Yosemite (Part 2): Clouds Rest – A lesson in fear and preparation
It’s about 3:30 AM, and I am two and a half miles into a nighttime hike to the summit of Clouds Rest – one of the highest accessible hiking destinations in Yosemite – when my iPhone screen completely froze. And I am all alone. My iPhone was my map for this hike in the dark. It kept me on the path. Already, I had deviated from it briefly, only to see on the AllTrails app that I needed to walk back 30 paces to get on course. The app got me back to the right path – when it was working. In this moment, I paused and cracked a smile. This wasn’t the first time this happened to my phone – although it rarely does. The last time was about six months ago, and as I had always done, I googled how to force restart an iPhone. It’s hard to remember – quickly press the volume up, then the volume down, and then a long press of the side button. But as I prepared for my Yosemite trip and the prospect of hiking alone through the night in darkness, I knew I needed to memorize the force restart – just in case it happened during the trip when there was no cell reception or internet. And now it did! I only slightly cracked a smile because I not only needed my phone to restart, but I needed AllTrails to start back up and resume tracking my hike. If it didn’t, I’d have to abandon the hike. Not only would I certainly miss my goal of reaching the summit for sunrise, but I could not safely navigate the rest of the trail. But after the restart, everything worked! The app was back up and running, and I was on track for the summit at sunrise.
Let’s go back to the beginning. As my readers know, I recently returned from my trip to Yosemite which was mostly focused on my goal of someday climbing to the summit of El Capitan. But my first trip to the valley had to be about more than climbing. It was about learning Yosemite – its land, wildlife, and culture. For the past year, my dream of big wall climbing has had me focused on Yosemite. Films such as Free Solo, The Dawn Wall, and especially Valley Uprising have enlightened me as to what a special place this is. They inspire me to be a part of it. Since I wasn’t climbing to the top of El Cap on this trip, I wanted to experience Yosemite.
One of the special times in the park is the golden hour – either just after sunrise or before sunset, when the light is a different color and the sun’s rays just peek onto the rocks. It is the subject of many Instagram reels that feed my algorithm, so naturally, I had to seek it on my trip. Initially, I had two options for a summit view at sunrise. Either Half Dome – if I could get a permit – or Clouds Rest, which at over 9,000 feet is one of Yosemite’s most spectacular viewpoints. Once I did not get chosen in the lottery for Half Dome, the choice was made for me.
To reach the summit of Clouds Rest for sunrise, the best option was to start at the Sunrise Lake Trail, which is about a 7-mile hike to the top. It was also a 90-minute drive from where I was staying. Realistically, I’d have to start hiking no later than 2:30 AM to ensure I’d get there on time. But the timing was not my concern. I’m an early riser, often waking up before 4 AM on the East Coast, so if I put this early enough in my trip, I surely could manage rising at midnight PT. What really scared me was . . . everything else.
I had never used a headlamp before. Never hiked at night. Never hiked alone. Never done a 14-mile hike – or anything close to it. I doubt I’ve ever hiked much around bears, and if I had, I didn’t know it. I had to learn how to prepare for all of it.
Embracing the outdoors as I have over the past few years has given me resources for this and relationships to utilize. Of course, I could start with ChatGPT, but I needed to verify any plan I came up with – both through reliable sources and from experts. I consulted with friends who have backgrounds in mountaineering, including Patty, my climbing guide. I shared my plan, and it evolved with their feedback. Over the two months that I planned the hike, it went from something I was afraid of to something I was excited for. In fact, as the day approached, it was the sleep that was all I had left to be concerned about. I wasn’t going to get a lot, but I just needed enough to handle the drive, the 9-hour hike, and the drive back.
