Universe smiling down on hiker trash

You know those perfect days in life, when the universe seems to set everything up just right, when all the stars are aligned and every piece falls perfectly into place? This was one of those days.

For the last 200 miles we'd been hiking on the joint Pacific Crest Trail and John Muir Trail, which starts at Mt. Whitney. Only the final stretch of the JMT diverges from the PCT. We PCTers go north from Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite National Park, and the JMT wraps around and drops into Yosemite Valley. Many PCT hikers decide to take a couple of days and finish the last stretch of the John Muir Trail, then take a bus back to T. Meadows to go north on the PCT. I was on the fence about it because it means hiking an extra 20+ miles on your "rest day" and entering the Disneyland circus of Yosemite Valley. But on the plus side, you can visit Cloud's Rest, a granite peak that looks Half Dome and all of Yosemite Valley and you can even climb up the cables to the top of Half Dome (if you have a permit or you're willing to go permit-less after hours).

My Australian buddy, Focus, convinced me to accompany him for the hike. After making a new friend named Ian on the shuttle, we set off on a slightly abbreviated version of the JMT from Tenaya Lake and hiked up to Cloud's Rest, where we proceeded to spend an AWESOME afternoon. On a perfect bluebird afternoon we watched the day hikers come, picnic, and photograph. We mended our packs with dental floss and an upholstery needle. We napped, clipped our toenails, made friends with birds and marmots, did some laundry with drinking water, brewed coffee, ate cheesecake and magic Mazama bars, and lounged. Mostly we just looked over the Yosemite Valley and wondered at all of the beautiful places encompassed in that little crevasse of green earth.

Arriving to Cloud's Rest

Hard core hikers spending a full 5 hours lounging on Cloud's Rest, looking over Yosemite Valley

At around 4pm we gathered our possessions and descended to the base of Half Dome (the prominent rock formation in the photos). After passing hordes of campers at Little Yosemite Valley, we found the secret campsite that a hiker had told us about: a sandy shelf on a ledge over a small river valley with the perfect view of the back of Half Dome. After a quick dinner and cup of coffee, we grabbed our headlamps and started heading for Half Dome around 7pm. The goal was to hit the summit right for sunset. 

We couldn't help but play a bit on the beautiful climb up there

Approaching the cables

Looking down. 

 After climbing a couple thousand feet onto a ridge, we came to the cables. I figured it wouldn't be a big deal since so many "normal people" climb up here every day (we watched them like little ants from Cloud's Rest going up and down). But holy moly the rock was so worn down from traffic that my shoes didn't grip AT ALL. It was all arms to haul ourselves up the cables. I got vertigo big time, but just tried not to look down. We were moving quickly, too, because the sun was about to set. The whole thing got my adrenaline pumping and I had such a rush of exhilaration when we hit the top, right as the whole sky turned a deep golden color.

At the top we realized that there were no other tourists there. We had Half Dome all to ourselves, a miracle in Yosemite, for the perfect sunset on the perfect day.

I was so busy taking pictures of Focus on a golden cliff that I didn't realize I was standing on a diving board over a 5,000ft drop into Yosemite Valley. Focus yelled over to me, "do you realize how little rock is beneath you?" When I saw where I'd been standing, I lost my breath.

Focus, a golden wall,  a storm cloud, and Tenaya canyon

Dance Party 5,000 vertical feet above Yosemite Valley

We were so ecstatic that we could barely sit down for the sunset. Everything was just so beautiful, life was just so perfect, we were the luckiest people in the world. From all over Yosemite Valley we could see little flashes of light, tourists taking photos of Half Dome bathed in gold. They didn't see the two little ants at the top of the hill with the biggest smiles in the world.

Storm clouds building to the north

To top it off, right after the sun went below the horizon we heard a cheer. We thought that it was another group coming up the cables, but no one appeared. Focus got down on his belly, inched his wait to the edge of the cliff and looked over. Not 50 feet below us were two climbers setting up for their final pitch at last light. I crawled over there too and made Focus hold my feet because peeking over the edge of the cliff made my whole body shake with vertigo and fear. Sure enough, two little climbers were clinging to the cracks, making their way up the wall towards us. I even pulled my camera over the edge and got a picture of them.

We descended the cables right before dark, as the first stars came into the sky.

And then totally high on life, high on this trail, high on the Sierras we went down the steep steps, down the path, and down to our little campsite ledge to watch shooting stars and drink hot chocolate until we were settled enough to sleep.

Every day out here is such a good day. But this day was just the best.