How I Almost Died at Yosemite
I almost died at Yosemite. My first couple of hours arriving at the park, athus and I decided to hike as close to the base of Horsetail falls as we could. Well, I've never been one to half-ass anything. If I'm going to do something, I'm going to go as far with it as I possibly can, sometimes too far. That's when I would get hurt snowboarding, get frustrated drawing, or push the limits one slippery rock too far at the base of a water fall XD
As we were hiking, we found this REALLY gorgeous little "oasis" that had two really pretty waterfalls feeding a small calm pool next to the torrent of the rushing white water rapids at the outlet of the falls. There was no clear way to get there that we could see, so we attempted to go closer to the base of the falls and hope for a passage higher up. Along the route, I saw a huge boulder that overlooked some pretty intense rapids and I thought I would get a shot from up there. The boulder was flat enough and looked dry so it should have been no problem. The rocks we had been on until that point had all been dry so there was no reason to think that this one wouldn't be as well. I jumped over to it and immediately felt how deceptively wet and slippery it was. I had good footing but it probably wasn't going to stay that way. Even gingerly trying to turn myself around, one of my feet slipped out from under me and I slid down the rock on my stomach feet first into one of the smaller rapids beneath the rock. Only thing I could think was "oh shit!" and reach out to grab anything. Thankfully my right leg got wrapped around another boulder that was mostly submerged while my left leg fell further into the deeper pool bellow it. I was up to my waist, which is more than enough to get sucked away. Once I hit the water, the first thing I thought was that the water wasn't as cold as I thought it would be but I wasn't getting sucked into the rapids as my leg had caught me. The water started to wash around me and I was submerged to my stomach. I couldn't be sure how long that would last so I knew I had to get rid of my tripod so I could use both of my hands to grab anything I could and get myself out. Thankfully, that's when I saw Athus just above me on the adjacent rock. I gave him my tripod and he grabbed my arm and helped me to climb out.
Moral of the story, don't be as stupid as me XD There's a reason I didn't expect to live past 30 if I continued snowboarding competitively like I had until I decided to go to school. Also, ALWAYS hike with a partner! The wilderness is real and has real consequences. If things go wrong out there, you die.
Strangely, I was more upset an hour later when (after attempting to dry off and eat lunch) I dropped my new 9 stop ND filter and circular polarizer into the rapids. In the span of 2 hours I fell into white water rapids and froze my ass off and lost $300 in filters. I had to go the rest of the Yosemite trip without my newly acquired and loved ND filter. I bought a new polarizer from the Ansel Adams store at Yosemite with a hefty $40 mark up.
The rest of the trip went great though. We hiked up to the top of Vernal Falls and Inspiration and Artists Point. We got up to the top of Glacier Point as well. Big lesson of the trip, if you ever go to a national park, BUY A GOOD MAP! The free maps they give you ALL SUCK! Pay $10 and get a good map with ALL the trails and ALL the scenic locations pointed out to high detail. Worth every single penny.
Maybe Athus will show up and add some more to this Yosemite tail XD
As we were hiking, we found this REALLY gorgeous little "oasis" that had two really pretty waterfalls feeding a small calm pool next to the torrent of the rushing white water rapids at the outlet of the falls. There was no clear way to get there that we could see, so we attempted to go closer to the base of the falls and hope for a passage higher up. Along the route, I saw a huge boulder that overlooked some pretty intense rapids and I thought I would get a shot from up there. The boulder was flat enough and looked dry so it should have been no problem. The rocks we had been on until that point had all been dry so there was no reason to think that this one wouldn't be as well. I jumped over to it and immediately felt how deceptively wet and slippery it was. I had good footing but it probably wasn't going to stay that way. Even gingerly trying to turn myself around, one of my feet slipped out from under me and I slid down the rock on my stomach feet first into one of the smaller rapids beneath the rock. Only thing I could think was "oh shit!" and reach out to grab anything. Thankfully my right leg got wrapped around another boulder that was mostly submerged while my left leg fell further into the deeper pool bellow it. I was up to my waist, which is more than enough to get sucked away. Once I hit the water, the first thing I thought was that the water wasn't as cold as I thought it would be but I wasn't getting sucked into the rapids as my leg had caught me. The water started to wash around me and I was submerged to my stomach. I couldn't be sure how long that would last so I knew I had to get rid of my tripod so I could use both of my hands to grab anything I could and get myself out. Thankfully, that's when I saw Athus just above me on the adjacent rock. I gave him my tripod and he grabbed my arm and helped me to climb out.
Moral of the story, don't be as stupid as me XD There's a reason I didn't expect to live past 30 if I continued snowboarding competitively like I had until I decided to go to school. Also, ALWAYS hike with a partner! The wilderness is real and has real consequences. If things go wrong out there, you die.
Strangely, I was more upset an hour later when (after attempting to dry off and eat lunch) I dropped my new 9 stop ND filter and circular polarizer into the rapids. In the span of 2 hours I fell into white water rapids and froze my ass off and lost $300 in filters. I had to go the rest of the Yosemite trip without my newly acquired and loved ND filter. I bought a new polarizer from the Ansel Adams store at Yosemite with a hefty $40 mark up.
The rest of the trip went great though. We hiked up to the top of Vernal Falls and Inspiration and Artists Point. We got up to the top of Glacier Point as well. Big lesson of the trip, if you ever go to a national park, BUY A GOOD MAP! The free maps they give you ALL SUCK! Pay $10 and get a good map with ALL the trails and ALL the scenic locations pointed out to high detail. Worth every single penny.
Maybe Athus will show up and add some more to this Yosemite tail XD