Rainy days and bear captures: Mile 942.5

Written 7/11/14

Posted 7/11/14

First I want to give a shout out to Mike's mom. She sent us a care package stacked full of yummy homemade cookie bars that we snacked on at every trail break. Thank you Barb!!! This was our first care package on the trail and it was so exciting to get some fresh goodies!

Before we left mammoth we swapped out our homemade  tarp tent with our fancy new FlyLite tent from MSR. For those of you who don't know the story, one of my Seattle friends put me in contact with one of the R&D members of Cascade Designs who are in the process of making one of the first ultra light weight tents on the market designed for thru hikes. They gave us a prototype to try out on our trip, so we are officially product testing the FlyLite tent! It was put to the test immediately because we experienced our first rain on the trail the day we left Mammoth. We finished our hike in the rain and attempted to set up the new tent for the first time. For future reference, I would definitely learn how to set up your tent before it's pouring rain and mosquitos are swarming you because it took us about 30 minutes to figure out how this new tent works. Once we got it setup we climbed inside, still soaking wet, closed the door and proceeded to kill the mosquitos that got inside (our normal nightly routine). One good thing about a storm is the cool colors in the sky.

We woke up the next morning fairly early because we were soaking wet from all the condensation that had built up inside the tent. We laid out our sleeping bags and backpacks on the rocks and are some breakfast while we let our things dry out. I was a little discouraged by the tent performance the first night but wasn't willing to give up on the FlyLite quite yet. Luckily it hasn't rained again and we've grown to like the tent the past 3 nights. It has tons of space inside, is a breeze to set up, and it's super light (lighter than our tarp tent!).  But we still prefer ours.

After we left Mammoth we rushed to our next stop, Tuolume Meadows, in two days. The terrain is getting easier so we were able to cruise through those 36 miles and arrived earlier than planned. They had an amazingly well stocked

grocery store, so we spoiled ourselves with fresh strawberries, chips, and beer. We bumped into a few friends there and had a fun night at the backpackers campground. We joined Story-teller, Tasty, and Crawfish around the campfire for some beers and stayed awake till 10pm! That may be the latest we've stayed up in the last 4 weeks!

From Tuolome Meadows, we wanted to depart from the PCT to take a side trip to Yosemite Valley. It's a bit out of the way, but we were so close that we couldn't pass up leaving the mountains just yet. We got permits to do a single-night trip to hike into the valley and we chose a short 17 mile course. We ascended up to Cloud's Rest the first day which stands at 9,900 feet; one of the highest points in the area, towering above the valley floor. Cloud's Rest is a popular day hiking destination but we were zooming by the day hikers with our strong PCT legs hauling our backpacks. It feels so good to be super strong! Cloud's Rest was well worth the climb, the views were amazing! 

That night we camped near the trail junction to Half Dome, the other destination we had lined up. The ranger that gave us our permit warned us that where we were staying has some of the highest bear activity in Yosemite, which we were naturally very excited to hear since we hadn't seen one yet. As soon as we got to our campsite, a ranger greeted us and informed us that the bear management team was camping nearby tonight. There were reports of a pesky bear that had been getting ino people's food and possibly nosing around in their tents and they were there to try and capture said bear!  Their plan was to leave a messy campsite to lure the bear in, then dart it with a sedative so they could tag and place a radio collar on it to track it's whereabouts and behavior. At first they told us to stay in our site and yell if we saw the bear, and basically stay out of their way as to not interfere with the process. But wouldn't you know it, Miss Problem Bear was spotted about 50  yards from our campsite, and that's where they darted her! 

Mike and I were laying in our tent, playing cards, when all of a sudden we heard four sets of feet rushing by our tent into the woods. After the bear was properly sedated, they came over and told us that would could gather round and watch if we wanted. Of course we rushed over, and Mike and I, plus about 6 other lucky campers, got quite a show. It was a 175 lb female black bear, which wasn't all that menacing up close, although she was unconscious. The lead team biologist was really cool and let us get within a few feet of the procedure, and gave us the play by play of what was going on. They put tags on both her ears, a microchip in the scruff of her neck, and a GPS radiocollar necklace. They also took skin, hair, and blood samples for analysis. 

Although it was cool to see all this happen up close, we couldn't help but feel bad for the bear. All this poking, prodding, and attaching seemed pretty invasive and excessive, but we were told it was for her own good. If they couldn't change her behavior of making her rounds from campsite to campsite every night, which seemed to be her routine, she likely would start getting aggressive towards people, which would end in her euthanization. It's just kind of sad that that is the course of action they have to take. Although it's the protocol for saving a "problem bear's" life, it's the fault of sloppy campers that caused her behavior. A few careless people that didn't properly store their food in a way that bears can't get it (something you're supposed to be trained for before being issued a backcountry permit) gave this bear a taste for human food. And that's why she's been stopping by these campsites, and ultimately might be responsible for her demise. It must be a frustrating job being a part of bear management in the area, as they are likely fighting a losing battle in educating people on camping etiquette in bear country.  Anyway, they finished their work and let the bear sleep off the drugs and be in peace. This was a very unique event to witness and we feel privileged for that, but we hope the next bear we encounter will be wild and in their element. 

The next morning we got up early and started the short 2.5 mile climb up to Half Dome. We wanted to beat the crowds to the cables so we could climb in peace. With our light day packs we cruised to the top in about an hour and a half. The cables were steeper than I remembered, and the rock was more slick than I remembered.

It was pretty frightenening because it was so exposed and dangerous. I kept thinking "how did my mom ever let me do this when I was little!?!?" But we made it up and down safe by 9am, before the big rush of people started the cables.

Last night we stayed in the backpackers camp in Yosemite Valley, which we'll be calling home for the next 3 nights! We have a long layover here because we'll be hanging out with Mike's dad tomorrow all day and then hanging around to watch the World Cup Finals on Sunday! There are a ton of tourists in the Valley but we're doing our best to fit in. We even took showers this morning! Oh man it feels good to be "clean" again. Looking forward to being real people for a few days before heading back to the PCT.