Walking in the footsteps of John Muir

Tissiack - "the most beautiful and most sublime of all the wonderful Yosemite rocks, rising in serene majesty from flowery groves and meadows" - Muir on the Half Dome

This week my daughter added a new word to our lingo "domesickness" which she describes as an illness that is caught in Yosemite valley after you get a first glimpse of the Dome and hits its peak when you leave the valley. Symptoms include craning your neck looking for Half Dome even when you know you are several hundred miles away from it or searching through pebbles in your backyard for those that remotely resemble the famous one, and simply seeing shadows of it even when eyes are closed.Yes this week we all caught Domesickness as we finally made it to the incomparable Yosemite.

National Parks are uniquely American, and to know that Yosemite was the one that inspired it all gave us an unexplainable but immense pride. I have been reading John Muir for the last few weeks in anticipation of this trip and as I sat down to write this blog, I realized that no words from me can parallel his and maybe i should just quote him.

Both day and night, winter and summer, this divine light may be seen wherever water is falling dancing, singing; telling the heart-peace of Nature amid the wildest displays of her power - Muir on rainbows

This was our 10th National Park (12th if you include National Monuments), and nothing evokes a feeling of awe in me as standing so small in front of something so big in nature - whether it is the El Capitan, a giant Sequoia or the Yosemite falls. Standing at the foothills of Mt.Rainier a couple of months after my dad passed away back in 2003 I remember feeling for the first time truly comforted. When I saw a Mama Blue Whale with her calf in Channel Islands National Park the sight moved me almost to the point of tears (of joy). As I was trying to explain to my then 5 year old why we don't do Seaworld, we had hundreds of dolphins suddenly spring up as though on cue convincing our little one why this was so much better! I can safely say that the closest I have come to spiritual experiences have been in these parks, and as a family we feel that the time spent in these places fit for worship have rejuvenated us like no other.

"It sways and sings in the wind, clad in gauzy, sun-sifted spray, half falling, half floating, it seems infinitely gentle and fine; but the hymns it sings tell the solemn fateful power hidden beneath its soft clothing" - Muir on the Pohono or Bridal Veil Fall

"Though only a few inches long, so intense is his fiery vigour and restlessness, he stirs every grove with wild life and makes himself more important than even the huge bears... No one who makes the acquaintance of our forester will fail to admire him" - Muir on  Douglas Squirrels

To quote Muir "Thousands of tired, nerve shaken, over civilized people are beginning to find that going to the mountains is going home". People just appear happier, stronger, kinder in these places. You also see every shade of society in these parks - the super rich and the elite who will not blink at spending a $1000/night for the best view out of their hotel rooms, the $20 camper who arguably has the best view in the park, the adrenalin types who tightrope walk between the cliffs above the Yosemite falls, the old couple who have spent every spring of the last decade at the park, the families that want to unplug, the families that want to recharge, the rock climber, the birder, the tree hugger, the photographer  - you name it, you will find one of those species here.  

"stand beside the majestic pines and firs and sequoias silent and awestricken, as if in the presence of superior beings new arrived from some other star, so calm and bright and godlike they are" - Muir on the trees of the Sierra

My husband once said after a tour of Europe that although he admired the castles and all, they only reminded him of human inequality, war and unhappiness, whereas in a National Park in the US, we humans appear so insignificant and he could truly experience something glorious. Of course every National Park has in its history a story of Native Americans who were disenfranchised and are now only remembered for lending their names to some of the landmarks. That is a topic for another time.



Back to Yosemite. As I said earlier I have let John Muir (and my daughter - you can see her blog on Yosemite here) do the writing as we explored the park to our heart's content. Our three main hikes were getting to the top of Nevada fall through the Mist Trail and coming down the John Muir trail, walking down the 4 mile trail from Glacier Point and the 5 mile loop around Mirror Lake.We couldn't get to the Tioga area as it was closed for the season, and although we wanted to see Hetch Hetchy we couldn't fit it in our schedule.  Also the fact that the valley that Muir once loved was under a dam, dampened some of our enthusiasm. "No holier temple has ever been consecrated by the heart of man" said Muir regarding Hetch Hetchy, so my daughter decided to, and I quote "Ditch Ditchy, Hetch Hetchy"

"Gentle saurians, dragons, descendants of an ancient and mighty race. Heaven bless you all and make your virtues known! For few of us know as yet that scales may cover a fellow creatures as gentle and lovable as feathers, hair or cloth" - An ode to the lizards by Muir

When I said walking in the footsteps of Muir, that was only figuratively speaking. His recommendation for a one-day excursion included waking up at 3AM, grabbing a handful of dry foods, climbing up Glacier Pt, Sentinel Dome, Liberty Cap, Illiloute fall, Vernal and Nevada fall and return by night fall after having paused to admire every creature in the valley. How did he do that!

We spent 4 days in the valley and soaked in everything we could. One always feels time-impoverished in these places.  The road trip was also a stark reminder of the drought in California. "If water doesn't flow, food doesn't grow" said many placards on the roadside. "No water, no jobs" said Central Valley. While citizens have been asked to be more water-wise, and yes every Californian should do their part, there is a need for a more open, honest debate about food, agriculture and the big one - Climate Change. Everything is connected to everything else and understanding these links is going to be crucial to finding real solutions.

After all "When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world".