The hike was not on my first day in Yosemite. That was a climbing day, and ambitiously, the hike was followed by another climbing day. In all, this was to be the most grueling stretch of my week in Yosemite, with some rest built in between the big days that followed. Getting enough sleep to do it all meant cooking dinner for two or three nights at a time; preparing the next day’s food and hydration the evening before; packing my gear ahead of time for the following day; and foregoing the temptation to check a day’s worth of emails if it meant sacrificing sleep because it was the only time that I had access to Wi-Fi. That’s how I would get just enough rest. I also was sure to get as much sleep as possible before the trip. I knew I’d be depleting my reserves throughout the week, so I at least wanted to start with a full tank.
To pack for the hike, beyond the food, electrolytes, and water, I brought a headlamp, flashlight, whistle, Bluetooth speaker, first-aid kit, water filter, and satellite communication device. I set up tracking on the sat comm so that a friend back home could follow my hike online. I also brought hand warmers, gloves, and layers because when I posted my idea on a Yosemite Facebook group before I left for the trip, I met one person who had done it before and mentioned that it can get very cold. She also very much encouraged the adventure – as had everyone else I consulted.
And, as I mentioned above, the day before I left for Yosemite, I googled how to force restart my iPhone and memorized it . . . just in case. And then it happened!
During the brief time it takes for the iPhone to restart, I had enough time to think about what I’d do if it didn’t work, or if the AllTrails app didn’t reconnect, or if I hadn’t thought to memorize the force restart before the trip. I realized during that moment, that I was still prepared. Even though I would not be able to find my way to the top, I felt confident that I could make it back to the trailhead – especially since I had my existing path tracked on the sat comm. I had about an hour and a half until the first light of the day and could take it very slowly until then. And, in the event of any kind of emergency, my sat comm also had an SOS button that would send a rescue communication. And I had my whistle – though I doubt anyone was nearby at that hour. Still, I was calm as the phone booted back up and the app reconnected.
Night time photos during my hike to the summit of Clouds Rest.
I was calm because for two months, I learned what to do. Recognizing that I may not be able to prepare for everything, I was nonetheless confident that I prepared for everything that I could. On my way to Yosemite, I wrote Part 1 of this series about my hopes and dreams for the trip. Anticipating this hike, I said, “I hope I’m as ready as I believe I am.” I was, and after everything was up and running again, I was hopeful I would make it to the summit for the 5:52 AM sunrise. It would be close, but I was on track to get there for the golden hour. Once the first light appeared just after 5 AM, I picked up the pace, as I could better see the terrain ahead.
In the end, I got to the final approach at 5:52 AM and reached the summit about 10 minutes later while taking in the sunrise as I walked the final ridge to the peak. As I came upon the ridge, I was surprised to see two people ahead of me, enjoying the sunrise from the top. Did they start the hike before 2:22 AM when I did? I certainly never saw anyone pass me and felt alone out there throughout the night.
It turned out, I was alone. This couple camped overnight near the summit, and no one else made it up to join us there for the golden hour. In fact, it was hours later, on my way back, that I first saw other hikers ascending the route. Clearly, they started after dawn.
So, on Monday, July 20, I was the only one in Yosemite National Park who hiked to the summit of Clouds Rest for sunrise.
Mission accomplished! The summit during the golden hour.
Then there was the way back. What was pitch black on the way up was full of scenic views overlooking cliffs in daylight. At night, I rarely even knew when I was near the edge of a cliff. I simply focused on the path before me, one step at a time. It was much the same space as what my mind enters while climbing.
The hike back to the trailhead let me see what I could not on the way up.
In the end, the nearly 14-mile hike took me eight hours and 40 minutes to complete, and it ended right by Tenaya Lake, where I finished the day with a nice rest and cool swim before heading back to prepare to climb the next day. One more big day to go before a rest day. Or so I thought.
Tenaya Lake. The perfect spot after a long morning.
It turns out that when I arrived in Tuolumne Meadows to climb the following day, I learned that I had no signal when my guide texted me in the morning that climbing was cancelled due to looming thunderstorms. That meant a welcome rest day one day early. And it meant I could do something big the following day instead. So, it was a good thing I also came prepared to hike Half Dome . . . just in case!
(To be continued . . .)
Aaron