This whole trip I have been enjoying hikes by myself. But sometimes it gets lonely, I wanted a hiking buddy. I found this guy sleeping in the theater and started talking to him. His name was Steve. He lives in Denver, Colorado and is originally from Kentucky. He was an easygoing guy and we had some good conversations. I asked if he wanted to share a campsite, and then we went searching for one.
The climbers in Fresno had told me about Camp 4, so we looked for that one first. When we got there, there were tents pitched everywhere. The site was right next to some sweet walls, and people were climbing them! I was trying very hard not to ditch my new friend right there and start climbing. The site was full. I asked some guys if we could just pitch a tent on their site, and one guy said, "You're welcome to, but if you get caught it's a $200 fine."
Steve and I were like, "What?" And the guy showed us the tags that were attached to every tent--proof that they belonged there.
"You can grab a sleeping bag and camp under the rocks. The fine is less if you're not in a campsite."
I wanted to camp there so bad. I was sure I could make some friends who would let me stay in their tent, but I couldn't just ditch Steve. The worst/best part about the site? It cost $5 a person--definitely the cheapest I've ever seen in a national park.
Steve and I searched for over an hour for somewhere, ANYWHERE to camp. But it was the weekend, and even during the last weekend of September, apparently, Yosemite is suffocating under a heavy blanket soaked with tourists. We tried this one place, but it cost $100 a night and pretty much a glorified tent:
It's illegal to sleep in your car inside the park. It's illegal to camp in a national park without a permit or unless it's inside a campground. We decided to drive out of the park and into the national forest for free camping. But we must have gone a bad route--I think it was 140 west, into some forest. But the one trail we saw had signs up: "No overnight parking. No camping." And we knew if we did it, our cars would be ticketed in the morning. I was dying to make my hamburger-stuffed onions over an open campfire, but we turned back and checked out a hotel.
The hotel had a room. Two queen-sized beds. We got upgraded though, when they realized that room was taken. So we got a family-room, which is basically the same thing, plus a room with a king-sized bed, an extra bathroom, and a kitchen. It was awesome. He paid for the room and I couldn't afford much, so I got us dinner at the restaurant. Steve was very nice and got an appetizer for dinner, as did I. $20 an entree is not worth it!
In the morning I made breakfast. I made him french toast with sliced bananas and apples (I had no syrup or cinnamon) and for myself I made some eggs and toast. It was delicious. It was amazing to be able to wash dishes in a sink.
I thought I'd spend at least one night at that climbing camp, but there was no way to get to it driving--there's a shuttle bus--and I was very tired of all the people. So I ran away. I ran into traffic. And I got to see a controlled forest fire.
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