Yosemite National Park
|
Taft Point
Yosemite National Park |
July 7, 2011
Today I am treating three women friends to a one-day whirlwind tour of
the park. One of them has never visited Yosemite despite having been
a life-long California resident. Go figure.
In this year of late snow, I don't know what the trail conditions will be at this exalted elevation; but the trailhead parking lot is full. In any case, I promised my friends a hike, and it's too hot and crowded down in the valley; so we'll just have to see how it goes.
Immediately we encounter a daunting warning sign — not the sort of
thing that an 80-year-old hiker particularly wants to see.
Having some familiarity with this trail, however, I have serious doubts
about the possibility of us losing our way in such a short distance,
no matter what the conditions are.
The sign maker needs a spelling lesson
Within a few minutes we enter the forest and get a preview of coming attractions.
The air temperature is about 70°, so how bad can it be?
Crossing snowbanks can be fun
There are a couple of water obstacles, but sufficient logs and branches are in place to make the crossings fairly easy.
Trail maintenance crew
A greener section
Out of the wet stuff
The trail becomes steeper
As we descend toward the edge of a great cliff, the view ahead is spectacular.
This is exciting
Presently we encounter the first of several fissures — deep chasms caused by an unusual parting of the rock.
Fissure #1
One-seeded Pussy Paws
Everyone gets into the act of venturing as near to the cliff's edge as they dare.
Carrie
Annette
Judy
These guys haven't seen anything yet
As we near Taft Point itself, the other visitors depart. It appears that we will have the place to ourselves.
The Taft Point lookout
Fissure #2
Fissure #3
The final approach
Only upon reaching the viewpoint do we get the whole picture:
A straight-on view of Upper Yosemite Falls ⇔
This landmark was named in honor of President Taft, who visited the
park in 1909 at the behest of John Muir, who was pleading his case for the
preservation of Hetch Hetchy Valley. With Muir, Taft famously descended
the arduous Four Mile Trail from Glacier Point to the valley floor
at a torrid pace, causing certain members of his Congressional entourage
to summon help — for themselves.
El Capitan, the world's premier rock-climbing challenge
It is difficult to ignore the butterflies in one's stomach even while gripping the pipe railing. Unlike the Glacier Point overlook, it is three thousand feet straight down from here.
Snow-capped Mount Hoffman in the distance, 10856', is the
geographic center of the park. ⇔
Over to the left, I spot what looks like a lone hiker meditating atop a boulder. Yep, there she is.
She is in her own world
On the way back, the steepness of the route necessitates several rest stops.
The geriatric gang catches its breath
A fellow hiker spots us looking at the yellow metal strips attached high up on some of the trailside trees. She explains that they mark the route for those on skis and snowshoes in deep snow.
Stickseed
We will not be needing snowshoes today
Shield Pinkgill
Puffball
A retracement of the familiar snow banks indicates that we are close to the finish line.
§: This was a marvelous outing in very pleasant weather.
The reward-to-effort ratio for this walk is quite high. I sure
hope that my friends had as much fun as I did.
The advertised dangers proved inconsequential. A month ago,
those warnings probably had some merit; but it is hard to imagine any
able-bodied person having much difficulty with this trail today.
Maybe someone from Sunset or Via
magazine prepared the text for a presumed frail readership.
| Scenery |  |
| Difficulty |  |
| Personality |  |
| Solitude |  |
