Yosemite & John Muir

Last Thursday Kirk came home from work and said he was thinking about taking time off to do the John Muir Trail since it has been slow at work. He had wanted to do it this summer but couldn't get a permit. Apparently you can just go and wait in line to get a permit- they give away 40% or something the day of on a first-come-first-serve basis. I said, "Let's go for it!" (because I'm an awesome and supportive wife if I do say so myself!)  so he asked if he could get the time off and then he came home Friday early, around noon, and we hurried up and packed as fast as we could. He later said he got some crazy looks from other hikers on the trail when he told them how fast his trip all came together! Anyway, it took us about a day to get ready because we had to go to REI and buy a bunch of stuff and pack it all up, but we were able to leave Saturday afternoon around three. 

We decided to invite my mom to Yosemite with us so we picked her up in Bakersfield (my dad met us at a gas station) and then we got to the hotel, in Mariposa I think, around nine or 930 at night. 

Sunday morning we had to get up at 4 AM so that we could drive the rest of the way to Yosemite. It was about another hour and a half. Kirk wanted to get there early so he could be one of the first in line to make sure he could get a permit for that day or the next day.

He was actually hoping to be able to get a permit and to start right away on Sunday, and he almost did! There were about four people who canceled so they had some extra permits for Sunday and they offered them to a group that was ahead of Kirk first but they turned it down so then they offered it to Kirk. He was about to take it but then they changed their mind and he was a nice guy and let them have the permits. He kind of regretted it later because when he got his permit for Monday they told him he could only do 10 miles the first day and he wanted to do 25 or so. We were joking for the rest of the day about how it doesn't always pay to be a nice guy. 

But he did get the permit so at least he was able to do the hike like he wanted to do. 

My mom and I stayed most of the rest of the day Sunday but there's actually a big forest fire going on on the other side of Yosemite right now so it was really smoky, and with the kids it was hard to stay much longer so we drove down the mountain Sunday afternoon and got a hotel. We did get to see quite a bit before we left, though. Kirk went up to the trail head with us so we got to see where the John Muir trail starts. We got to see a little nature Museum up there and several other museums and stores, and did a couple little day hikes around Yosemite Village. My mom had never been to Yosemite before so it was fun for her to be there, and I had only been in the winter so was nice to see the difference in the summer, but it really was too bad that it was so smoky because the views weren't as good. 

We drove back to Taft on Monday. It was nice to be able to take our time. We actually stopped at this really cool rest stop in between Fresno and Bakersfield- Bravo Farms. They have a cool  tree house and lots if other activities- miniature golf, an arcade and lots of other fun things for kids to play on as well as a fruit stand and tri-tip sandwiches and a cute store. 

Meanwhile Zeke, Bailey and I are hanging out in Taft. We got to stop and visit with Holly and the kids yesterday. I got to meet Lillian for the first time and Zeke got to play with his cousins, and then today we hung out most of the day with Sophia. We worked on sewing projects again. Zeke is having a blast playing with grandpa and Bailey is having fun hanging out with all her aunts and uncles.

 Meeting new cousin Lillian for the first time!

 Grandma Christine bought this lucky boy a new costume! He is over the moon!!

 Bailey loves her uncle Nathaniel!

 Zeke loved "playing" video games with his uncles.

 Bailey found a new interest: climbing EVERYTHING. She would spend 30 minutes or more just climbing up and down on these chairs. 

 Mommy and Me sewing continued! This time I made 3 bags pretty much on my own, with advice and a little help here and there of course.

  

Kirk hasn't been able to contact me a lot since he started the hike because the communication device he got apparently has a really bad battery life and for some reason, which makes me very upset, it doesn't take regular batteries!!! So he's already down to 40% and is worried about the battery dying so he has only sent me a few messages. Sunday night he sent a few. He actually didn't contact me at all yesterday and just sent me a message tonight to let me know how he is doing. He has gone 60 miles so far which is good!! He is flying!! He was hoping to do about 25 miles a day so he's a little bit ahead of schedule. 

Most people take more time to do this hike. This chart gives you an idea. 

It's kind of hard to not worry about Kirk, especially since I can't be in touch with him as much as I would like, but it helps to stay busy and I'm glad that he's able to do this. It is a goal that he's had for a while and I really want him to accomplish it! Here are a few snapshots of messages he was able to send me along with maps of where he was along the trail at the time. 

