Yosemite National Park: Indian Ridge and Olmstead Point

Bear Whispering
June 2, 2013

Soundtrack

• Blackalicious -- Blazing Arrow
• Vampire Weekend -- Modern Vampires of the City
• Nas & Damain Marley -- Distant Relatives
• The National -- Trouble Will Find Me

I saw another bear this weekend.  Two bears in two weeks after four-plus decades of no bears.  Crazy, huh?

Porcupine Creek Trail Head

This weekend's trip was to Yosemite National Park.  The plan was to hike to North Dome from the Porcupine Creek trail head.  It's a four and a half mile out and back hike with an elevation change of 600 feet down from Tioga Road to the top of the dome.  Nine miles total, which is a long hike for me, but certainly within my range.  I was joined on this adventure by my good friend Jim.

Elegance in Motion

The hike begins on an old paved road.  It looks like the road was probably built in the 1930s and has been since neglected.  the road descends 350 feet and ends at the first of several small creeks that have to be crossed.  None of the creeks were very deep, but the thought of hiking a handful of miles in soggy socks wasn't too appealing, so we crossed carefully.

Aaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

Pick me out a winner, Bobby.

The next stretch of the trail was pretty flat.  It wound through a pine forest full of fallen trees.  It was looking like it was going to be a pretty easy hike.  We were feeling pretty good, perhaps even a little manly.  You know, rugged and outdoorsy, real Jedediah Smith types.

See, you know there's a 'but' coming, right?  I think I've done a pretty good job setting that up.

I haven't mentioned my sweet blue hat.  It was a beaut.  I forgot my Death Valley hat, so I had to pick something up on the way to Yosemite.  The place we stopped had quite a selection to choose from, especially if you're into camouflage and/or glitter.  I found me a sure-fire chick magnet.

Half Dome

Anyway, after about a mile and a half of easy hiking we had to climb up to the top of Indian Ridge.  I was pretty sure it was a 700 or 800 foot climb.  It kicked my butt.  I had to stop at the top to catch my breath.  We were at 8100 feet above sea level, so I don't feel too badly about it, but when I got home I checked the elevation and we'd only climbed 350 feet, basically back to the same elevation we'd started at on Tioga Road.  That's kind of pathetic even considering the elevation.  I definitely have to start hitting the bicycle machine.  Not tonight, of course.  Tomorrow.

Top of North Dome from Indian Ridge

We hiked down a bit to some spectacular views of Yosemite Valley from Indian Ridge.  North Dome was directly in front of us at the bottom of a steep hill.  Neither Jim nor I had any desire to go any farther.  We stayed where we were, ate some lunch and congratulated ourselves on not committing what would have surely been martyrdom without a cause on the side of Indian Ridge.

While we ate we looked for hikers on the top of Half Dome.  I thought I saw one at one point but wasn't sure.  I snapped a few pictures with the zoom and at least half a dozen people can be seen along the rim in every shot.  They were there, we just couldn't see anyone with our old man eyes.  Also, while we ate a young couple passed us and went on down to North Dome without so much as pausing to catch their breaths.  Our only consolation was that their car was still parked in the parking lot when we drove by on our way out of the park.  Clearly, they lacked the wisdom their elders were showing by not hiking beyond their natural abilities.  A man has got to know his limitations.

Hikers on Half Dome

On our way back, a dude passed us jogging up Indian Ridge.  Show off.  He passed us coming back, too, beating us to our cars by a quarter of a mile or so.  Jim thought we should have sprinted up to our cars, blocking off the trail so he couldn't pass us in the process.  It was a great plan, unfortunately the will to execute was beaten out by survival instinct.  We just watched in awe as he rode off on his motorcycle to his his next manly adventure.

Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel

We only saw a few other people on the trail all day.  I've read that 90% of the visitors to Yosemite only see Yosemite Valley, which I can certainly understand considering how magical that place is.  However, as I get to know other areas of the park it makes me a little sad to think about what people are missing.  This park has so much to offer.

Olmstead Point

After the hike, we drove a little farther East on Tioga Road to Olmstead Point.  Talk about amazing views. From the Point you can see the high end of Yosemite Valley. On the opposite side of the point is Tenaya Lake, which I suspect might be the location for my next Yosemite adventure.

There are a lot of glacial erratic boulders on and around Olmstead Point.  I'm surprised there are any still there.  They look like they're just waiting for somebody to come along and roll them off the hill.  I know I was tempted, I don't see how any could have survived the decades of tourists who felt the same temptation.

Black Bear at Crane Flat

We saw the bear on our way out of the park.  She was in a meadow near Crane Flat.  She was a lot farther away than the bear I saw last week.  This was more like seeing a bear in a zoo rather than seeing a bear in the wild.  Still, it was exciting.  Seeing a bear is seeing a bear.  I think I'm learning their language.