Yosemite Sam, Part 6 — Yosemite Day 3

I slept only fitfully that night, paranoid that Sam was going to wake up at 2:00 am and start yelling. Finally I slept for a couple of solid hours, only to be awakened at around 6:00 am by two groups of coyotes, calling loudly to one another very close to our campsite. It was a beautiful sound, and I could tell from the chatter "next door" that it had woken up the Russians, too, but somehow Sam managed to sleep right through it. I was thankful that Sam wasn't going to wake up too early, and I thought I might even get him to sleep until the rest of our neighbors woke up. No such luck. After the coyotes stopped their howling, the Russians were wide awake and began having what I could only imagine was a joke-telling contest, talking and laughing for the next 20 minutes. They weren't all that loud, but because it was so quiet in camp and we were so close to their tent, the noise was enough to wake Sam up. "Uuuhh!" "Uuuhh!" With that, I knew that our day had started, so I quickly got dressed, grabbed Sam and put him in the car. I grabbed the bag of morning stuff from the bear box, jumped in the car, and off we drove, to where I wasn't quite sure. All I knew was that I was probably saving two dozen people from a seriously jarring wake-up call.

We drove along highway 120 and found a turnout with a nice view. We went through our morning routine here: Sam's medicine, diaper, Pediasure, and clean clothes. Here's a photo of us just as the sun came up over the ridge:



I figured we'd find someplace to get out and walk around a bit with Sam in the Chariot, but after our sunrise breakfast in the car we mostly just drove around and checked out some different side-roads and trailheads. It was still really cold, and I just wasn't up for a hike yet after not getting much sleep and not having had any coffee. So around 8:30 am we headed back to the campground, and now it was decision time. The first decision was obviously what to do today, given the results of the Chariot's trial run the day before, and the rough night we had had. The second question was what are we going to do tonight? Sam seemed to be having a good time hanging out with me and being outside, but I don't think either of us were having a great time camping at night. Sam had to be bundled from head to toe to stay warm enough, and I didn't have time or energy to enjoy the nights (e.g. no campfire) after having to make sure Sam was taken care of all day. I really wasn't looking forward to another night of trying to keep Sam quiet in the campground either. So I decided we were packing up. I wasn't sure yet where we'd end up that night, but I was done with camping, for this trip anyway.

I also decided not to try any more serious hikes with the Chariot on this trip. I was pretty well spent from the physical and mental trials of the last couple of days, and I figured we'd have more fun on our last day in Yosemite if we stuck to easier goals. So after packing up all the camping gear and somehow managing to get everything back in the car, we headed off for Yosemite Valley.

Ah, the Valley: Land of paved trails, swimming in the river, beer and pizza, and ice cream at Degnan's. Not to mention it's 4000 feet lower in elevation than our campsite, and therefore much warmer. Even post-Labor Day the Valley was packed with people, and parking was scarce. We eventually found a handicap parking spot near Happy Isles (yay Sam!), stuffed our food into a bear box, packed Sam into the Chariot (in jog-stroller mode this time), and headed out for a walk along a paved, mostly flat trail to Mirror Meadow. Here's some video of the Chariot in action:



It was a beautiful day in the Valley, and Sam and I were both happy to be out on a leisurely walk. Sam wasn't too impressed with Mirror Meadow though:



And it turns out with Sam's handicap parking placard, we could have driven there!



But then that would have kind of missed the point, eh? :)

The walk back to Happy Isles was peaceful, with Sam voicing his pleasure ("aaaaaaahhhh....") the whole way. I briefly considered trying to take the Chariot up the Nevada Falls trail, but luckily I thought better of it. Sam and I had lemonade at the snack bar instead:



That afternoon, we did some more walking around near Yosemite Lodge, and had a lazy time watching the ducks and people float by. Eventually I remembered that we were going to need a place to sleep that night, so I checked at the Lodge to see if they had any rooms available, but they were booked solid. Rather than try to find someplace to stay outside the Valley, I decided that it was time to go home. We left at around 5:00 pm and made it home just before midnight. Amazingly enough, Sam fell asleep in the car at about 10:30, finally allowing me to change the radio station to something other than kids' music!