Two Guys on a Journey: Part Two

Recently I wrote an article titled “Two Guys on a Journey” detailing the adventure of ascending Half Dome with my friend Noah.  Despite feeling like we were facing a real chance of dying that day, our adventure didn’t stop there.  In fact, the hike to Half Dome was only a fraction of what we hoped to be able to accomplish in Yosemite.

After a day of rest we headed to Hetch Hetchy Valley where we were to hike 7 miles to Rancheria Falls.  This area has a reputation for seclusion and tranquility, exactly what each of us were looking for.  We filled our hydration packs, brought along extra Gatorade (a lesson from our experiences at Half Dome), packed more food than we needed & hit the trail.

We hadn’t even left the parking lot before we ran into a bear and her cub no more than 30 feet away.  Taken a bit off guard, we weren’t sure what to do.  Should we keep walking?  Try to take a picture?  By the time we had a chance to react, the bears were gone.  Wow!  It was such an amazing experience to be so close to the wildlife but now I was contemplating the safety of sleeping on the ground in the middle of nowhere with no tent.  The signs at the trailhead reaffirmed our concern about bears and also brought to our attention that this was rattlesnake and cougar territory.  Lucky us!

It didn’t take long for the sun to warm the valley and soon we were feeling the effects of the heat.  Seven miles sounded like nothing after hiking 17 miles a couple of days before but after a few miles we were getting worn down.  We took a much needed break along a tributary to the reservoir where we took off our boots and relaxed at the side of a pool.  We watched the fish as they swam around in the water.  I laid back across a boulder, closed my eyes and breathed deep.  The only sounds were those created by nature; the running water, the wind gently flowing through the trees.  I was so at peace that I fell asleep on that rock, only for a few minutes but those few minutes were the most refreshing and fulfilling moments of the entire trip.

We put our boots back on, strapped on our backpacks and set out for the last couple of miles of our hike to Rancheria Falls.  We were closer than we had expected and within an hour we had reached our backcountry campsite.  We dropped our packs and headed out to find the river.  When we reached the water, excitement coursed through our bodies.  It was so hot and we were so tired, a dip in the cold river was just the thing we needed to rejuvenate our body and soul.  We swam, relaxed on the rocks and lived exclusively in that moment.

Eventually we decided to explore upriver to check out the lay of the land, to see what else we could find.  What we found was beyond either of our expectations.  As we came around the last bend in the river I heard Noah squeal with delight.  I laughed, not knowing what he was seeing but when I finally caught a glimpse of what he was looking at I couldn’t believe it.  We had just found the perfect waterfall for Noah to accomplish his goal of bathing under a waterfall.  We spent the rest of the afternoon swimming, standing under the crushing force of the waterfall and relaxing at the water’s edge.  This was paradise.

We returned to camp just before the sun went down and built a fire to cook some food.  We sat around the fire eating ramen noodles and talking about nothing.  We boiled water so we had drinking water for the next day and eventually called it a night.  As I crawled into my sleeping bag, I looked up at the stars burning brilliantly in the night sky.  I really expected it to be much darker in the middle of nowhere.  I closed my eyes, satisfied with what I had accomplished that day & with knowing that I was knocking off my goal of sleeping under the stars.