Cramps and Thunderstorms at the top of Yosemite Falls
30-April 2005: Of all the waterfall hiking and viewing I've done up to this point, the one thing missing was getting to the top of Yosemite Falls. Even though you don't have to get to its top to appreciate the falls and get good photos of it, my inner voice kept nagging at me to do it. And so I gave in to my subconscious (or is it my conscious?) and hiked with mom on what started off as a pleasantly hot and sunny afternoon... On this weekend trip, my parents and I decided to take my auntie from Taiwan to Yosemite. She had never been on a trip like this and so we all thought it would be a treat for her to see the park in the spring. Of course I also had an ulterior motive... Of all the waterfall hiking and viewing I'd done in Yosemite up to this point, the one thing missing was getting to the top of Yosemite Falls. Even though you don't have to get to its top to appreciate the falls and get good photos of it, my inner voice kept nagging at me to do it. And so I gave in to my subconscious (or is it my conscious?) and determined to do this hike. We camped in the Wawona Campground, which is pretty reliable for late reservations unlike Yosemite Valley campgrounds.
Poor dad was struggling with pain in his leg - somehow induced by repetitive motion resulting from his golfing addiction. Given his condition, at least he could keep auntie company while mom and I would do the strenuous Yosemite Falls hike. After a brief visit to the paved nature walk to Lower Yosemite Fall, dad and auntie left for Curry Village while mom and I were about to do the hike. It was 2pm on a pleasantly warm Saturday afternoon when we set out for the hike.
Onward we went along the steep, calf-burning, uphill trail. The sun noticeably started to become overtaken by light clouds as we passed Columbia Point and saw the Upper Fall. The mist from the trail moistened the granite steps - making them slippery. This was not a problem going up, but we could foresee complications when we had to come back down later. Anyhow, the granite steps marked the difficult and seemingly endless series of switchbacks that relentlessly ascended further up the valley and above the 2425ft waterfall. Somewhere along the switchbacks, mom and I were separated. She lagged behind and urged me to keep going. And that I did. Finally at about 5pm, the granite steps started flattening out. But instead of the dirt trail we expected to see, I had to follow footprints in the snow! Following the signs and the footprints in the snow, I took the spur trail to the top of Yosemite Falls. The snow was slippery in places and it was easy to get sidetracked if you followed stray footsteps, but at least the hiking sticks helped maintain my balance somewhat. I sure hoped mom was able to follow the proper tracks. Eventually the snow gave way to rocks. The trail looked like it was going to drop over the cliff as I approached the edge. But then the trail ran parallel with the cliffs over steps with hand-railings to help the unsure. And so the trail continued to follow the cliffs. It eventually bent and followed Yosemite Creek to its top. I was able to see some interesting smaller cascades rushing its way towards the big plunge just down stream.
So I took lots of photos on the platform. However, the suddenly cloudy skies got darker. I think it became clearer that the skies would start to open up and rain on us soon.
At 5:30pm, I went up the stairs and followed mom to a little makeshift rest spot where we could have some water and food. It couldn't have come at a better time because my calves had cramped and locked up. I literally couldn't walk any more so I was worried about not being able to make it down the trail. Apparently the relentless uphill trail took its toll on my body and I failed to regularly pace myself while energizing with food and water. The darkening skies didn't help the situation as we sensed it was a typical mountain thunderstorm. It suddenly started getting cold and we certainly didn't want to be up here with lightning threatening to strike. The snow also worried us since we knew it would slow us down initially on the way back. Given all these factors, we still rested until 5:45pm. It was then that I tested my calves out and was somewhat relieved that I could at least take a few steps without locking up. So with that we headed back down. It was already getting late since we had taken longer than we had anticipated getting up here and then resting. As we were headed down the relentless granite steps - relying on our hiking sticks to help absorb the shock - the skies started to open up and pour on us. Fortunately for us, we anticipated this and we had our packed ponchos on by that time. The wet granite steps always conspired to make us slip and fall, but we stubbornly used all four of our legs to maintain our balance while keeping our weight forward on the descent. We even passed by a couple of suffering families who didn't anticipate the rain and thus didn't have the right clothing for the suddenly changed weather. They certainly didn't look too happy. Eventually, we made it back to the shuttle stop between Yosemite Lodge and Leidig Meadow. It was 7pm and darkness had already taken over. With our wet, smelly ponchos and packs, we eventually got on the shuttle and got off at Curry Village at around 7:45pm. We arrived about 45 minutes later than what we promised to dad and auntie, but in the end we were all united. All of us had the Curry Village pizza along with self-brought salad for dinner. After going through the usual hygienic rituals, we drove back to the Wawona Campground to spend the last night of the trip peacefully. Auntie enjoyed the park. I even learned through her and my parents the Chinese word for waterfall, which literally translated as a "silk cloth" or "silk rag." Sometimes I'm quite impressed with how colorful and metaphorical different languages can be when describing things in nature. Anyhow when I look back at this trip, I was glad that we prepared well. It was one of those times when we knew how quickly the weather could change and we had ponchos with us just in case. However, the leg cramps could've been avoided if I had paced myself and not put off eating and hydrating in my rush to get to the top. That was scary and fortunately I wasn't stuck at the top during the storm. Big lesson learned there. Speaking of leg problems, dad's leg eventually healed up and he was back perfecting his golf swing...
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The earlier parts of the trip consisted of visits to the usual haunts such as 
Since we had done at least half this trail before, the earlier parts of the hike passed without much drama. There was however, a minor stream crossing caused by an 
The trail also looked quite scary as it made its final descent to the lookout area. Here, the trail and the handrail was all that I saw until I got to the edge and realized it looked worse than it really was.
