5.24.2011

Wawona, in Yosemite

We weren't at all ready to leave Yosemite Valley, but, it was the weekend, and all the campgrounds were fully booked. We even tried to get a spot in the Southern most campgrounds in the park, in Wawona, but were told they were also full. We knew we had to head South anyway, because that's where the giant sequoias were waiting, in Mariposa Grove. We took our time leaving the valley, stopping to say goodbye at all the many wonders: Goodbye, Half Dome. Goodbye, Yosemite Falls. Goodbye, Cathedral. Adios, El Capitan. Goodbye, BridalVeil. We'll be back. For sure.

We drove South through the park, weaving our way up and down through the forests until we reached the campground at Wawona. We drove up to the park ranger and said the we knew it was a long shot, but might they have an open spot for us? No chance, she said. Ah well, it was worth a shot.

As we were driving to the Wawona Lodge to make a new plan, we saw a Campground Reservations park sign. Without hesitation, Mary Lou turned the RV down the dirt road and to the park trailer. Another RV pulled in right beside us, so Mary quick stepped her way up to the Ranger. Might you have a spot for us tonight? The Ranger said, probably not, but, let me check the system. We watched the little yellow mayflies dart over the long grass in the sunshine while she tapped away at her computer inside. "Is two nights here at the Wawona campground okay for you? It's the very last available spot" she came out asking. "Of course!" we said a little too excitedly. The Polish couple that were waiting behind us walked away crestfallen.

We thanked our lucky stars, parked up and put on our hiking boots. Nicole wanted to hike up to Chilnualna Falls (difficulty: difficult), but Mary Lou demurred and said the Meadow Walk looked much more interesting. We walked across the golf course and followed the old logging road through the forest skirting the Wawona meadow. It smelled like cedar heaven and every step was cushioned by the trail's pine needle blanket.

After about a mile of walking, we both caught movement up ahead and stopped in our tracks. It took a few moments to focus through the dizzying stripes of sunlight and shadow. "Wolves?" Nicole asked. "Coyotes," Mary Lou said. A pair of them, still trotting up the trail towards us. They paused, briefly, sniffed the air, but kept on coming towards us. We instinctively, slowly stepped aside, and it seemed as if they were going to pass right by. At only about fifteen feet away, they veered off the path and walked around us through the meadow. Absolutely silent, they moved gracefully and left us feeling that this sure was a lucky day.

We decided to celebrate our good fortune with a drink at the Wawona Lodge. We took a spot on the porch, ordered some martinis and watched the sunset over the pine trees. We struck up a conversation with the trio next to us. They were from Texas, as we had guessed from the fantastic ostrich boots the gentlemen was wearing. We talked about all we had seen in he Lone Star State. After they went inside for dinner, we chatted with the couple on the other side. Also very charming, he was an English anesthesiologist and she, an Irish nurse who smelled of Joe Malone, Red Roses perfume. Delightful company all around, and it was a lovely way to end our lovely day.

The next morning, we woke up early, put on our hiking shoes and headed into the Mariposa Grove. We had been waiting to see the giant sequoias this whole trip, but really had no idea what to expect. There was snow at the trailhead, and Mary Lou started to wonder if she had made a mistake by wearing her walking sandals instead of sneakers. We hadn't even reached the sequoias yet, but we kept staring up in wonder at the Ponderosa Pines and Cedar trees. Even they were incredibly tall. Towering above us.

The first famous sequoia we met was the Grizzly Giant, one of the oldest and largest in the park. You can read all you want about these ancient trees, but you just don't understand until you are standing at the base, bending backwards to look up the massive trunk, to the short, thick branches. They are just. . . unimaginable. The Grizzly Giant is over 30 feet in diameter, and some of its limbs are over 6 feet in diameter. That's bigger than many of the trees in the grove.

We hiked a half a mile to the next giant, the California Tunnel Tree, carved out in 1895 so that you can walk through it. Another mile to Columbia Tree, the tallest tree in the park, at 290 feet. This brought us into the Upper Grove, where we found ourselves basically alone, walking among these giants. We stopped in a clearing, shifting every few minutes to be in the sunshine filtering down through the trees, and ate our picnic lunch.

We found the Galen Clark Tree, the first sequoia that Galen Clark first saw when he discovered the grove in 1857. Walked past the Fallen Wawona Tunnel Tree, perhaps the most famous tree in the world. The 1881 tunnel through it was 10 feet high and 26 feet long, but then it fell over, after all the visitors and cars ruined the shallow root system.

We were at the Northernmost point in the park and there was no one else around. It was our forest. And it was magical. The fallen tree trunks were sculptures of breaching whales and shipwrecks. The exposed, twisting roots of uprooted trees were bigger than our RV. Rotted logs were tunnels to crawl through and emerge from the other side into a different reality. Blackened, burnt logs were bears hiding behind trees waiting to pounce or giant, evil ravens on the lookout from above.

As we followed the outer loop, we found the Telescope Tree, the Clothespin Tree and finally, the Faithful Couple. The Faithful Couple is two sequoias that have grafted together to produce a combined trunk over 40 feet in diameter and a height of over 250 feet. Two, became one.

Just like Yosemite Valley, we didn't want to leave the Mariposa Grove. We reluctantly got on the last shuttle back to the RV park. We wanted to stay with the trees as long as possible, so we lit a campfire and cooked hotdogs and baked beans. We drank Paso Robles wines until the hotdogs charred and turned crispy. Best hotdogs ever! We stared at the stars and the moon until our fingers and toes started to get cold and then, with a sigh, crawled into bed, to continue the dream of the magic forest.

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