A backpacking trip in Yosemite National Park- A story about friendship, movie trivia, nocturnal spiders, cracked radiators, and trust.

This past week I had the honor of going on my first backpacking trip with seven wonderful friends in Yosemite National Park. I've been hiking and camping for a number of years and I did a month long bike-packing trip last June but never have I done a multi-day backpacking thru hike like this. My friend Alan planned this trip back in the beginning of the year and it's all that we've been talking about since then. The trip itself changed a number of times due to not being able to reserve a permit or fires closing areas, but we did finally settle on one through the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne because it was first come first serve for the permit.

I got a leave of absence from work for almost the entire month of August because I wanted to spend time with my sisters and brother up north in Washington and in Vancouver B.C. so this trip fell into the tail end of my leave. The day that I was leaving on this trip I went to visit my brother in Rialto to pick up a few things and just hang out. I ended up skating and playing basketball with my nieces and nephew and with one jump shot my phone slipped right out of my back pocket and shattered on the asphalt. I wasn't even upset, I just placed the phone on the porch and kept on playing with my family. It wasn't until I was leaving that I realized the screen was shattered so severely that the phone was not of any use, which became an inconvenience but was more of an excuse to really enjoy this trip.

I decided to drive my trusty honda civic that has been on plenty of long trips. I had no doubt that it could get us around to where we needed to go. That Sunday night I picked up my two friends, Travis and Taylor around midnight and we met up with the other carpool group before we hit the road. I let Travis and Taylor know right away that I hadn't gotten any sleep that day so if I didn't feel up for driving I'd let them know right away and one of them could take over.

The drive to Yosemite was smooth, the three of us talked and talked which is always a great way to stay alert in the middle of the night. Right as we were entering the highway that goes into Yosemite, we all stopped at the gas station for a little break. I remember the sun was coming up at this point, Travis fell asleep in the backseat and I asked Taylor if she could drive the rest of the way which she respectfully accepted.

The drive into Yosemite off the 395 was absolutely unreal and the most picturesque scenery I've seen in my life. We weren't even in the park yet and I was in pure awe at the beautiful streams, the way the morning light hit the very tips of these tall mountains, the fog sitting in the canyons below, and the green everywhere.

When we got into the park we were concentrated on getting our first nights campsite and trying to snag a permit for our backpacking adventure. We were successful at the campsite but didn't get the permit because our group of 8 was a big one and a few people ahead of us were doing the same trail as us. So we decided that we'd stay an extra night and try for the permit the next morning.

The next morning came around and I remember waking up with the morning light, Alan and I talked about getting up around 5:50am the night before with him being our alarm clock. Not knowing what time it was, I walked over to my car to change and when I checked the time in the car, I realized it was 6:30am so in a slight panic but mostly with a heart full of hope and determination, I started the car and left right away half asleep to the permit station without waking up Alan. When I got there, there were two people in front of me which made me feel good about our chances of claiming a permit. I talked to them and neither of them were doing the same trail as us so Alan showed up not too long after that, we laughed about not waking up when we planned and I switched places with Tommy so I could go back to camp to make breakfast for everyone. After waiting for about 4 hours, we finally got our permit and we celebrated by going to Tenaya Lake to chill out and relax for the day.

So finally Wednesday morning comes around, we make sure all of us are gear ready, campsite cleaned up, and off we go. Since we had three cars we were able to set up a caravan for after the trip. We started at White Wolf campground and the puzzler started as well. Before the trip I wanted to share a puzzle for each day of the backpacking trip, with my phone busted and that being the primary place that we wrote them all down, I only had one memorized but it ended up being a really good one.

Here is everyone trying really hard to figure out the puzzler.

This is a portrait of Dylan I took with him alongside a baby pine tree. This was my first time meeting Dylan, who is Alan's younger brother. Dylan was a joy to be around and he reminded me of what a younger heart is like. Dylan is 18 in this photo but the time that he might be reading this, he will be 19 years old. I enjoyed all the phrases that Dylan had for certain situtaions, one of my favorites was, "R.I.P" and he would say it just like that referring to me almost landing on my back cliff jumping, or stories being shared about near death experiences. His atitude was hella cool, and he was chill to be around. We also rocked the same REI pack, twins! Thanks Dylan for being a rad young man and for being down for EVERYTHING!

"okay I'm a guy. I live a pretty normal life. And one day I'm given a choice to change that" "THE MATRIX!!!"

