The Traveling Widower

Category: hiking

  • Bored in January – How about a trip to Yosemite

    After returning from Ecuador, I was back alone at home, with over two months to kill before my next big trip (Baja with National Geographic). The holidays were difficult for me, since this was the first since my wife had passed, and the memories from out last Thanksgiving and Christmas were hitting hard. I did make a few trips back to the South Bay to be with friends, which helped to some degree. Once New Years was passed, I was depressed and bored, needing something to do. I’m not a skier anymore, and did not feel like driving back to the coast, so I thought hard about where I could go to get away, and do some winter photography. I was planning to try my luck at Mono Lake, but looking at the drive and distance, realized that I could just as easily make it to Yosemite. January was turning into a dry month, and the roads (and valley) to the park were clear of snow. And a miracle occurred – I was able to get a room at the Lodge at Yosemite Falls. That can be difficult any time of the year. So, I loaded up the Forester with winter gear, including chains just in case, and headed off to Yosemite.

    I’ve been to this park a couple of times in the spring and summer. My wife and I went in early summer at the peak of the waterfall “season”, and hiked up to the top of Nevada falls – a long but beautiful hike. I had a work trip to the park once, but did not do a heck of a lot other than watch all the younger Googlers get drunk at the hotel. And then there was my assault on the Half Dome cable route….a true adventure. My memories from the past all included large crowds, pretty much everywhere you go.

    Winter on the other hand, can be relatively deserted. I managed to hit it at one of those times. It was very cold, but completely snow free in the valley and most of the trails. 

    The Lodge at Yosemite Falls is aptly named – it is located a short walk from the base of the lower falls. And when you walk out of your building in the morning, the first thing you see if you look up is an amazing view of the upper falls.

    View from the Lodge

    Early in the morning, there is a frost arrowhead around the falls – never seen that before. I spent a few early mornings at the base – it’s not really photogenic there, but it’s an amazing place to just sit and enjoy the beauty and solitude. Only in the winter. In the summer, this spot is a zoo. The early morning I wandered over, I had the place to myself for an hour. The fact that it was only 5F may be why it was deserted. But, it was almost a religious experience to be in such an incredible place, without the usual hordes of tourists cramming around the viewing area to take selfies. A great place for some morning meditation.

    Yosemite Lower Falls (not much water in the winter)

    The nice thing about staying at this location (aside from a really nice bar and restaurant…and a Starbucks), was the proximity to a number of great spots for photography….within walking distance. I discovered the first day, a great spot for capturing reflections of the Upper Falls in quiet spot along the Merced River, by the Swinging Bridge. It was about a 10 minute (brisk) walk from the hotel. This was another spot where bus loads of tourists stop for selfies – I had it for myself most of the time.

    Reflection in Vernal River

    So I spent a wonderful couple of days, wandering around the park, taking lots of photographs in the morning and evenings, and hiking a couple of trails as well. 

    Upper and Lower Falls
    Halfdome (I’ve been on top of that)
    Halfdome Sunset (very cold it was)

    It’s hard to stop taking pictures there. Another great feature of digital cameras. 

    I did have one of those moments where I had to remember that I am not 25 years old anymore. I was interested in doing the trail to the top of the upper falls since it was free of ice and snow. The trail head was just a half mile from the lodge, so I decided to give it a try. I think it’s just 5 or 6 miles to the top, but most of it is switch-back rock steps. Not a good thing for a bad knee. I trucked along quite a ways, and started thinking about how much this will hurt going back down. When a very young couple came running down the steps, without skipping a beat, I figured this would be a good place to turn around. Good move on my part.

    I wish I had booked another day or two, but I was tired enough to head home. I felt recharged again and I was close enough to my next trip to start thinking about working on a packing list. Mission accomplished.

  • First trip – Into Thin Air

     No, I did not try to climb Everest on my first foray into this new life of mine. After coming out of what amounted to shock after my wife passed, I had plenty to do in terms of busy work – there are so many things you have to take care of when your spouse dies, aside from the obvious (funerals). It’s exhausting. All of these while you are suffering through waves of smothering grief. OK…this is getting way too sad. At any rate, later in the summer, I decided it was time to get out of Dodge for a while, and accepted an invitation to stay with our close friends back in Colorado (Denver suburbs). My wife and I lived there for decades – it has always been home for us – we always seemed to return there when work forced us to live elsewhere. 

