Day 1: Yosemite Valley

We started the day with out very first mammal sighting just outside of the campsite. A deer! And very close to us too.
We took the bus to the ranger station to pick up our permit, and then we ate egg mcmuffins at the deli next door. Then we took the bus to Happy Isles.

This is the bridge to the trail near Happy Isles when we started our hike around 10am.

Only 211 miles to go!

We saw our second mammal sighting on the lower switchbacks. This bear was eating a tree right next to the trail. He seemed unperturbed as we walked by. The scale of the picture may be hard to determine; he is actually pretty small, only about as large as a big dog.

Nevada Falls, from afar

At the top of Nevada Falls we stopped for a snack break.

We saw this tiny bear by himself in the woods. He was far enough away that we couldn't be sure he wasn't a stuffed toy until we saw him move. We didn't see a mom hanging around, but we made sure to get out of the area quickly.

Once we got past Nevada Falls (and especially beyond the Half Dome trail junction), the crowds thinned out substantially and we started to enjoy being alone on the trail.

We camped at a rocky site with a great view of the Cathedral Fork valley, about half a mile before the Sunrise campsite. The entire day was colder than expected, and the night was chilly, so we were very glad to have a campfire. However, I did succeed in melting a small hole in my synthetic shirt when it caught an ember after I left it to dry near the fire.

Final Tally:
13 miles
5700 ft up, 400 ft down
2 bears
4 deer, 4 fawns

Forward to Day 2