Sentinel Snow

(this story appears in Old Roads and Shadows, an eBook )

Sentinel Snow

An October blizzard in Yosemite turns an easy hike into a grand adventure

 

Brian Illari, my friend from Georgia, came for a visit to California in October of 1999. Brian had been my companion on many hikes, both in the mountains of Georgia and in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina. As part of his visit, I planned for us to spend a couple of days hiking in Yosemite.
 
I secured a river room at Yosemite View Lodge in El Portal, just outside of the park on Rte 140. The river room had two doors, one that opened to the parking lot, and one that opened to a small deck right on the Merced River. The river wasn’t running high at this time of year, but the deck remained a nice place to enjoy a glass of wine after a hike.
 
In the morning, we made drip coffee in the room: a fine Italian roast. We enjoyed pastry and fruit, and then put our daypacks together and headed out the door. We traveled up Rte 140 along the Merced River, and I showed my Yosemite Pass at the entrance station. We continued the climb up to the valley floor, which was over 2000’ higher in elevation than our motel.
 
I took Brian on a circuit of the valley, just a little sightseeing before our hike. Bridal Veil Falls and Sentinel Rock were on the right, El Capitan on our left. We continued up past Curry Village and took in the sights of Half Dome and North Dome, Royal Arches, and Yosemite Falls. The falls were but a meager trickle, just enough to stain the rock a darker color. We headed back down the valley and past the Brothers and El Capitan. We headed south on Rte 41 towards Wawona and Fresno, our destination being Glacier Point Road. The road gained elevation quickly, and we passed Tunnel View and went through the long tunnel as we continued up into the high country.
 
At the height of land on Rte 41, the Glacier Point Road turned left and headed for Glacier Point, some sixteen miles away. It is a beautiful drive, the road averaging 8000’ of elevation for its length. We pulled over a few miles before the end and parked my 4X4 at the Sentinel Dome-Taft Point trailhead. From here, a trail went right for Sentinel Dome, and another went to the left towards Taft Point. The Pohono Trail connected these trails down below as it skirted along near the rim of Yosemite Valley, allowing a hike that would take us to both. I had hiked this loop many times, and I knew Brian would enjoy it.  
 
We started off by heading north for Sentinel Dome, only a little more than a mile away, and about 500’ above us. We wore shorts and T-shirts, and each had a light windbreaker on. We both used a single Leki trekking pole as we hiked. The trail descended from the road, and then we worked our way along the slope of a ridge as we headed towards the dome traveling through dwarf scrub and across layers of weathered granite. The bare rock dome rose up before us as we approached. We slabbed along the rock to our right and made our way to the far end of the dome, and began the actual short climb to the top by heading back to the southwest.  
 
The summit of Sentinel Dome sits at almost 8200' of elevation, and the views from the summit have to be among the best in the park for such a short hike. Looking up towards the high peaks of Yosemite to the east, we could see that the weather looked threatening in the high country. It was dark and ominous, and storm clouds now obscured some of the high peaks. Yosemite Falls was not flowing, but the view across to the area around Yosemite Point was marvelous. The view across the valley to El Capitan is superb, and the vista towards Half Dome and Little Yosemite Valley is sublime.

 

Brian - Approaching Storm on Sentinel Dome

 
We sat down on a rocky bench to enjoy some food which consisted of fruit juice and trail snacks, a mixture of chocolate and nuts. We ate and talked, and drank in the wonder of the magnificence around us. It was a little chilly, but not enough to make us put on leggings. The view to the high peaks grew more threatening and foreboding; bad weather was definitely on the way.
 
“So what’s the plan?” asked Brian.
 
“Well, we have three options,” I answered. “Head back to the car, take the trail over to Taft Point, or take the trail down to Glacier point.”
 
“How far is Glacier?” he asked.
 
“Around a couple miles and about a 1000’ of descent.”
 
“I’d like to do Glacier, I’ve heard so much about it and all.”
 
“Let’s do it then.” I stood up and made my pack ready, and Brian did the same.

 

We headed down sharply and soon passed, on our right, the trail we had hiked in on from the car. The trail continued through some large pines and crossed a sandy road as it headed down. The trail we followed on our descent from Sentinel Dome ended at the junction of the Pohono Trail: a left headed for Taft Point, a right brought you to Glacier Point. We struck out to the right through bushes and pines; to our left we could occasionally see down into Yosemite Valley. After a couple hundred yards, we reached the edge of the ridge, made a hard right turn, and began heading down more steeply. We headed down like this for a good distance with the slope rising up on our right, and finally made a left turn and crossed the paved Glacier Point Road twice as it twisted around on the hillside. We eventually came out into the parking lot and joined the throngs who were milling about the popular area.
 
We continued to the overlook of Glacier Point, just above 7200' of altitude, and enjoyed the view of Half Dome and of Curry Village far below. We rested on the rocks for a bit, enjoying the people bustling around us. There was a chill in the air, so we bought coffees at the snack bar and sat outside on a flat granite rock. A few drops of rain were starting to come down, and the wind was rising a bit as well.
 
