Settling In

Sunday 10/8/2023

Sunday morning I got up early and went down to the breakfast lounge to take my quiet time.  Another lady, when she saw me with my Bible remarked how amazing it is, and how unusual, to see so many people in the same lounge that morning doing Bible studies (herself included) - she wondered if there was a Bible conference or something, but we knew of none.  

After breakfast we left for the campsite, about two and a half hours away.  The campsite we had reserved was about 90 minutes into Yosemite National Park, buried deep in the thick of tall woods and endlessly winding roads.   The site was the first of a dozen or so along a small creek, hidden three winding miles away from the main road: Tamarack Flat Campground.  The site itself, thankfully, was more secluded than some of the others, though a further walk from the restrooms.   Each site included a picnic table, a fire pit, and a bear box.  The bear box, a large metal box with a base about 6-inches off the ground and the top about 3 feet higher, is where all food stuff, deodorant, and the likes Must be kept at all times.  If a ranger would find any of those contents even in our cars, we could be fined up to $5,000; the bears can rip open car doors to get food stuff inside.  The bear box is meant to keep its contents safe from bears.  

As we traveled to the campsite we drove through a long underground tunnel. 

The end of the tunnel opened up to this view

We got some great views of Yosemite Valley on our 1.5 hour drive to through the park to our campsite. 

Below is one of those views, the face of El Capitan. 

Once we arrived at the campsite, Alex & Mikayla, who had arrived first parked and walked to the registration table.  Jonathan, Abi, & I arrived moments later and decided to unpack.   Unfortunately we found that Alex & Mikayla had locked their car (which had a lot of our supplies in it). Fortunately, though, we realized they had left the sunroof open.  Abi climbed in their car via the sunroof to unlock the doors.  Unfortunately, again, this caused another problem, it set the car alarm off.  

We set up our three tents and took the afternoon to settle in.   In the evening we cooked foil-wrapped meals of chicken and potatoes in the coals of the fire.   We were allowed to gather fallen branches and logs in the woods nearby to use as kindling and fire fuel, as long as the fire stayed in the pit.

Some of the views of our campsite and the nearby surroundings: 

Abi & Alex photo-shooting 

A beam of sun shining into the forest:

Food prep for our evening tinfoil meal

This was our makeshift way to keep some of the drinks cold, since we didn’t have ice yet. Place the drinks in a bag, secure them both to the edge of the mountain ice-cold water and right in the running flow of water, and weigh the bag down to ensure it stays under water.  Then wait a hour or two.  

The entry road to our sight.  Our campsite was just a hundred feet or so to the right of this picture.  On the left were some interesting and stunning rock formations. 

The Bear Box stuffed full at night - it was cool enough at night, even items not in the cooler stayed cool.  

Below are a slew of other pictured taken by Abi, Alex, Mikayla & Jonathan of this first day at the campsite.

I was the primary wood gatherer, which included snapping the sticks into sizes appropriate for the fire pit.