The first day of our 3 day trip was a good one. We did lots of miles, I think about 12, and most of it as I remember was downhill. We played lots of games, guessing movies and tv shows with the most ambiguous hints, met two other backpackers on the same route as us while passing them on the first downhill, and got sprinkled on with some light rain and we could hear the rumbling of thunder in the distance.

Taylor taking a water break as the grey clouds loomed overhead.

Just chilling in jurassic park, no big deal.

As we approached a broken down bridge, we knew we were close to our first stopping point for the night in Pate Valley, we just had to find a good campsite to stop at. After some searching Travis with his eagle eyes spotted one of the best campsites I've ever stayed at, it had some good ground, lots of fallen trees and wood that we could use for a campfire, and it was about 100 yards away from the Tuolumne River which was nice treat.

Everyone settling in for the night at our first campsite in the backcountry, somewhere in Pate Valley.

Alan taking a little break.

Jon, Travis, and Taylor settling in for the night after a bath in the river.

The only campfire while backpacking and it was a special one. 

The first night was memorable for me because of how serene it was to be outside like that. I always forget how beautiful it is to sleep outside from away from the cities and the lights until I'm doing it again. The perseids meteor shower was still taking place during our trip and I remember Taylor and Javier were one of the first ones to lay down around the campfire staring up at the night sky and a few moments later, they both yell in excitement about a gorgeous shooting star that tailed across the sky. From that point on I was determined to concentrate on the sky. Laying there I could hear every sound happening in that moment, the fire crackling, mumblings of conversations, the powerful sounds of the river behind us, the light wind moving the leaves. I remember feeling happy just looking up being grateful for existing.

The next day was one for the books. I didn't take a single photo this day, I just took it all in with my eyes. It was scorching hot on Thursday morning and that got us moving right when the sun peaked up. We did our morning thing, cleaned up, packed up and we were ready to take on our second day. At this point, a lot of us were sore at the hips, shoulders, or legs. Fitting a pack correctly is key but even then you're going to have aches and pains because of the weight and mileage of each day. But what was evident early on was that our group was made up of tough freaks that would trudge on no matter the pain. Thursday was a long day full of unexpected situations, like Jon and Taylor being stung by bees out of nowhere, Taylor being the more severe case with multiple stings to the ankle.

Taylor's portrait with her battle scars to show. Mad props to my homie for a long list of reasons but mainly being one tough creature. She dealt with a gnarly bee attack, nocturnal spiders (her legitimate phobia), and having to backpack through the wilderness with a bunch of guys. Having Taylor be on this trip was awesome because when we are at work, we are always so excited talking about hikes, camping, and possible trips outside. So it's dope to experience all the things we constantly talk about and learn so much as well. Taylor and I work in footwear together at REI so we are show nerds and always check out the kinds of footwear people wear on the trails. This is actually the second portrait I took of Taylor because I had a feeling that the first one I got didn't really capture her accurately, I really like how this second one turned out.

As the second day moved along after the morning bee attack, Travis and Tommy stumbled upon a beautiful cliff right off the trail. They had the idea of jumping off of it. I've jumped off a few rocks into some water before but nothing as high as the one that day. I liked that all 8 of us were down to jump off that scary thing, usually that isn't the case but it was calling to us and the water was so nice. I had a pause when it was my turn and I remember everyone one encouraging me from below, tell me that I had it and I could do it. It's pretty cool when you can conquer fears with the support of good people.

Travis is what I would call a backpacking angel, he was there for us at every moment. When someone was in need, he was on top of it. He even read Jurassic Park to us for two nights of that week which was such a treat after a long tiring day. If there was trash on the trail, Travis was the first to pack it out, he's just that great of a guy. Thanks Travis for helping everyone feel good, being such a generous and kind friend, and one of the best dudes ever. Here he is near Waterwheel falls.

On the second evening of the backpacking trip, Travis, Jon, and Alan took off from the main group to scout ahead to find a campsite near waterwheel. Tommy wasn't feeling so good due to heat exhaustion that day so the rest of our group stayed behind on the trail near a campsite that looked promising. After an hour or so, we were able to meet back up and just went with the closer campsite. And enter the nocturnal spiders.

