are having. Amazing photos of a place that has been on my bucket list for ages. Thanks for your post.
Cool :)
Thanks for this post sharing.... i like this photography. and also i appreciate this traveling.... i wait still your next post dear........
wow story that attract friends, do not forget my post
Beautiful pictures and awesome hike you had.
amazing photos and great story
Awesome photos!
Wow. Those pictures are stunning. I enjoyed reading your narrative of the adventure as well. Good work.
Thank you
Your good master photography
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Stunning photos, especially reflections in the water. Some photos look like they're not from the Earth)
wow ... what fantastic pictures, what a wonderful place!
It looks like one of those places that make up the lists of "Places to visit before you die" !!!
Beautiful! Enjoy!
Dope!!
Very nice place and. Very big i decide I go this country every year in heat season very enjoyable place
This post has received a 12.15 % upvote from @boomerang thanks to: @adonisabril
Great post sounds like a great adventure
Beautiful pictures. I'd love to be able to see that for myself. The bureaucracy sounds a little much for my liking though. It's nice of you to share. Thank you.
Yeah there's no more "wild" out there
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Great Post! you would be supprised at what hikers bring with them in the Sierras. my friend @derekrichardson loves to bring velveta cheese. I also know a few people that would bring bags of fireballs to keep them going on the trail. Enjoy that Tabasco! Thats one of my fav hot sauces. Who knew you couldnt sleep in your ride in the park?
It's illegal to car camp in National Parks - I found out the hard way :)
Funny how Walmart allows people to camp in their parking lots which are privately owed but the government will not allow us to sleep in the lots we own.
Yeah weird. In Scandinavia you can pitch ten just about anywhere including other people's backyards :)
that sounds like fun, I bet they would put the kibosh on that policy pretty quick though if a bunch of Americans showed up and started parking their jeeps in their backyards and sleeping there. In San Francisco they have robots to harass homeless people now. Homelessness is self limiting problem in Scandinavia and other cold places as far as I can tell, places where it is more temperate it can turn into a real problem.
good pictures, I love the place!
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#Aceh, Indonesia
great reflections you have there, really nice composition :)
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Absolutely stunning. I have only started to really commit to making hiking and camping a passion and pass time. I recently lead a group to the Amazon in Peru but we stayed at a lodge and it was a pre-planned tour. I would love to do something kind of spur of the moment like this. I hope to visit more of the national parks in the US. I wish NYS wasn't so far from Yosemite National Park
Spur of the moment. Only way I'd do it :)
Omg every moment of the sky was so beautiful. I just stayed in yosemite valley for the first time this year and it was crazy hectic. Now I know there's other places just as beautiful to explore. Time for another adventure. Thank you!
Yep. Hectic. That's Yosemite nowadays :)
wonderful Blog Post @adonisabril !
Good trip ; ) check my trips ; )
Amazing! Thanks for sharing. I can see that you really enjoyed. I love your reflections! Keep up your good work :)
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Nice work.
wow nice capture..it like a painting sir..different colours add beauty to it :)
very colourful..i totally agree with you..nature is the best artis..
The last two photos of the sunset are the best I ever saw. I cannot believe the old man had a whole cooked chicken with him in his backpack. A heaven for the hungry couple. Upvoted!
Werd...
Lovely sites and creative shot
Lovely site and Creative shot
That's stunning views! And the story of the whole rotisserie chicken is so funny:)
Nice article! Check out please my article about Transilvania! Thank YOU 🙂 https://steemit.com/cityscapephotography/@catalin2903/transilvania-s-gems
the place was so good.i thing your travel is successfull and at lust i told you, your this photography was amazing.
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Thank you for sharing this wonderful adventure of yours. The photos are undeniably gorgeous! They took me to the same level of momentum you’ve felt on that same day. I hope you’d share more of your adventure and photos here on Steemit. Take us to paradise!
Will do!
this is so amazing