It has to be said Camp 4 doesn’t appear to be what it once was, although it could be my age and level of tiredness. After we arrived yesterday, we had an early night to get up in time to run up Snake Dyke on half dome. Now an early night was never on the cards when I was last here. I was those noisy bastards keeping everyone awake partying! Although you get a different perspective as you age, an early night consisted of listen to bear boxes open and close, given that each site has 4 bear boxes and six people staying there and that there are around 40 sites, this cacophony went on for several hours until eventually it died to near nothing. Until the kid next door to us awoke with bear fear, and then someone on a neighbouring site returned from 16 hours on half dome (what was he doing for all that time). Anyway he appeared to be shoveling coal out of and then back into his bear box.
I had to restrain llion from chinning him, although if he had I would have laid the boot in when he was down!
We awoke and were out of camp and on the misty trail by 7am. Our training by running up the PYg and down the miners track paid off and we made good time in. The route is described as having a torturous approach and descent, and they weren’t wrong. The climbing is easy and enjoyable other than the third class forever top out, and believe me they mean forever and ever ahem!!
We had seen the clouds building and made a swift departure down the cables, as more people were heading up into the building thunder storm, not the place to be climbing two steel cables/lightening conductors that lead to the highest point in the surrounding area, but that’s Americans for you! Once we were well and truly out of the kill zone the first rumbles of thunder came in and a bolt seemed to hit the summit of half dome, I hope everyone was alright, but a bit of common sense wouldn’t have gone amiss.
We got a little damp on the way out with rain but even wetter on the misty part of the misty trail, how nice was it to be bathed in waterfall spray, rainbows appearing almost everywhere. Llion nearly broke his other toe and I nearly broke mine a couple of time as we spent too much time looking at wet t-shirts on the way down.
We got off and had some pizza and sodas. There are interesting signs that ask you to clean you table before the squirrels down, asking you to ‘help us saved the wildlife’. Which is interesting as a recent piece of research into squirrel death in Yosemite and other busy national parks showed that some squirrels have died of heart attacks due to over eating. There is one wanna be jabber the hut squirrel that I photographed rampaging around the cafe at Yosemite Lodge. Poor thing doesn’t know what he is doing to himself.
