back country Yosemite Region

 

Rounding a blind corner Hank and I stopped fast in our tracks. There not more than 10 meters away smack dab on the trail facing us was the largest black bear ever saw while trekking in the Yosemite region. Soon 3 other people from our Yosemite Association group joined as we stood side by side facing the bear. He did not move for several seconds and then Claire said , "shouldn't we be throwing rocks or something?" To which Hank retorted lets try yelling first. That worked and the blocking our trail path black bear turned around quickly to scamper off. Leader of the group, Ranger Dick, had first noticed the bear a mile back and more than 100 meters from our group across a stream. He apparently tracked us from that point. Maybe looking for food, but as was untagged which meant had not been around humans yet more n likely was just curious. 

This was the fourth of week long backpacking trips that went on with the Yosemite Association (YA) between 2005 and 2013. Each of them provided bear sightings with the last trip the most exciting of the bunch. Led by the infamous ranger Dick Ewart and joined by like minded people all of the outings proved to be enjoyable and challenging. Routes included the northern region, eastern, and central regions of the park and near by national forests wilderness areas. Highlights included summiting unnamed domes, standing atop Half dome and El Capitan, off trail travel, tramping along ridgelines, dunking in waterfalls, fording streams, jumping off rocks into lakes ice cold blue, counting shooting stars, and black bart beans. Bear sightings added to the fun.

Campsites like Glen Aulin, Tuolumne were guaranteed to spot em. One early morning at first light left my tent to spot two cubs perched on top of a big rock just 20 feet away. Soon after their mama cane strolling  into our campsite, walking slowly she sniffed around a few tents and upon not finding any food and noticing Hank and I she walked away. Another time during evening campfire a bear came charging through and Ranger Dick sprung up along with a few other of us to give him chase, We could not catch him though,

Trips in the Sierra during those years were also made with Becca and Josh, We did similar routes as the YA, walking by some of the same waterfalls and jumping off the same rocks.. Those trips would usually start with a night or two at bear magnet Tuolumne meadows campground, One early evening a bear came barelling feet away from our tents to get to food left out on a close by bear locker. Another time early in the season the mosquitoes were so bad that they covered every inch of Joshua's shirt. After dinner we got in our tent and did not venture out for 14 hours. We think we heard a mountain lion scrounging around at one point but stayed put, Sure enough there were prints in a nearby snowbank spotted the next day,

Yosemite has over 800 miles of hiking trails, and if one ventures more than a day out from a trailhead there is found a great deal of solitude, We squatted once for four nights at the same out of the way lake and were the only ones camped there and hardly no one else ever walked by, Friend Virgil joined us on one trip. As I was feeling sick the first part of our planned hike spent at the highest car campground in the lower forty eight near mono pass. Josh and Virgil fished and we did some day hikes prior to heading out on a short trip up to the Vogelsang camp ground. The pass there has a 360 view, A ranger had talked about the glories of night hiking earlier in the week so we decided to head out on our last day at 2 am. The moon was full so lots of light and we banged on rocks with our hiking poles to cue Virgil and to let the bears know we were moving through.

The 2013 hike was quite memorable. First off was a shortened YA backcountry route up El Capitan. On the way out after a few nights under the stars was when the meandering bear was spotted quite a ways off across a nearby stream. He kept his distance but seemed to be keeping abreast of our whereabouts until our trail veered out of sight. Several minutes later he popped up and blocked our path. He was close enough to notice he had never been tagged which meant he probably stayed out of the valley and populated campsites for the most part. Although quite large for a black bear I think he was probably a young adult and perhaps that is why he did not scamper off when we first crossed the bend and met him face to face. It was a thrilling encounter.

At the end of that backpack I stayed a at Hank's place in the foothills a few nights prior to meeting up with Josh in Tuolumne meadows for week long circular backpack route via Koip pass. First up was a day hike in the gorgeous Gaylor lakes area near Mono pass. From there it was upwards to the pass at 12,280, where stopped to rest prior to summiting 12.968 foot Koip Peak where got to wave the flag. That night trout were caught and we ate good. From there onwards towards the backside of Donahue pass and into famed bear hangout Lyell canyon. We hit our favorite camping spot in the canyon, one where had never seen or been bothered by bears or people before. However, not long was the campfire going when noticed a young woman smoking a pipe watching us from some not too far off rocks. We invited her to join us which she did and then soon after Kyla went to get older sister Katelyn. 

Swapping stories around the fire we learned that the sisters went to High School in Honolulu, and that their Dad lived just a mile from Josh's Renton highlands home. Kyla was finishing up hundreds of miles spent on the PCT that summer and we all had camp stories. Not long after they left our area we heard a yell "bear" and quickly made pursuit  as the fast moving animal ran past the sisters and on down the trail and off into the woods. The next day we hiked out together back to the meadows, ate hamburgers at the grill and dropped them off at a highway where they proceeded to hitchhike on up the road. 

 Katelyn, a physical therapist located in Buffalo, and Kyla, a roller derby veteran made for interesting conversation on the trek and car ride. As they and were headed to the northwest to visit their Dad, and we were going up to Washington too we made arrangements to see them the next weekend. We had a good time eating brats but by the time started singing karaoke on stage it was obvious too many bears/beers had been consumed.

What follows are a one minute video from the top of Koip peak and photos taken for the most part by friend Hank and son Josh with captions from some of the backpack trips described earlier. Some of these and many more of the Yosemite Kings Canyon region can be found on the blogpost titled Hike with Judd. Sorry to say though did not get a big picture of the bear that stood in our path but it was the largest bear that have ever gotten that close to. The video from the summit with sound of  mountain wind is the first item followed by photos.

bears Josh took photo of not far from half dome trail

Mama bear Glen Aulin campground

early morning photo of the cubs 

ice blue lake

mountain lake

isolated campsite voglesang area

Becca

Matterhorn  canyon on way to twin lakes

YA friends Hank and Wallace

dinner companions

mountain pass

Koip peak summit

isolated campsite

red peak pass with Josh on rock

heading towards red devil lake

off trail loop near Lyell forks

high sierra falls

Josh  Gaylor lakes region

with Josh Parker pass 2013

near the pass

Virgil

sisters

Lyell canyon

karaoke 2 am

cold morning lyell canyon

high country trail

brother John on half dome lip (have stood there with brothers, and nephews on three occasions)

brother Paul on half dome cables

trekking up either mule or burro pass

Donahue pass

is nice to roam (photo of  most of the family)

but there is no place (photo of half dome sunset)

like home! (photo of rest of family)

Miscellaneous info: first trip to Yosemite was as a 7 year-old in 1957. First backpack adventure there was in 1973 with wayward veteran Carlos Montoya. Family vacations in Yosemite `valley with excursions to the high country took place in 1990, 1996, 2003. First backpack with Josh to young lakes and mountain lion visit  was in 1999 with 7 subsequent Sierra backpacks with Josh and at times Becca. Those trips in addition to numerous Haleakala multi day outings that also included Betty and Deborah provided some of the best moments of our lives. As did later outings in the northwest with Wendy, Josh and Luna. Maybe will blog all that out some day!

Post Script  09/23/2021: Sad news learned today, younger sister we met on our Koip peak hike passed away. She caught covid while working at a job helping others in Florida. Since the time we met her in 2013 she served with the Peace Corps in Africa, furthered her education and worked with challenged youth. Will always remember her indomitable spirit.