A break for two... Hiking and climbing in Yosemite National Park - Hello El Cap! Goodbye Watsonville...

Where has the time gone...?! The last week in California was approaching. Almost three months of my journey were over. My helicopter training was finished and I had accumulated enough flight hours to complete my training in Hawaii next year.

I decided to spend my last days in Yosemite National Park. If you're already here, it's definitely a must! And yes, to put it simply, it was amazing and fascinating! Even though Yosemite Valley and the national park are crowded with visitors, it's worth it. Since I arrived during the weekdays and after the summer vacation, it wasn't hopelessly crowded and the trails weren't packed with hikers. I spent 5 nights in Yosemite Valley at the Yosemite Bug Rustic Mountain Resort. I shared a cabin with 5 other women. I made some nice acquaintances and the resort offered a great and affordable breakfast buffet every morning. Although the national park was an hour's drive away, it was the cheapest option. Prices inside the park were exorbitant. Camping is still a good option, but I don't have a tent and sleeping bag. All in all, it was a good choice. I could prepare my own meals in a communal kitchen. The restaurant at the resort also offered a dinner menu in case I didn't feel like cooking.

I rented a car for the trip, picked it up at San Jose International Airport and was able to return it to San Francisco International Airport without any extra charge. Very convenient. On Monday morning, Mike drove me to San Jose and dropped me off at the airport. I was really grateful for that! Since there isn't a good public transportation network in California, ridesharing is essential here. I said goodbye to Paul. We will meet again in Berlin someday...

As I drove into the national park on Tuesday morning, I was overwhelmed! There's El Capitan, wooow! The mecca for trad climbers! And then Sentinel Rock and Half Dome, also unique and impressive! No wonder people from all over the world are drawn here, especially climbing enthusiasts. I spent my first day on the John Muir Trail to Nevada Fall. I have to say, I was pretty spoiled by North Cascades National Park and Pinnacle National Park... I hardly had any hikers on my trails :-P Although Yosemite is very large and offers various hiking trails, it can get crowded at times. But well, it still worked out. Like I said, I'm probably too spoiled :-D

The park was marked by the immense dry season. Due to extensive forest fires, many trees and areas were burned down and some waterfalls were just a few drops instead of falls. But Nevada Fall still had enough water and a really beautiful backdrop. I was so happy!!! I love landscapes characterized by mountains, massive rocks, forests, and wild rivers like this! What a sight, guys! I covered 11 km in 6 hours, captured beautiful moments with my camera, jumped over rocks to get to the other side of the river and closer to the waterfall, and enjoyed this moment of being alone surrounded by this wonderful nature, away from the trail. And I stayed dry too! Speaking of "staying dry"... that reminds me of a funny scene! :-D Let me digress and get to a little anecdote that I didn't mention in my report about California:

When Tyler and I hiked to Maple Falls on my last days in Watsonville, I really messed up. I wanted to take a nice shot with my drone at the waterfall. But in the forest area, I couldn't get a GPS signal. I offered Tyler to fly the drone. Since he was afraid of crashing it in the forest, he declined. Smart as I am, I demonstrated the great obstacle detection technology... I flew the drone towards the cliff of the waterfall and relied on the sensors, which worked in the first moment. The drone stayed in the air in front of the cliff. Well, not for long... Shit!!! I still had the control stick fully forward and sensors or not, the drone flew straight into the wall and crashed into the stream! Oh crap... I quickly took off my shoes and socks, rolled up my pants (the water was relatively shallow), and all I could think about was getting my drone out immediately!
Of course, the water gets deep right where the waterfall ends. I sunk in and was completely in the water, but my drone was saved :-D
Two rotor blades were missing, but luckily the gimbal camera was intact. So, to get back to the point: I was completely wet! Man, I had to laugh about it and was annoyed by my stupidity of demonstrating the drone exactly where it could fall into the water... Tyler had a lot of fun, that's for sure :-D
Fortunately, not much water (especially not saltwater!) got into the drone and new rotor blades were quickly ordered from Amazon. My dronie is working again 😊 Hehe!!!