As the sun was setting, everyone was setting up their tents, filtering water at the river near by, making dinner, just the normal stuff. And Jon tells everyone that he can't find his camera bag, he soon realizes that he left it up ahead on the trail when he went scouting for that further campsite. So I volunteered to go with him to get it because it wasn't a guarantee that it would be there tomorrow, we try our best to run the trail fast, and it felt great with no backpack weight but it also felt terrible because we were so exhausted and I hadn't eaten dinner. Jon found it where he left it about a mile and a half in and when we finally got back to camp, we saw that everyone was in their tents and then Travis comes up to us and tells us that there are spiders everyone. As he is pointing his headlamp at a nearby tree we see that it's covered in these daddy long leg looking spiders, I needed to drop a #2 and I was starving so I didn't even react but the main reason why he was telling us was to let us know that Taylor has a serious phobia of spiders (like for reals) and that we should try our best to not make it a big deal. So after I handle my business, my backpacking partner and main guy JAVIER had my dinner ready for me!!!! So after we worked together to clear the outside of the tent of these crazy spiders, I snuck in the tent with lightening speed to make my dinner and finally end my day. Javier and I spent some time talking about the spiders and he told me how they noticed the spiders everywhere once Jon and I left to find the camera. I guessed that they might be nocturnal only because when we first arrived at camp, I didn't see a single one.

In the morning, take a guess about what happened to those spiders? ALMOST EVERY SINGLE ONE WAS GONE, OUT OF SIGHT! We were all happy about it because they were literally covering everything in the camp. So maybe they were nocturnal? Who knows, so after a near encounter with a rattle snake near the campsite, we all packed up and started our last day of our backpacking trip.

Here is Jon hanging out with some beautiful incense-cedar trees. Jon spent more than a month in Alaska working and he was able to get back and make it on this trip with us. Having Jon around is always great because of his constant intrigue, beautiful spirit, and joy he shares with everyone around him. I look up to Jon in a lot of ways because he is so talented and skillful at so many things and I know I can always reach out to him and learn. I also admire that he is constantly learning and exploring himself and I admire that spirit so dearly.

At one point Jon and I went a little ahead of the group after we passed Waterwheel falls and we were just in awe of how magnificent this valley was. Walking along the river for most of this trip was overwhelming stunning to look at. This is a photo of just looking up at the mountains that surrounded us on both sides. 

Without Alan this trip would've never existed. He was determined from the get go to make this happen and one thing about Alan that is dope is that he follow through with what he says. I don't know how many times plans are made but if both sides don't put the effort into making it real, then nothing ever happens. So thank you Alan for making this trip happen for all of us. Thank you for organizing and planning it, making it easy for us in so many ways. Thank you for being a leader as well, getting us donuts on our zombie drive up, and being so willing and open to sudden changes in plans. It's always a joy to be around Alan and if you didn't know, he is superrrr good at movie trivia, the guy is practically a encyclopedia for movies and tv shows. Thanks for being there for Tommy when he almost died and everyone else in our group. Much love to you my brother. I asked Alan for his portrait in front of a peaceful stretch of the Tuolumne River.

One of the many necessary water breaks during our trek. 

I'm trying to get the homies Taylor and Javier sponsored by Gregory Mountain Products.

On this last day we did run into a Yosemite park ranger and when that happens they ask for your permit, since I was ahead of the group, I just let her know that Alan had the permit and they would eventually meet in no time. She just asked me a few questions about where we stayed, and I also let her know about the dead black bear we saw back towards Pate Valley that was on the rivers edge. She told me that a few people had reported that already and they were aware.

Here is Tommy in front of a section of Waterwheel Falls. Tommy carried so much camera gear because he is that dedicated to his craft and passion even though it made his pack not so friendly. It goes to show the determination Tommy has, another example of that was how he trudged on a day after some intense heat exhaustion, but he powered through that last day like a pro. Tommy is so kind and always up for adventure. He is in such a good part of his life right now and I couldn't be happier for him. We had this cool moment before the start of our trip as we were dropping off cars for the caravan, on the way to white wolf we got to talk about the good things that have been going on and that was awesome to bond with him in that way.

Towards the late afternoon we all split off into three groups, I ended up finishing our hike with Taylor and Javier and we talked about our kid personalities and how what was still similar and different about them. We also talked about humanity, being a good persyn, and how excited we were to finish the hike, have a late lunch at a food spot near Tuolumne meadows, and how grateful we all were to finishing the hike soon. The things we saw on this last day are some of the most gorgeous from the entire trip- I especially liked how the river that we followed all week started to slow down and seemingly stop from the looks of how calm and peaceful the water was. Being surrounded by water all week was soothing and it made me think that one day I want to live by the water, it's good for my soul.

