August 2024.

That time of year to explore the wilderness with the best teammate ever, my friend Luca.

The Elantrona, our trusted vehicle for all our adventures, took us to some special places once again ↓

Luca’s planning turned out to be as solid as usual. We lived through almost “unworthy” moments throughout the trip.

Can’t wait to get into those.

**Nothing** was around me. But somehow, I felt like the whole world was embracing me.

ITINERARY ↓

The drive towards the magic!
We fit a lot within 24 hours and set the stage for what would be the hike of a lifetime.
No matter how tired we were, our hearts asked up to keep going.
And we did.
The reward was in the struggle. It was strenuous but it paid off. So much to write home about for this one.
P.S. I love this expression, "write home about."
Wilderness in its purest state. We were fortunate.
They are not called "Secret Lakes," but some places should remain kinda unknown in this world!
This was supposed to be the last day of the trip. It wasn't!
My flight got canceled and I couldn't rebook for the next day.
This gave me an additional evening in LA, which we most certainly enjoyed.

Full disclosure: you’ll realize through this blog, that Luca and I lived through these moments with the fullest presence of mind. I put these into writing in an attempt to carry these feelings throughout my words.

A futile attempt, perhaps, but worth trying nonetheless.

Okay, not another word before I get into the real meat.

LET’S BEGIN 🚩

Day 1️⃣ - LA → Yosemite

Landed in LAX the previous night, got into my hotel, and worked remotely.

After work was done (around 2 PM LA time), Luca was waiting for me excitedly outside the Westin with a full tank, ready to take us towards the magic. Nice hugs and smiles, and we were off!

We got by our cabin around dinner time after lively conversations. We stopped by a happy-looking Mexican place called “El Cid.” Solid beef quesadilla!

Got some sleep after checking in with a kind gentleman at the “front desk.”

Day 2️⃣ - Sequoias → Glacier Point → Two-touch → Half Dome base

Sequoias → Glacier Point

Woke up early (as usual) and made our way to see the giant sequoias.

We witnessed the Grizzly Giant in what was an amazing moment of solitude in admiration. We spent over one hour admiring the Grizzly in complete silence, feeling unable to leave this magnificently imposing giant.

Luca mentioned that he almost felt “unworthy” of his presence which was the best adjective to describe this moment.

Oh, and we were the first to get there, of course.

We then made our way to Glacier Point to overlook at the landscape and Half Dome, which we’d hike over the next two days. Many people there, but still a great sight.

Two-touch → Half Dome base 🏕️

Unfortunately for our legs, we spotted a beach by a creek as we made our way to the start of the overnight hike towards Half Dome.

ICYDK (in case you didn’t know): Half Dome is a weirdly shaped immense rock towering over Yosemite National Park. Super iconic. See below.

We always carry a ball in the trunk and there was no question about stopping and playing for a bit ⚽️

As you can imagine:

Juggling in the sand is not the best activity before embarking on an overnight hike.

Oh well.

We began our ascent to the campground with:

Tired legs.
Heavy backpacks.
20K steps in.
Absolute excitement.

It wasn’t crazy hard, but some sections did test our knees. We also walked past beautiful and misty waterfalls and got to the campground right before sunset.

Luca mounted the tent and inflated our sleeping bags. In the interim, I made my way to a nearby creek and went to refill our water bottles. We had a water filter with us that helped us drink clean water.

We also had a portable stove, which we used to cook our food and make coffee (instant from Trader Joe’s, not bad at all).

We put our food into canisters to prevent bears from approaching our tent and campground over the night 🐻

Our alarm was set for 4:20. Why?

We wanted to be among the first to reach the Half Dome peak, so we went to sleep early.

💤 🏕️

Day 3️⃣ - Half Dome peak → Two-touch → Mammoth Lakes

Half Dome peak

The sky was whiter than it was black; so many stars took the stage and welcomed us into the night their own way.

A few breaths later, I looked the campground around and it was pitch dark.

Nobody else was awake.

And there was no way to spot any bears, which are very commonly spotted around camp grounds.

After a few steps towards the canister where we stored our food for the night, I s****ed my pants and went back to Luca.

Bro, please come with me!

Luckily, a few minutes later when we were ready to go and changed, we heard alarms from other tents and saw more and more lights turning on.

This was sooo comforting.

We felt a sense of community which filled our souls and gave us the courage to venture into the dark forest towards our destination.

On our way up we spotted a night bird (Luca would know its name) that flew right in front of us. It was absurd how its flapping was utterly silent. This allows it to hunt more effectively.

