I had two goals for today – to climb to the top of Moro Rock and to not be chased by a bear in Crescent Meadow. I had a 50% success rate:

Moro Rock: This large rock is one of the more prominent geological features in the park. As some of you may know, I have a very specific type of “fear of heights” – fear of losing my balance and falling. That’s because I do lose my balance easily – I’ve been known to look up to photograph a sequoia and fall over backwards. Anyway, in 2004 I made it about halfway up the rock before I chickened out and gave up. I set a goal for myself of making it to the top this time. Unfortunately, a combination of things – wearing driving shoes with slippery soles on loose sand on the rock, about 50 more pounds on me than in 2004, and the previously mentioned fear of heights led me to turn back about 75′ (vertical) from the top of the rock.

Not getting chased by a bear in Crescent Meadow: While this may sound like an odd goal, also in 2004, I was hiking on the High Sierra Trail in Crescent Meadow when I met a bear:

(I tell people the bear was blurry because he was nervous).

Anyway, the goal today was to not meet another bear. I succeeded – no bears in sight.

I then decided to visit Crystal Cave. The second half of the road to the cave is not recommended for Atoms. After you get to the parking lot at the end of the road, there is a 1/2 mile hike down to the cave. Going down wasn’t bad – getting back to the top was, shall we say, “challenging”. They do have a sign that says “not recommended for people in poor physical condition”. I have discovered that I qualify.

After I got back to the parking area and drove back down the access road, it rained briefly. One of the things you notice in an Atom that you don’t get in a regular car is the scents. Sometimes (like when driving by a cattle feedlot) that’s not good. Other times (like Sequoia after the rain) it is fantastic. They should bottle that smell and sell it. The closest I’ve ever come to this smell back home is Cedar Pond, one of the mostly off-limit areas of the Clinton Reservoir watershed.

Pictures coming when I get a faster Internet connection.

Update – a whole bunch of pictures:

Near the top of Moro Rock:

That zigzag on the top is the road:

The railing in the center of the picture is as far as I made it up the rock:

The Forest Service was doing a “controlled burn” to clear debris on the ground. They had finished the area by Crescent Meadow, but the drive to there involved going through some pretty heavy smoke. By the way, this is the kind of picture where I fall over when taking it:

Here’s what the woods in the back of Crescent Meadow look like after the burn:

A hand-held shot of some of the formations in Crystal Cave. That’s my flashlight beam lighting up the center. I have some practice (scroll about halfway down the page) doing this:

Fat people need not apply (that’s me!):

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 15th, 2010 at 9:25 pm and is filed under The Trip. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.