Hobo Camp 4.

Kid running around the campground at 7 a.m. in a cape. We are pretty sure he lives there. Morning sunrise - amazing. Sun rising, as the moon is setting, over a mountain range, with a stream in the background, and a free campsite ... it doesn't get much better than that!

It can, however, get much worse. Like ... Lake Mono. First of all - the lake is named Lake Mono. Sign one. we should have turned back. Sign two: there was no real road down to the lake ... dirt road. Obvious sign that so few people really make the trek down to see it regularly enough to make paving worthwhile. "didn't you guys see the signs? I saw the signs..." 5 points for the movie reference, anyone?

Lake Mono in quotes: "Oh my god - what is that smell?", "This sign says that there is supposed to be a 6 foot wide one inch deep ring of flies around the entire lake, but I don't see anything.", "Umm, guys, that black stuff covering the whole shoreline ... it's all flies", "weeee, if you run through the sulfur muck after the flies, they go crazy! hear that deep humming? King of the flies!", "Uh ... it's not coming off my sandals.", "well ... that was ... scenic."

Get in to Yosemite ... go to look for campsites ... yep. all full. Wait ... there's one that says 'walk in campground', maybe that means they are still taking walk ins?

nope.

it means you trek all of your stuff in from a parking lot nearby.

including anything that gives off an odor, to prevent the bears from breaking into your vehicle. 4 milk crates of food, 5 duffels, 2 backpacks, one food bag, two bags of trash, tents, sleeping bags, pillows, tarps. All hiked in to the campsite.

and we got the last spot ... so all of the other people in line got to watch as we trucked stuff in.

possibly the campground that made us feel the most preppy. we're talking hobo camp. 6 tents to a site. one fire pit in the middle. everyone else must have been staying there since last may ... and not showered ... and been on day hikes every day. If you got lost, it might be possible to find your way back by the trail of grime leading to camp 4. I think at some point, the grime just flakes off, that's why same of them looked cleaner ... kind of like a snake shedding its skin.

We also seemed the least active, and least prepared. Everyone had been on at least an 8 mile hike that day, and were taking their time off te go bouldering up cliff faces. Oh yeah, and had thousands of dollars worth of climbing gear, that they were sorting and packing for their major climbing the next day.

I hiked up to a waterfall, then climbed up it, and bouldered along the face. couple of good "where's Eli" photos. possibly a V2/V3 max ... they were doing V5s with one arm. I mean ... inspiring and all ... but let's stop at some different campgrounds with yuppies, so we feel better.

Wandered around Yosemite at nigh for an hour, because some guy told us that there was a great moon viewing spot on some bridge at 8:15 pm. Not around 8. Not 8ish. 8:15. So, we had to go. We knew where we were, and knew that we had passed the spot we wanted twice, and finally got on the bus to let them deliver us there ... yeah ... they went one stop away.

Great moon rise behind Half Dome.

Back to Hobo Camp 4 ... the people that hadn't gotten spots, they were curled in sleeping bags outside of the camp office, in line, waiting to get a spot for the next night. ...If a bear comes, I'll know where to go to watch the carnage. I would think that from a bear's perspective they look like giant twinkies ... tender cake on the outside, creamy on the inside.

plans for tomorrow: truck everything bark out of the campground. find next campground without bear safety enforcement.