The video is a first‑person travelogue of a four‑day backpacking loop in Yosemite National Park, covering the Yosemite Falls → North Dome → Tenaya Canyon / Mirror Lake route. It opens with a brief exchange about securing a wilderness permit and the cost of entry, then follows the narrator through each day of the trek. Day 1 details setting up camp at Yosemite Creek, dealing with over‑used sites, cooking, and an early night of anxiety. Day 2 chronicles the ascent to North Dome, describing the ridge crossing, panoramic views of Half Dome, Clouds Rest, Sentinel Rock, and Indian Arch, as well as a nighttime encounter with a pack rat that stole gear. The narrator notes gear performance (5‑inch goose‑down loft, Olympus stove) and campsite challenges (poorly staked tent, filthy towels). Day 3 is spent at Snow Creek, highlighting the remote water source, a restorative bath, and reflections on the solitude and beauty of the area. Day 4 covers a 2,700‑foot descent through Tenaya Canyon to Mirror Lake, concluding with a return to the parking lot and a summary that the loop is an excellent early‑season, scenic mini‑track. Throughout, the narrator shares personal emotions (fear, excitement, fatigue, renewal), weather conditions (overcast, rain, warm valley), wildlife observations (pack rats), and practical tips (permit timing, gear choices, campsite etiquette).
Get the annual permit. Don't need the map.
For just Yosemite?
I'll take the quarterly though.
Okay, you want
the real version? Yeah, yeah. The other one's what, $25? Yeah, just Yosemite.
Hey, there you go. Sign up and get a chance to win.
Thank you. Went up, went up $5. It was $15 last year. See, Miwok Paiute Basket. Yeah, I almost I can't believe that I'm doing this. Here I am, you know. People ask me, don't you get scared? And actually, sometimes I do. I'm entering the Big Yeo on a day that is just starting to overwhelm me with its munificent, gorgeous beauty. The day is gorgeously overcast after a couple days of hellacious rain in the valley. They say it's going to hit the 80s. It won't up here. Just a great day for backpacking. When I woke up this morning, I was, you know, filled with doubt and should I go and trepidation and fears. I even wrote my last will giving sort of people My fears are once again giving way to major doses of adrenaline. And as I make this gorgeous descent into Yosemite Valley on Sunday, Mother's Day. I probably won't hit the trail for at least another hour. It's 9:30 now. I've got to— still got to get a wilderness permit, get parked, get ready. Hopefully, being a Sunday and a holiday, it won't be too crowded. I'm gonna go ahead and get the camera set up. Oh man, what a day! What a most excellent day! Unreal! That's where we're gonna go, right up there. I never look at the kilometers. It always seems too far. Well, here we go again. Lower Yosemite Falls. An intermediate waterfall. Upper Yosemite Falls. I made it to Yosemite Creek. I'm just wiped out. What is it, 2,800 feet, something like that? 3.5 miles to where I'm at. I went across the river, you know, there's all kinds of campsites down here. But, uh, they're all used and abused. So I'm gonna do some scouting on this side of the river. I thought I saw one from over there that had a little stream running through it. And, uh, God, I need to put on some dry clothes before I get hypothermic. And, um, I haven't even checked out the falls yet. If I get a nice pot of water boiling, uh— I'm gonna go get some water. Tent set up. Maybe I'll go check out the waterfall. It's cold. I'm tired, but it was great. Great place. I feel pretty good. Made camp. Had some soup, nice hot soup, a couple big cups of coffee, bagel with some margarine on it, toasted bagel yet, a little bit of margarine on it. Yeah, I brought way too much food again. This is what I've done with it. It's a counterbalance method. I also built myself an arsenal of little pebbles. I'm not really bearanoid yet. The gal down at the wilderness center said they haven't had any bear problems up here, but it would just be my luck. I've got this campsite here. It's not the greatest, but it's the best I could find. This place was just a, just a mess. I mean, people are such slobs. Right now I'm burning somebody else's towel, second towel I've burned. I suppose I could have packed it out, but it's easier to burn it. It was so disgustingly filthy. My tent is relatively secure with the help of rocks. Couldn't really stake it in very well. That's why it's so Limpid, but it should keep the drizzle off of me, and that's all I expect. I'm gonna go down to Yosemite Falls. It's right down the way here. See if I can see anything. Maybe the clouds will lift. Yosemite Creek Camp. It's almost 9 o'clock. Last night when I went down to When I went down to Yosemite Falls, we were right in the middle of the clouds. You couldn't even really— couldn't even see there were any falls there. In fact, you couldn't even hear them. It's kind of spooky. So it's about 9 o'clock on day 2, and I'm gonna go down there and check it out. I don't think there'd be too many people there, if anybody, and I'll