Yosemite Weekend

Last Fall season, I hiked Half Dome at Yosemite during the night with friends from Hume. We got to watch the sun rise over the valley. It was a moment that reminded me of heaven.
This year we wanted to return to the park and try to make something of a tradition out of it. Only three of us were able to make it this year: Karly Solderholm, Mojave, and me. And, we brought along two others, Josh Mull, and Ali Dishman.
We ended up just hanging out most of the weekend. On Saturday we drove to Glacier Point, enjoyed the view and hiked to Sentinel Dome. On Sunday we hiked out past Mirror Lake and under the face of Half Dome. I don't think that we hiked more than six miles the whole weekend, but we enjoyed a more laid back pace than last time. I slept under the stars both nights. The second morning I awoke with ice on the backpack next to my head. I don't think I've slept in temperatures that cold, ever. I have a cold now. I guess it got cold enough that my immune system just couldn't keep up.
I got to see two bears while we were hiking. I was so excited. I haven't seen a bear in over three years. One of them was content to just forage amongst the trees along the edge of the trail, so we got to watch him closely for a while. The other one was lumbering down the trail towards us, so we made noise and watched him run away into the bracken. I thought he was a cub and his mother might be nearby. Josh contended that he was large enough to be by himself. I'm just glad I got to see a bear.