Hetch Hetchy Reservoir used to be a beautiful valley, which many compared to Yosemite Valley. I'm sure it was beautiful but I just don't see how it can compare to Yosemite Valley. It's just not the same. But that is beside the point. I almost didn't visit the area because I was kind of upset that they ruined such a beautiful place by putting in a dam. Yes, the construction of the dam created a water source for places such as San Fransisco, but it seems to me there are plenty of other options. Yosemite is such a spectacular place and having a big slab of concrete in the middle of it takes away from the appeal of the wilderness. Some people are trying to get the area restored back to a valley. See Restore Hetch Hetchy. Of course many of the great things about this hike was because of the beautiful water in the reservoir and the pretty great rainbows from the water rushing out of the dam. I don't know what the answer is in this controversial reservoir but I tend to go for the more natural.
Anyway, our hike started at O'Shaughnessy Dam where we got to see rainbows as water rushed out of the dam into the Tuolumne River.
Right after crossing the dam you have to go through a dark tunnel. After being in intense sunshine it's really hard to get your eyes to adjust. It's not a super long tunnel so you do get some help from the sun at each end, but in the middle I couldn't see a thing. And with all the snow melting there were puddles everywhere. I had a split second where I thought of the crazy water monster that pops up in Lord of the Rings. But everyone made it out safe and dry. Really, it wasn't that long, I'm just paranoid.
The day was absolutely beautiful, as was the entire trip. But it was also very hot! If you weren't in front of a waterfall the sun was scorching. Of course there was no humidity so we loved it. I hiked in my bikini top a lot of the way and getting wet was fun instead of horrible.
We stopped for a picnic and cool down time by a little pool. Kevin took advantage of the natural water slide. The water was freezing so I only stayed in long enough to cool off. I thought my peanut butter and banana sandwich was the most delicious thing I'd ever eaten.
The trail is very rocky and with all the sun I was certain there'd be a rattle snake sunny itself somewhere along the way. But we only saw one little lizard.
The first waterfall was Tueeulala Fall.
The trail right after Tueeulala to Wapama Falls was very wet. With all the snowmelt there were many places where little waterfalls had formed and washed out the trail. So we hiked through the pools. Don't worry, the water was not rushing enough for it to be dangerous.
Then we got to Wapama Falls. This was one crazy waterfall. There's a bridge that crosses the falls, well actually it's more like 3 bridges. We weren't going to continue on the trail after this point but we did want to get sprayed by the falls so we walked across the bridge and then turned around and walked back. Right before the bridge you can feel the mist and it's so fucking cold I unknowingly held by breath so a second. John and I decided to strip...back to the bikini top/base chest and shorts and took off our hiking boots to keep as much stuff dry as possible. I imagine if there was a hurricane of ice cold water it would be like crossing that bridge. The falls were insanely powerful and you were hit from the top like a ridiculous pressurized shower and some water crashed against the bridge and rushed over your feet. John held my hand the entire way so it was pretty sweet. Though maybe he was just trying to keep me from blowing away. Overall a pretty thrilling experience - one of my favorite moments from the trip.
Sadly 2 hikers got swept off this bridge and died just 2 weeks after we were here. It rained and was so hot starting the week we were there that there was more melting snow. And the rapids were flooding the bridge. We would not have crossed if it were worse than it was. We weren't continuing on the hike so we actually had the option of deciding if it was safe. These hikers were returning from a backcountry trip and had to take the bridge to get home. And one of the guys had proposed to his wife at the bridge years before. It really hurt me to read about this because it was such an awesome hike. I'm glad it wasn't too dangerous when I was there but have a big "too close for comfort" feeling about the whole thing.
We stopped at the waterslide/pool on the way back to cool off again. It took us a long time to do 5 easy miles but sometimes it's not about covering a lot of miles but what you see along the way. And lounging my a natural mountain pool is a pretty great way to pass the time.
On the way back we were told there was a mama bear and cubs down the trail. So Kevin starting singing Day-O "Come, Mister tally man, tally me banana...." and John grabbed a stick...but we never saw any bear.
Also, it was on this hike that John and I drank from a small waterfall and did not get sick! You really should purify any water and we didn't. I was certain that with my luck I would spend the rest of the night puking. But all bowels stayed healthy. Take that Giardia!
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