Back to Yosemite. My climbing heart was filled with excitement and I really wanted to spend the next day at the climbing area. I went to Camp 4, where the climbing cracks hang out. I asked around about the best spots for sport climbing and joining other climbers. A group of Spaniards planned to climb a multi-pitch route and offered to take me with them. However, I wasn't sure if I could keep up, especially since I have no experience in trad climbing. Trad climbing means climbing along a crack in the wall and setting your own protection. Although I would have only followed and not set any protection, crack climbing was also new to me and requires a lot of skill and strength! I didn't want to be an obstacle for the guys and continued my search. I didn't really find any connection at the camp and drove slightly depressed to El Capitan. I thought, okay, I'll go hiking there and see if anything might come up. I missed my climbing buddies from Berlin: Philipp, Timmy, Andy, Susan, and Sabrina... It's not always easy to find the right people when you're alone. And as luck would have it, I met two guys from Baltimore at the parking lot at El Capitan. Andrew and Brian were so cool and invited me to join them on their climbing trip 😊 They had a project in mind with a single pitch route and were climbing a route in a difficulty level (5.8-5.10a) that I could manage. And the best part was that I had the opportunity to get familiar with trad climbing or crack climbing in "toprope" mode (rope is already set up at the top of the route). I watched Andrew with great anticipation as he led the route. I really respected him for it and he appreciated my recognition! I don't know if I would ever dare to climb a crack and set my own protection... I just lacked the experience and training. Brian, who belayed me, was super patient and everyone cheered me on and encouraged me because I did damn well for my first time climbing a crack technically 😊 My hands looked a bit torn up. But the wounds, as long as they were there, reminded me of this unique day at El Cap.

Another project was planned for the evening at Yosemite Fall. I joined them for that too. We drove to Camp 4 and from there walked up to the waterfall. There were still quite a few climbers on the wall. There were even sport routes where the bolts were already anchored in the wall for protection. Brian chose a trad route with a difficulty level of 5.10d. Compared to the previous crack, this one was much harder. And yes, the crack was so narrow that only one or two fingers could fit... Phew. I only managed half and ran out of strength. But hey, it was good finger training. What was really beautiful was the view of the waterfall, the steep cliffs, and the mountains across the way, as well as the moonlight reflecting in the water of Yosemite Fall... A damn amazing day, thanks to the two guys from Baltimore!

The next day, I actually planned to sleep in and start the day relaxed. But the night was too short and my neighbor's alarm clock rang too early. So, I thought, well, now I'm awake early and today I'll hike the trail to Upper Yosemite Fall and Eagle Peak. It's over 18.5 km roundtrip with 1317 meters elevation gain. I planned for 9-10 hours. The trail was damn steep and rocky. Just what I needed. But not on this day. My body said: Hey old lady, you're tired, done, and your legs are trembling. I struggled up and my ego and ambition forced me to keep going. On top of that, the sun was mercilessly beating down and there was little shade in sight. It takes a lot of strength to overcome this ego and admit that it would be smarter to turn back. I was annoyed and didn't like any hiker who passed me or was already up there :-D But I didn't regret turning back... Despite everything, I had a beautiful view on my way up. Since it wasn't too late yet, I drove back to El Cap, found a nice spot in the forest, set up my hammock between two trees, let myself fall into it, enjoyed the view of the 2307-meter-high rock with the little lights of people slowly making their way up the bare, steep wall, and dozed off... My body really needed that. It was good that I listened to it 😊

Thanks to my power nap in the hammock, I was well-rested and full of new energy on the next and last day! I hiked the 4-Mile Trail up to Glacier Point and further up to Sentinel Dome. It was a really good idea! Since the sun spent the day on the other side of the mountain, there was mostly pleasant and cooling shade. And the two viewpoints offered a 360° and far-reaching view of the entire Yosemite area and its towering rock formations! Awesome! It was a really beautiful conclusion.

My departure day to San Francisco was sweetened by the fact that Tyler planned a solo flight with the Cessna from Watsonville to Mariposa to visit me. Really funny! The airport was directly on my way. After Tyler landed, I invited him to a café and we said a heartfelt goodbye! We will see each other next year when Nico and I travel to Hawaii and make a stopover in San Francisco and Santa Cruz. I'm looking forward to it 😊

Off to San Francisco...