Day 1 - Drive from L.A. to Yosemite

6/20/2005, Monday - Grace and I woke up early at around 5:15 A.M. so Mom could take us to the UCLA Lot 6 turnaround before the I-10 West traffic piles up. We arrived at the turnaround at around 6:20 A.M.

This is the smallest UCLA OA group that I have been a part. We started with 4 participants, eventually whittling down to an even smaller 3. Suppossedly the trip was planned late and did not make it into the UCLA Rec Quarterly.

The trip guides were Devan and Lilla. Lilla was the same Lilla we first met in the Havasu trip. It was great to see her again and to find out that trip would produce at least 3 guides - Lilla, Emily and Whitney!

The drive up to Yosemite was uneventful. We arrived in Yosemite Valley at around 2 P.M. and gawked at the Valley before heading up to Hetch Hetchy. Lilla and Devan were transfixed by rock climbing and spotted a few climbers on El Cap. As luck would have it, one of the climbers was probably a former student of Steve (my brother-in law) - ____ from Caltech!

After the valley, we drove up to Hetch Hetchy, set up camp, and visited a nearby village (with a general store, restaurant, playground, and even a internet connected community lounge) before cooking dinner. At dinner, we discovered how viscious Yosemite mosquitoes in June could be. Even long pants, long-sleeved shirts, and DEET offer no guarantee of protection! After that night, my standard dinner outfit would consist of double socks, rain gear, and my long hiking pants!

On this first night at Hetch Hechy Backpackers' Campground, we had Mexican Omlette (onion, brocolli, eggs, sausa, cheese, and bell pepper) for dinner. It was such a filling meal that we had no room for the bananna split. After gazing at the rising (almost-full) moon, we all soon turned in to sleep. Lilla and Devan slept tentless that night and the rest of the trip. Grace and I would sleep in a tent all of the trip. Jennifer slept tentless that night but would sleep with Grace and I in the tent a couple of other nights.