Yosemite’s Panorama Trail

"Yosemite Fog Machine". Fog drifts around Half Dome on a cold spring morning. It started without a plan but with a purpose. Six years of a stressful job had taken its toll both mentally and physically. The purpose was simple. To destress, get my head together, and rebuild my health. My job was changing me from the person I was to someone I didn’t want to be. My health was declining as well. I took a huge step. I left my job. I decided that taking a year off and working on myself would be the best thing I could do. I started walking and over the course of a few weeks was up to walking five miles a day. I started walking in Yosemite and discovered the calming effect it had on me. I bought a new pair of hiking boots last week and broke them in while walking through the Yosemite Valley. It lead up to yesterday where I found myself standing next to my friend at the beginning of Panorama Trail on Glacier Point.

"Foggy Forest". Cold and fog greeted us as we started our hike on the Panorama Trail.

I hiked with my friend from Glacier Point 9 miles along the Panorama Trail through the wilderness to Half Dome, then down to the Yosemite Valley. With just four hours sleep over two days we got up at 3:30 in the morning and drove to the trail head. We got there at 6:30. The temperature was in the high 30's and the trail below was foggy.

We started our hike and after a few minutes it started to rain. As we descended 1,400 feet, it started hailing. It hailed off and on all day. We pushed on toward Illilouette Falls. What a sight.

"Illilouette Falls". We stood on the edge of a slippery cliff and marveled at the sight of the torrent of water shooting over the falls.

Then it was a 700 foot climb to a plateau. The view spectacular. We crossed the plateau then climbed back up toward Half Dome and then to the top of Nevada Falls along the John Muir Trail.

The hail storm intensified. We met Katie a wilderness ranger and checked trail conditions. She warned us that the Mist Trail was treacherous. We left Nevada Falls and took the Mist Trail anyway.

We walked along a two-foot-wide granite ledge on the side of a cliff. Then we encountered a small waterfall raining down on the ledge. No turning back now, we walked through it and got soaked. It was worth it as we took in the view from the top of Nevada falls and then a little while later from the top of Vernal Falls.

As we continued our 3,500-foot descent we saw what Katie was talking about. The granite trail was muddy and flooded from the spray coming from Vernal falls. The Merced River was moving at the speed of cars on the freeway, rushing over its banks and as wide as a two-lane highway. The spray was like being in your bathroom shower, only with freezing water!

The decent was grueling, slow, and everything we wore or were carrying was soaked in freezing water. With temperatures in the mid 40's, it made everything challenging. My knees were screaming in pain, my leg muscles were pushed past fatigue into failure. With my friend in front of me struggling and moving very slow, my muscles worked overtime. My knee gave out and I started to fall. I caught myself, landed on my butt, and avoided falling 200 feet into the river.

I rested for a few minutes but my legs began to tighten up, so we continued forward. We reached drier ground but another hail storm hit. We pushed on. By the time we reached the Yosemite Valley, both of us could barely walk and it was raining. We were exhausted.

We caught the shuttle and I collapsed into the seat, too tired to take off my day pack. My friend was so tired he could barely get on the bus. After a ten-minute ride it was a quarter mile walk into Yosemite Village. We shuttled back to Glacier Point where the temperature was now 32 degrees. As we put our gear in the car it started to snow.

"Yosemite Valley". The walk across the valley gave us another view of Half Dome.

Soaking wet, exhausted, cold, and now being snowed on, we rushed to get off the mountain before we got stuck there. The drive out of the park is always a relaxing drive and we settled in for it.

However, we were held up by a line of cars being escorted through a fire. The smoke was so thick that you could only see a few feet in front of you. We waited a half hour with stinging eyes until it was our turn to drive thru. The forest along the roadside was blazing in orange and yellow colors from the burning trees and brush.

As we left the park it began to rain. Hard. So hard I could barely see the road. There was thunder and lightning strikes not far away. We finally arrived at my friend’s home in Fresno too tired and sore to eat dinner. It was an incredible adventure and an AWESOME day.