    Through the many years we lived there, I was always drawn towards alpine sports – we were both obsessive skiers, and took the alpine obsession to a higher level – rock climbing, back country skiing, ice climbing, and hiking the Colorado Fourteener’s (14K peaks). We lived at over 5000′, and I spent countless hours at much higher elevations. Heck, even our golf trips were at ski resorts. Needless to say, we were both well acclimated to life in thin air.

    Whatever that actually means from a physiological viewpoint (more red blood cells), that seems to last for quite some time, even when you move to sea level. I found that the altitude was not a problem when we moved away for a year or two. 

    Now fast forward to September, 2024. I had been living at almost sea level for about four years. I flew into DIA, drove out to my friends house in Aurora, and scheduled a number of hikes for the week, starting with a drive up Mount Evans (Bluesky now). That’s a 14,000′ peak, a state park, just West of Denver. You can drive up pretty close to the summit, and then hike up a path the last 250′ to the top. So, my friend and I motor up to the top, I get out of the car, and walk about 10 steps before gasping for air. I tried making it to the top, and did not get close. This was depressing – we had moved back to Denver during COVID, and we both walked up to the top without any problems – this was 2 weeks after I had heart surgery.

    On top of Mt Evans, 14,240’ after heart surgery (me, not my wife)

    We gave up on the summit, which I did not really care about, and I staggered around for a while photographing the friendly Mountain Goats for a while. That’s all I really wanted to do anyway. I also decided that maybe I should spend some time at a lower elevation for a while, before heading up to the high country again. Good idea.

    Mt Goat on Mt Evans/Bluesky

    Colorado has a number of great state parks along the foothills, all at more reasonable altitudes (6000′ or so), and I focused on these for a few days. Roxborough State Park has stunning vista’s, with large formations of red sandstone. Lots of nice, long, relatively easy trails to wander around (as in parents with strollers….I have no pride). I also spent a nice day in Castlewood Canyon, a bit higher up, with trails meandering along cliffs and down into a shaded river canyon. 

    Castlewood Canyon
    Stairway path to canyon floor
    Roxborough State Park
    Long trail in Roxborough Park
    Notice the climber (arrow)

    To cap off my altitude stamina training, my next hike was to a park which brought back some not so great memories from my rock climbing days – Eldorado State Park. Gorgeous place – this was my rock climbing hangout when I was into that crazy stuff. It’s also where I had to be rescued after a disasterous fall one pleasant summer afternoon….picture Clint Eastwood in the Eiger Sanction.

    So, after a week of training, I was ready to try my luck at over 10K again. Off to Rocky Mountain National Park, and Trail Ridge Road. RMNP is still one of my favorite parks, even if like most other National Parks, you have to buy passes for a specific time period during peak travel months. It has just about everything – peak climbing (Longs Peak…14K), rock climbing, various level of trails for hikers, and the highest continuous road in the lower 48. It also has great wildlife viewing, with a bighorn sheep, deer, elk and moose wandering around in different parts of the park. I have done quite a few peaks climbs in RMNP, and my wife and I used to go there frequently, just for light hiking and wildlife viewing.

    So, now that I was (hopefully) acclimated to altitude once again, I headed off with my friend to do a few short hikes at 10K. It was a cloudy, drizzly and cold day – but worth it for the views. Nothing major in terms of hikes, but it was nice to be able to make it up some of the short tourist walks at 11,000′ without coughing up a lung or two.

    Longs Peak – been to the top of that
    Hoodoos along Trail Ridge Road RMNP

    This was a comfortable trip for me, given my mental condition. I was staying with close friends, in a place I was intimately familiar with. No surprises here. It was a great trip all around – I discovered that being outdoors, hiking on trails, taking photographs, was a happy place for me – I was able to focus on the tasks at hand, a needed respite from what I’d been going through the past year. I understood now, why many widows/widowers adopted a travel lifestyle, and decided this too was my future.