We finished our drinks and grabbed our packs, then walked over to the large bathroom facility by the parking lot. I took off my shorts and T-shirt and put on polypro leggings and a dry polypro top, and pulled out my light rain parka and opened the pit zips for ventilation. Brian changed clothes in the same manner. When we emerged from the structure, the rain had become steady; we cut across the parking lot and began following the trail uphill, which came as a bit of a jolt after walking downhill from the Dome.
 
We reached the turn where the trail made a hard right and continued up at a steady angle along the hillside, the slope rising up to our left as we retraced the steps made earlier on our descent. As we climbed this long stretch, snow began to mingle with the rain. Higher up we reached the left turn where the trail began to follow the rim of the valley; the snow was now coming down at a steady pace. We both put on gloves, then continued along this stretch, over slippery rocks and through patches of bushes, until we arrived at a metal trail sign anchored in the hillside.

 

On our left was the trail we had come down from the summit of Sentinel Dome, straight ahead was the Pohono Trail to Taft Point and other Yosemite Valley rim destinations. As we looked ahead to where the Pohono Trail cut through the forest, the snow was coming down hard on our left shoulders. The driving wet snow was sticking to the tree trunks and covering the tops of the pines.
 
“Well, the car is that way,” I said as I gestured to the left, up the hill, “or we can continue to Taft Point and make a circuit back to the car.”
 
“This is awesome,” answered Brian. “Let’s push on.”
 
“Yes! This snow is just incredible.”

 

We continued down the Pohono Trail heading towards Taft Point, making fresh tracks in the new fallen snow. Soon we were on the flank of Sentinel Dome, and we saw the granite rock of the dome rising up into the snow on our left, the shape soon disappearing into the storm swirling around us. We continued along the side of the dome for a while, then the trail made a hard right and began switchbacking down to our right towards the rim of the valley, somewhere ahead of us in the whirling world of white.
 
Eventually, the trail flattened out and we continued ahead with the wind at our backs. We stepped out onto a broad flat rocky area that I knew was on the edge of the valley. Looking over the edge, I saw just a darker depth beyond the white of the snow as it came down around us, no shape or form, just a feeling of nothingness.

 

“I know the trail leads away from the rim somewhere down and to our left,” I said. “The trail will continue down to the low point between the dome and Taft, and then it will start to work its way slowly up to where the trail leads off to the right for Taft Point. There should be a metal sign at the junction, just like the one we passed.”
 
Brian nodded that he understood, and we continued along the rocky flat until we found the trail leading off to the left. We followed it down through the trees, occasionally heading up over a small rise and down again until I felt we had reached the low point of this stretch.
 
We began to make our way up, over, and around the varied terrain, and gradually we left the thick cover of the forest and the foliage that surrounded the trail and headed out into the openness of the great trees. The towering pines with their large trunks were spaced far apart. Before us was just snow and rocks and scrub bushes, no sign of the trail could be seen. Around us, the snow continued to fall.
 
“Recognize anything?” asked Brian.

 

“Not really. I know about where we are and if we keep the snow coming in over our left shoulder, we should be heading in the right direction. Look for axe marks on a tree, or where logs have been cut, or a depression in the snow. If we get totally lost, we can always hike directly into the storm and we’ll hit the road eventually.”
 
And so we continued, finding and following the trail for brief stretches, then losing it and trudging through the snow looking for signs. We stopped and drank water and enjoyed chocolate and nuts. The snow continued its onslaught. The woods were beautiful, and this was grand fun. Eventually we gained a small rise and a metal trail junction sign appeared off to our right. We walked over to where it stood; it pointed right for Taft Point, and left for the road and the car.

 

“I think we should pass on going out to the point,” I offered. “We can’t see anything, and there are fissures in the granite out there; I don’t think we should just be stumbling around in the storm.”
 
“Fine with me,” said Brian. “It’s your call.” 
 
We turned to our left and headed up the ridge toward the car. The trail was once again in a forest of small trees and its track was visible on the forest floor. We made steady progress, and as we crested a hill, I saw the flashing lights of a ranger’s patrol car parked on the road. We soon stepped out onto the road and the ranger looked at us from his vehicle. We gave him a thumbs-up gesture and he immediately left, probably looking for other parked cars at trailheads, which could be an indication that someone was lost out in the storm.
 
Brian and I began to clear the six inches of heavy wet snow from my 4X4. I saw that the ranger had left a note for us under a wiper blade. It was the combination of the lock on the gate where the road ended on Rte 41, the rangers had closed the Glacier Point Road and locked the gate when the storm hit.

 

We gradually made our way back to Rte 41 and headed back down towards the valley. The storm was abating and I could occasionally see streaks of blue appear through the fast moving clouds. We went through the long Wawona Tunnel and pulled over and stopped at the viewpoint, the famous Yosemite Valley overlook located right at the eastern end of the tunnel, where we were treated to our own personal panorama of the famous Ansel Adams photograph ‘Clearing Winter Storm’.
 
It was a magic time in Yosemite.