The Tuolumne River moved through this canyon with so much power and grace.

Always remembering to look up. 

The end of our backpacking trip was bittersweet because Tommy, Alan, and Dylan were splitting off and heading to Fresno and home but we were able to say our goodbyes and thank yous before we parted ways.

This was when the double rainbow blessings began, and other really great moments to say "good job on the thru hike you all, now get rewarded with some out of this world beautiful scenes and perfect timing moments.

This being my first time in Yosemite, I didn't get to see the Valley floor where Half Dome, El Capitan, Yosemite Falls and all the other amazing sites to experience there BUT I didn't need to this time around. I didn't feel like I needed to see more, I just wanted to feel comfortable and cozy with what was in front of me. Here was a little treat off the highway that Jon pointed out. Thats Half Dome way in the back. The sun was starting to set and the way the light hit these mountains was breathtaking. 

So our plan was to head to Bishop for the night to camp out one more day and then make our way home slowly the next day on Saturday. Little did we know we still had so much adventure in front of us.

As we headed back east towards the 395 leaving the park, we see Lembert dome in the distance with this beautiful dusk light hitting the west slope so we stop off the side of the road so Jon can get some photos and then we saw the rainbows. It was one of those moments where you stop and think about all the decisions that you made that led up to this special moment and if you made any other choice, you would've missed out. For me, these kinds of moments remind me to follow my heart and have confidence in my decision making, I'm so glad that we decided Bishop was the way to go that night.

I like this one because it looks like Jon is shouting towards the rainbow.

Heres Jon taking in the double rainbow.

That night we made it to some hot springs, coincidentally bumped into two friends that live and work in Yosemite Valley, and tried to get Jon a date with a cool cashier at a gas station. Jon also forgot his camera for the second time so we came up with the, "Phones, Keys, Wallet, and Camera" check for Jon every time he leaves a place. From that point on, we were enforcing hard. We made it to our campsite in Bishop later that night and fell asleep to Travis reading Jurassic park.

Mustache Brothers.

So it's Saturday, we took our time packing up our gear and making sure our campsite was clear and rode into town to just take it slow before we headed back home. We stopped at the best breakfast spot, visited a used outdoor gear store, spent a while at a book store, learned about the wilderness photographer from the bay area, Galen Rowell and his wife Barbara Rowell at Mountain Light gallery, and stopped at the local grocery store to pick up a few things to head to a nearby lake to hang out. This is where the cracked radiator comes into this story.

So like I mentioned earlier, I drove my trusty honda civic on this trip because I had the utmost confidence in it especially since I've taken it to so many places in the past. Well as we were climbing up this long stretch of road gaining elevation with each rotation of the tires, my car began to hit those high rpms which is not unusual at all. I actually drove on the same road to the same lake a few years prior and the same thing happened, having a car full of people this time around probably made it a little more difficult but we were moving. Once we were practically at the lake and ready to park, a plume of smoke starts to gush from my car hood and the temperature gauge spikes up all the way to "H" and Javier actually alerts me right away and says pull over so I do in the first spot I can which is the parking lot at the very end of the road. So kinda perfect timing.

So engine off, in park, we open the hood, and it's steaming. And we are able to locate where all of the steam is coming from, it's coming from a small crack, maybe pinky length, hairline size. So it makes complete sense why the engine overheated right away, the coolant and water wasn't able to reach the engine to cool it off because it was escaping through the crack before it even had a chance.

So with the help of everyone, we decide the best route is to somehow get the car back down the hill into town and Javier knew of a product, JB Weld(a super strong putty) that could seal the crack so we could make it home. I of course felt a little stressed, worried, and guilty that my car broke down and I was responsible for getting my friends home and thinking about all these possible solutions so I buckled down and was on a mission to get DUCK TAPE! Yes my readers, duck tape. Because in my mind, we I could duck tape the crap out of that crack just enough to get us back down the hill without overheating, then we could get to the auto store, get this putty and we were on our way.

So I tired a few people and failed and Travis being the great guy that he is, was able to get some from a kind stranger, an entire roll! So carefully we put this tape on, piece by piece, making sure to get it down nice! And we did, so all that was left to do was get Blue Dream, a name we came up with for my car on the spot, get Blue Dream down the hill.