do a little day hike here before I pack up and get and go. Beast is loaded. As you can see, I'm not, I'm not gonna go for a day hike in these Yosemite Creek environs, as beautiful as it is. Oh, come on now. Come on down, they're down here. Come on, get 'em. Um, I'm gonna head, uh, east towards North Dome, see how far I can get. Um, camp's all cleaned up. I've left the obligatory pinyon pine nuts for the king jays here. Come on down and get it. And, uh, you know, I'm ready to rumble. Let's go. Yosemite Creek area, just upstream from where I camped. Gorgeous little domed watershed. I'm at Yosemite Point, or just above it rather. I'm not gonna spend too much film on this because where I'm going, the view is even more spectacular. But as you can see, it's a pretty amazing spot. That's where I'm going, to the North Dome. Right there. I'm getting close. That's Yosemite Point there where I kind of sort of started out. I went around these ridges, over these canyons, To here. And, uh, all I gotta do is just cross over this ridge here and I'm close. Oh my God, there it is! There it is! Half Dome and Clouds Rest. And North Dome, I'm here. Ah, this is great. Saved by the The 5-inch loft. Normally this could be a pretty cold and frigid place to be bivouacked, but I've been saved by the 5 inches of goose down. It's worth it too. Check it out. See the last light on Cathedral Rocks. To the right, that point is Eagle Peak. Behind it is El Cap, touching the clouds. That, I believe, is Sentinel Rock. And above it, to the left, very top, is Sentinel Dome. That's looking up, um, Willowood Canyon. Towards the Lillooet Falls. Lillooet Watershed. Mount Star King. Clouds on the dome. Looking beyond Half Dome at Mount Florence and her brethren, you can really see how the glaciers once flowed off of this mountain. They just kind of curved on down. It's my trusty little Olympus stove you hear cranking out the BTUs in the background. Camp Winkle. This is it. Got the water on. This is it. Hot coffee. And a bowl of pasta. Put a little bit more water on. Day's last light. Camp Wayne called Oh my gosh. Finally shampooed my hair a little bit, uh, barbarically, but I think it's clean. Back amongst the living. This is what we have. This is what's left of, uh, Camp Winkle here on North So, um, just had a fitful night's sleep. I was attacked by, um, these little mice. Kept, uh, stirring every little, uh, piece of plastic, plastic bag I had. And then, uh, I was laying down looking up at the, at the stars, endless astral expanse. Just getting vibed into all these stars when out of the corner of my eye I see this darting thing and my hiking pole moves. And then I look up and my eyes fully adjusted to the darkness, I see a— God, it must have been a rat. It was a North Dome rat. It was the rat of all rats, the mother of all pack rats. Grab my little washcloth there, that pink one, in its mouth and take off across this rock. You know, it's the middle of the night. I get up. I'm just mummified in my bag. I get up, yell, hey, hey, get out of here! He stops there, drops the thing, and doesn't even run away from me. Picks it up again and goes running away. And I'm going after it with— where's my flashlight? Flashlight. Finally, I get my thing back, but I have to scatter all loose ends. I put them in the bed, in the base of my sleeping bag. I stashed everything else inside these bags, and all night, every five minutes, I heard there's the rat, the killer rat. So I mummified myself in my sleeping bag. The only thing that I allowed was my headlamp, my eyeballs, and my nose to show. Everything else was covered in the 5-inch, 5-inch life-saving down loft. The beast is dressed. I'm ready for a little day hike. Here I am on Camp Winkle on North Dome. The beast is dressed. This is what it's like tripping on a dome. Gorgeous little wildflowers in the early morning, probably about, I'd say, 8:30. You got some outrageous rock formations around here. Mm-hmm. I'm at the southernmost precipice of North Dome. Going towards the middle of the valley. Approaching Glacier Point Apron. This is a massive fan of granite. Going straight up from there, you've got Glacier Point. To the left of it, there's the Lillooet Falls. Of course, the mighty Half Dome. Got it. Got it. Indian, Indian arch. A fragile, delicate, relatively easy to find— Look at that. Indian Arch. All right. I didn't make it all the way down to the valley, obviously. I'm camped out here at Snow Creek. I picked the most picturesque spot, but again, a hefty walk from water. Didn't stop me though. Finally, Snow Creek Camp. A little thing like bathing, I mean, the importance of it can't be stressed enough. I feel like a million bucks now. My 4th day, I'm almost— I almost feel like I could hang up here another 3, 4 days. I feel like a renewed man. The beast is dressed, fully loaded. The fire is out. Getting ready to start a 2,700-foot descent down into Tenaya Canyon and Mirror Lake. I'm back! I'm back to the parking lot. I'm back to my car. This, the Yosemite Falls North Dome Loop, is an excellent scenic early season mini track. I'm ready to go again.
