August 29 Yosemite Village to Merced Lake

                                                                   Current Day.                           Trip to Date

Distance walked- miles                                    14.6                                      27.0

Gross climb- feet.                                           3,720                                    7,370

Gross descent- feet.                                          500                                     4,150

Net climb-feet.                                              3,220                                     3,220

Song of the Day- Rehab by Amy Winehouse

They tried to make me go to rehab but I said, 'No, no, no.'

We woke up at 6 am this morning, ready to go.  But of course, then we had to go down to the little coffee shop and get our morning latte's.  And once you have a latte, you need yogurt and fruit to go with it.  Before you know it, it's almost 7:15 before you actually hit the trail.

Today was a strenuous walk of over 14 miles to Merced Lake, at an altitude of 7300 feet.  We had a total climb of 3700 feet.  Along the way, we passed several landmarks of Yosemite, including Nevada falls and half dome.   After passing Half Dome, we came upon an area called Little Yosemite, followed by several miles of very deep sand trails.  Although much of this section was relatively flat, it was very strenuous and tiring on the legs.  Plus it was about 90 degrees and hot.

Here is Linda at one of our stops along the way.

Linda and Corey going through a rocky area:

We had several donkey packs pass us on the way.  Yosemite uses donkeys to deliver food and provisions to the camps.  I understand that each camp is serviced about 4 days per week.  The camps have no electricity, other than a very small solar panel for one light.  

Around 4:00, we arrived at the Camp at Merced Lake.   This camp has 17 tents with 4 cots in each tent.  We have been assigned a 4th roommate for the night, a nice man from Merced named Rod.  The camp also has a shower and bathroom facility.  Our tent is perhaps 100 yards from the showers and bathrooms.  The shower was somewhat rustic, but refreshingand after a long hot day on the trail.  The camp tomorrow does not have a shower facility. 

This trip is a little bit like going to rehab.  No alcohol, no cell phones, no Internet!  We later learned that you can actually hire the donkeys to make deliveries to the camps at a cost of $5 per pound!  So, some of the people here have wine brought by the donkeys!  We are sticking to water and coffee for the next four days.

There is a group of about 12 people at the camp who are on a horse trip.   They travel from camp to camp on horses. And they have a pack of donkeys that takes their stuff.  It is quite a diverse group of people at the camp.  At dinner tonight we sat with a couple of guys from New Jersey, a husband and wife who just got out of medical school and a couple guys from the bay area.  All very nice people.  The female doctor was having problems with blisters on her feet and didn't know what to do.  Linds later went to their tent and helped the Dr.  fix her blisters!  How's that for a turn of events?!