Day 21: Tuolumne Meadows

In the middle of the night we were woken up by high pitched howls of coyotes. Replay, in her adoration of all things wildlife, was much more excited by this than I was. I of course was fearful that the howling would get closer than I so desired. There was one howler that was just to the right of the tent. The idea of only a thin thin piece of material between me and a set of teeth wasn't a very restful thought. The rest of my night was spent tossing and turning!

When we finally decided to leave the tent we looked out to see frost covering the ground. This was definitely the coldest morning yet. My body just wouldn't move fast enough to get warm. I spent the majority of my mourning routine in my sleeping bag and then layered all of my clothes to trap the heat close to my shivering limbs. It wasn't until mile 5 that I started to remove the layers.

Our destination for today was Tuolumne Meadows to resupply and indulge in "real hot food." Tuolumne is the "non valley" part of Yosemite National Park so it has all the amenties any hiker could need. All the trails are well maintained and the trees all have a "T" carved into them. According to my park ranger friend when Theodore Roosevelt first established the park service he had the military act as the park service employees. These men marked the trails with giant "Ts" on them to denote the correct path.

The moment we arrived coffee was ordered and we spent the next 30 minutes ogling the food aisles of the grocery store. Lunch wasn't served until 11:35 am (yes the 5 minutes was very crucial and we were turned around when we went in at 11:30) so we cleaned our water bottles and cookware in the bathroom sink. The bear vaults were empty and we took full advantage of the bear proof trashcans in the parking lot outside of the camp store. Once the clock struck 11:35 we were first in line ordering vegetarian chilli and another cup of coffee.

During lunch we met a group of 4 gentleman who had just finished an extended weekend trip in the the backcountry. They mentioned that VA anyon was a great spot to camp and to watch out for the mosquitos because they were out in full force. We thanked them for the advice and decided that we would try to make it to VA Canyon, but due to the fact that it was 15 miles away we planned for a second campsite for the night.

Somehow around 4:00 we were already 12 miles down the road. VA Canyon was looking better and better plus another gentleman we met while enjoying our afternoon snack mentioned he had stacked wood near VA Canyon.

We arrived at the campsite around 6:00 and celebrated our first 20 mile day with a campfire and a dip in the river's hot tub. Today was truly awesome. We were both grooving in the same pace, our bellies were full and happy, and the evening's campfire and sunset was the icing on our perfect day.