I’m fortunate my husband John, is supportive of my running endeavors and to have his help, made this effort special.
I started the day at 8 and worked my way up to El Capitan rather fast. The next section to the top of Yosemite Falls is fun and flowing so I continued to keep pace. Coming down the Falls trail was sketchy. This time of year the rocks are covered in a slippery powder. I also encountered a man with heat stroke, I gave aide to, and recommend they go back down. He was in bad shape. Shortly after I encountered youths in distress and out of water, so I gave what I had left to them, force fed one electrolyte pills and said “good luck!” Finally after nearly busting my butt several times, I was on the Valley Floor and ran over to John for ice, water, watermelon, a coke and then I was back on the move over to 4 Mile.
When this route was devised, Strava won’t let you select certain roads or paths. Instead, it forced the route to back track a bit. At first I didn't think much about this but doing it was another matter! Annoying lol! I did pass people floating lazily on the Merced River, drinking beers and enjoying the day. I thought to myself: I need a new hobby!
At any rate, I hit 4 Mile in the heat but as far as July temps go, it wasn’t bad at all. At Glacier Point we did a second refresh of ice and another coke, which tasted amazing after the long, hot trail up. From there the route climbs up to Sentinel Dome before enjoying a nice downhill section in lush forest to Taft Point. I passed tourists there for the sunset and got to Bridalveil Creek in good time. The route trends up out of this drainage to Dewey, where I caught the glowing amber sunset before plunging down the remaining miles of the Pohono Trail to Tunnel View.
It was an amazing day following a beautiful loop around Yosemite.