The Double Rainbow 743 pit crew ready to go after the beautiful duck tape job we just did.

A photo of myself that Jon took, trying to remain super positive and fist bumping blue dream.

 So long story short is I'm coming down this massive hill in neutral because this is what was recommended by multiple people inside and outside of our pit crew which makes sense but my car was flying down this hill and I tried to stay off the brake if I could especially on straightaways so I didn't kill my brakes. It was until I realized I was going 80 in a 55 that we all see a suv cop car coming towards us on the way up the hill as we are going down, and I get on the brakes gently to not obviously let it be known that "uh-oh, I'm going way too fast" but it was too late, the cop turned on their sirens and motioned to us to pull over and it was at this point that we got into the craziest car chase of all ti... just kidding, I pulled over.

So I try to explain my story of the cracked radiator and trying to get into town to fix it and get home and the guy is not listening at all which is typical and I'm not even mad though because I was going 80ish in a 55 (even though it was a massive hill and I never even accelerated and whatever I fucked up) so I get the ticket and off we go continuing our mission to get to the auto store.

We are now down the hill and right when we get onto flat, the cars temperature needle is creeping up slowly again toward "H" so before we can make it to the auto store, we have to pull over. Let it cool down, went over the plan again, and continued on, in no time, that gauge was creeping up again so I pulled over and walked the rest of the way to the auto store with Javier the life saver (savier javier I just made that up).

With Javier knowing whats up, he finds the JB Weld we are looking for, I pick up some sandpaper to clean up the cracked area for nice adhesion of the putty and some coolant to back us up. We meet back up with everyone at the car, move it to a better spot, and apply the goods. That putty stuff is no joke and stuck to my hands pretty good as I mixed it, with Javiers expertise, we applied it nicely and all we had to do was wait to let it cure, about 2-3 hours. So with that, we gather our phones, keys, wallets, and in Jon's case, Camera, and we walked through some neighborhoods in Bishop to a great spot to have dinner.

Saying hi to these two on our evening walk. 

This picture was a lot cooler in my head but I'm still digging it.

Dinner was great and we took our time walking back to the car, I picked up some water from the gas station just incase we need to add some water and coolant on the way home. We wait a few more minutes so we are exactly at the 3 hour cure time. Everyone piles into the car, I turn on the engine and we are on our way home. Travis in the backseat checked on me every 20 minutes or so in the beginning and would say, "Tony, where we at?" referring to the temperature gauge and it was thumbs up response the entire time. When we stopped at the first gas station after driving for a couple of hours, I thanked Javier with a hug on coming up with this brilliant solution to get us home.

So of course I had to leave his portrait until the end.

Here is a portrait of my friend Javier, aka Javmalone, Javi, Javo, life saver savier. Javier was my backpacking partner for the entire trip which meant we shared a tent, food, and carrying things together. I couldn't have asked for a better friend to go through this trip with. He was down to head home with us because of the impending food adventures around Bishop that we talked about all week, and I'm so glad he did because we would've most likely been scratching our heads not knowing how to solve that radiator situation. Javier is one of the most genuine, positive, and kind creatures I've met in my life and I'm grateful for the opportunity to possibly capture some of that in this portrait of him in Glen Alun.

Backpacking and just being outside with all these wonderful people last week was something much needed for the soul and also rejuvenating in so many ways. I'm grateful that I work with so many intelligent and amazing people at my day job and that we are all up to exploring and adventuring together. During this trip I was reminded of all the good that is inside people, the care and passion that others have for the earth, and the respect for the living things in it. Also I was reminded of how powerful and uplifting friendship is, how you can be there for others, keep a positive mental attitude in tough situations and look at the world with a different lens than the one you are used to.


As you know the world has been so unapologetically ugly and brutal and it was nice to see another side of it with some special people. Thank you for taking the time to read my story and thank you to Tommy, Travis, Dylan, Alan, Javier, Taylor, Jon, the lady that came out of the bushes during the double rainbow, the coyote at the last trail junction, the chill bus driver that gave us a ride to our car on the last day, cool gal at the gas station with the best vibes, the pizza we shared before the hot springs, blue dream, NO THANKS to the cop, to all the amazing people that helped us in anyway when we had car troubles, maggie the dog, all the doe's we saw tho, the smoke from the fires deterring most mosquitos all week, and so many more people and things and life.

Peace.