lizolas

The original plan was to use the Christmas to New Year’s break in a low snow year to go hike the 3 Southern California peaks I’ve been trying to combine into a feasible weekend trip all year. That plan would have necessitated leaving on the 29th, ideally, and the 30th at the very latest. It turned out that disassembling and reassembling my car to replace a catalytic converter behind the engine took several times longer than my dad anticipated. My hope of completing that trip dwindled, and eventually I was forced to come up with a new plan when it still wasn’t fixed by Friday evening. My main intention was a hike that I could start at midnight on January 1st, for which the Cactus to Clouds trail up San Jacinto would have been perfect. That didn’t seem worth the 7-hour drive alone, and by the time the car was fixed on Sunday (the 31st), it was afternoon already. I’d have had to jump straight in the car and drive with minimal stops just to arrive at the trailhead by midnight.

It occurred to me to try a hike I’d done before, so I knew the trails and wouldn’t have trouble alone in the dark. Watching a sunrise from a good vantage point seemed like a great goal given my love of sunrise watching in the mountains. I decided on Clouds Rest, with none of the detours I’d taken on previous hikes and instead an attempt to head toward Tenaya Lake on the other side. Hiking trips always take so little time to pack for compared to climbing trips. Within a couple hours I’d decided on a plan, thrown clothes, snacks, water, and basic supplies in a daypack and was on my way to Yosemite Valley at 5:30.