Trailblazer: Notes from Yosemite
Editor’s note: Princeton resident Brian Taylor, 25, is spending several months working and living in Yosemite National Park. He has agreed to send letters to the BCR, telling readers of his experiences. Taylor does not have access to any electronic equipment — cell phone, lap top, etc. All correspondence from him is via handwritten letters.
Greetings from Yosemite. The weather this past week was just another week of beauty and hot sunshine. It was also a challenging week for the entire crew. Spike week is what it was named. Early Tuesday morning, the 25th of August, we packed up six days worth of food, our clothes, tents and safety gear. Then we headed for the high country. It was full packs up the Rogers’ switchbacks, 3,000 feet of elevation change. Once we arrived at the top, we collected our tools, which we stashed in June, and began work.
The work consisted of maintenance and not rock work, so it was nice to have a break from moving large boulders around. While we worked, we carried our packs from section to section. At the end of the day, we stashed our tools and camped near the area that we finished for the day.
We ate dinner with our backpacking stoves or over the campfire. It was the same upon waking up in the morning. After breakfast we headed back to the tools and onto the trail for more work.
The work was near Rogers’ Meadow. Let’s just say that it was beautiful country, “God’s country,” if you will. The spike was also a good chance to get away from camp and out of the hot valley. At the higher elevation, it almost felt like fall, and I love fall. Overall, the work was fun. Maintenance allows a lot of time to think and reflect. I took the chance to just breathe in the healthy air that Yosemite provides.
Now the weekend was, by all accounts, just as intense as the spike work. It was an entire crew hike. Our ultimate destination was Matterhorn Peak. But there was much to see and lots of miles in between Rogers’ Meadow and Matterhorn.
We got done with work early Thursday, and as a group we decided to go take lunch at Murdock Lake. After lunch we hiked up to the top of Volunteer Peak. The view from atop was magical. We could see nine lakes, and in the distance many peaks, including Matterhorn.
Upon our decent, we grabbed our gear and headed to Sister Lake for a good night’s sleep. Sister Lake bestowed upon us a beautiful sunset, nice crisp refreshing water and a lush field of grass to sleep upon.
At 10 a.m. the following morning, we began hiking again. I should note that this was a cross-country adventure, which means that it was off trail. We, as a group of 15, hiked up a drainage, leaving Sister Lake to Tallulah Lake around the base of Slide Mountain and down a drainage to Camp Creek. At this point, we took the opportunity to get some lunch. I ate a healthy helping of macaroni and cheese.
Following lunch, we hiked until we were in Slide Canyon. I cannot describe to you exactly how marvelous it was to be in that canyon. Since it was off trail, there is probably only a handful of people each year that hike through it. On either side we were surrounded by mountains, we walked on green grass and followed Pirate Creek. In the distance we could see the Sawtooth Ridge near Matterhorn, and it was still a ways, so we continued up the canyon.
The reason it is called Slide Canyon is because there is a huge rock slide right in the middle of it. When I mean huge, I mean some of the boulders are as big as houses. Our foreman told us it is easily visible from an airplane. Well, we had to cross this rock slide, my guess that it was a quarter of a mile long and rather sketchy. But, oh boy, was it a thrill!
Following the rock slide, we hiked on out of the canyon and reached the trail that takes us to Matterhorn. It was probably two more hours of hiking, then we made it to base camp, below the Sawtooth Ridge and Matterhorn.
The sunset that night was by far the most spectacular I have ever seen. The clouds turned a bright pink, there was mountains in silhouette, and the sun’s rays were still touching Matterhorn behind us, just illuminating what we would be climbing up the next day.
Saturday morning we awoke early, ate some breakfast and got ready to climb Matterhorn. The entire group did not decide to go, three crew members wanted to sit this climb out. So at about 7:35 a.m., 10 of us began our ascent. At the beginning there was a tiny bit of technical climbing, then we got a good look at different routes. We chose to go up the west side, which was sort of climbing and hiking. The biggest obstacle was making sure you did not kick loose boulders on the person below you.
After about two hours, the entire group was at the top of Matterhorn Peak (12,400 feet). The view was phenomenal. We were surrounded as far as the eye could see by other peaks, rivers, lakes and meadows. It was great to have a bird’s eye view of the park.
At the top of every named peak in the park is a logbook. We all signed it with our own little messages. The logbooks are donated by the Sierra Cub.
After soaking in the view, we decided we better come down. It was Saturday, about noon by now, and we had a 30-mile hike back to camp. Basically, we had 30 hours to hike 30 miles.
We got back to base camp, packed our stuff, ate lunch and were back on the trail. On the way home, we decided not to cross country and opted for the trail. So we hiked up Burro Pass, over the saddle of Matterhorn. Then through Matterhorn Canyon, which was just as awe inspiring as Slide Canyon, more pine trees though. After Matterhorn Canyon, we climbed up Benson Pass and down to Smedberg Lake to camp for the night. It was a 16-mile day, after climbing a peak, so it was nice to sit around a campfire, drink hot chocolate and relax.
I slept great that night. The following morning we woke up and hiked the last 12 miles. Past Murdoch Lake and down to Rogers’ Meadow. At Rogers’ Meadow we had to collect our tools that we stashed the previous Thursday. Our tools are a pair of lopers, a rake and a shovel. We had done so much hiking, and to have to carry our packs and tools the last 10 miles was draining. But we made it through the meadow, down the switchbacks and to camp.
So, as you can tell, it was both a busy and exciting week. From Thursday to Sunday we hiked around 50 miles, and that was after three days of grueling work. The whole crew made the adventure even more exciting and challenging. It is crazy to think that my time here is winding down. I just don’t want it to end. Life is hard here, but also tranquil.
I will say this experience has taught me that solitude is peaceful. I am glad that I am away from all the political bickering and Michael Jackson mourning, the Internet and television, the latte and excess. What I have here is peaks and rivers, fires and insects, sunsets and hot sweaty days. That’s enough for me. But in about three weeks my time will be done here. I will know that I can live as a minimalist. So take the time each day to treasure the small things, that’s where true happiness lies.