The original plan was to pick him up at Whitney portal at the end of the trail on Tuesday night, but he was rained out several days, plus his leg/knee started hurting pretty bad, so we decided to break it into two segments. He can't wait to go back and do the second half. He wants me to go back up to the Vermillion Ranch with him so he can take me to Silver Lake Pass (see below.) 

The kids and I drove up to the halfway point on Friday. We met him at a wilderness resort that we thought was an hour and a half from Fresno. Turns out that's just based on mileage... 4 hours later (6 total from my parents house) we arrived! It was a bumpy, windy road most of the way, but at least the view was beautiful. 

We had lunch at the Vermillion Valley Resort before heading back down the mountain. 

It's been a great week! Now I just have to try to get Kirk to talk about it. 

Those of you who know Kirk know that it's kind of hard to get much detail out of him... So I've been working on getting as much information out of him as I can. Here's the Q&A I've been able to put together so far:

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When did you end up leaving? Did you get a better permit or just risk it?

I was talking to some other hikers on Sunday night. One of them told me the fine is $250 if you have the wrong permit and I said, "That just might be worth it!" He gave me a crazy look and said he had a permit with 2 days left on it that I could use. I could have taken the bus Monday morning but it didn't leave until 7 so I just walked the extra mile and a half to the trail head and got started early, around 6 am. 

Could you still smell the smoke for a while?

The smoke was pretty bad in some places, especially the first day or so. There were a couple times I was worried about the fires but then it was fine. 

Did you see any bears?

One night I was hiking pretty late and all of a sudden I saw these eyes staring at me. They could have been a mountain lion, or maybe a bear, I'm not sure. But it freaked me out so I got out of there. That same night I stayed in a place that had tons of bugs. There were weird bugs I had never seen before crawling all over me. It reminded me of the movie Deliverance. 

Did you meet any interesting people?

There were these two European girls that I saw a few times on the hike. I would catch up with them and then we would leave at different times and I would see them again later. They were pretty cool. One girl has this cool accent and she was really funny. Once this guy and his son were hiking near and this girl had a pair of underwear hanging on her backpack because she had just washed her clothes and they were drying while she was hiking. He caught the guy looking at her underwear and she called him out, "What, are you looking at these?" and held up her underwear. He was caught of guard and was like, "Um, no.." It was funny. 

Another time I passed them while they were preparing food. They asked me if I wanted any food and I said I was fine, and I kept hiking. A little while later my socks were so wet that I stopped for a while. The girls caught up a little while later and asked what I was doing, so I told them about how my socks were wet and my extra pair just wouldn't dry. From then on when she saw me she would yell, "Hey, wet socks! What's up?" 

What was the coolest part?

About 10-15 miles before the Vermillion Ranch is this awesome part called Silver Lake Pass. It was the best place I saw. I want to go back and take you hiking there some time. 

(He said over and over, "This is awesome!" Again, those of you who know Kirk know he rarely... never? uses such descriptive language.)

Did you like your shoes? (Maybe this is a boring question, but last time he attempted this hike he had horrible shoes that gave him ridiculous blisters...) 

They were okay. Good I guess. I still got blisters so I can't say I loved them, but I liked them. I think they were good and I'll probably use the same kind next time. I think boots are overrated. 

Was there anything that you had that you didn't use, or anything that you wish you had brought?

I was pretty happy with my pack. Several people saw my pack and were jealous about how small it was. I guess I like to rough it more than some people. 

What happens when it rains? Did a ranger tell you you couldn't hike? Where did you stay? Did you get soaked? 

There wasn't a ranger telling us not to hike or anything. I hiked when it rained most of the time. At first I thought it was going to stop raining so I kept hiking, but then it kept raining and I just got soaked. It was okay, I had a garbage bag to keep my pack dry, but after a while my stuff just wouldn't dry. Sometimes it was just too wet to hike. 

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Kirk took a bunch of pictures, but he won't let me look at them yet. He says the pictures don't do the view justice but that it will be better on a larger screen. So I have to wait until we get home. He actually hid his camera from me so I won't look at the pictures. Silly boy. 

Let me know if you have any other questions for him and I'll try to get the answers =)