It felt like watching a movie on mute.

Anyway… fast forward and we got to the base of Half Dome by 7ish. We weren’t the first there and shared the moment with three other hikers.

The only way to reach the peak is to climb up a steep cable climb, which we were prepared for.

This segment is considered “extreme,” and you have to be comfortable before starting its ascent. We had gloves that helped with the grip, those made a difference in reaching the peak 🧤 🧤

Step after step (or rather, handgrip after handgrip), we made it to the peak and were welcomed by a special vista.

Once up there, we enjoyed 15 minutes of solitude. We both called our families and shared the moment with them. It was too special not to.

Luca and I agreed that it is inside of us, the need to share memorable moments with people in our life.

It is a need we were both able to show and express

After some time and enjoying the view from every angle, we made our way down, got to our tent by 10:30ish, dismounted it…

…and began our descent.

This time we walked down another path, which was a bit busy but still offered spectacular sights.

Once done, we went to the grill, had three sandwiches each, coffee, and headed to the river to play two-touch.

Again.

Two-touch

I had to dedicate a second sub-chapter to this game. I’m aware I already discussed it, but the definition comes after in this instance.

Two-touch is a juggling game where two players pass each other’s the ball in the air.

Players are only allowed two touches before returning the ball to the other player. The ball cannot be touched with the head or thigh, which makes the game challenging and more fun.

Eventually, we ended up just playing with no rules. This allowed for more creativity with the ball. We played in the same spot as yesterday, with the Half Dome towering over us.

This time, it was different to look at it after our ascent. Yesterday, it did feel a bit scary.

But we conquered it!

*Half Dome and its imposing (and daunting) presence.*

Mammoth Lakes

After a solid hour of playing two-touch and jumping in the creek, we got in our car and made our way to Mamooth Lakes (Ventura Inn).

We had a pizza (which was okay) in a popular spot downtown.

This time, we concedes ourselves one bed each and felt so lucky for this reason.

Thank god we were smart enough to account for this. We accumulated not more than 9 hours of sleep across two nights and almost 40K steps each day.

We needed some rest 😅

Tomorrow’s adventures await.

Day 4️⃣ - Secret Lakes → Mono Lake → Aspendell

Secret Lakes

For today, we planned an easy hike. Expectations were low.

Little did we know, this hike turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip.

(note: Secret Lakes is not the name of this location, but some places need to remain barely known; however, you can drop me a line here if you reaaally want to know where this is 😎).

We climbed up a short and steep path and were welcomed by complete wilderness in its pure state. A raw expanse of green and yellow embraced us and showed us its rare beauties in a moment that felt primal.

Whenever I find myself experiencing such glimpses of time in nature (and I can barely count them), I end up feeling like an intruder. As in, I do not deserve to be a part of them.

However, this time it felt different. I felt welcomed, just like Luca, and we took it all in.

It was early and we were the first, alone. Marmots, squirrels of any kind, hawks and falcons, pikas, and coyotes allowed us to witness and participate in their early morning habits, an invitation we accepted with respect and dignity.

For a few moments, we forgot the world outside this landscape.

We felt fortunate.

As we made our way to a second lake, we climbed up a path accompanied by hawks and falcons flying above our heads.

And we were just there, walking with a camera, binoculars, and the sunshine warming our souls.

The second lake’s water (like any creek or other lake in this trip) was barely transparent.

A spectrum of infinite variations of azure, green, and yellow demanded to be admired. It had all the right to do so.

We took a nap by the lake, a few more glances before saying goodbye, and back to the car barely aware of what we just experienced.

Mono Lake → Aspendell

Time to eat. We went to a famous deli, bought a lot of food and we sat next to a happy and numerous Italian family.

We stopped at June Lake but it was too windy to dive, so we ended up staying just a little before making our way to Mono Lake.

“Mono Lake is a weird place bro,” Luca kept telling me.

When I got there I realized what he meant.

Mono Lake is a huge basin made of entirely salty water. Its most distinct feature is tufas, composites of calcium that emerge out of the lake’s bottom.

Basically (get ready for a PHD-level explanation):

Fresh water flows below Mono Lake;
As it keeps flowing, it finds ways to break through;
At direct contact with Mono Lake’s salty water, the calcium creates weird-looking columns;
These emerge above and up towering over the lake (some are even over 9 feet);
They are so cool, these tufas.

They also offer nest space for ospreys. Weird how these birds nest on top of these tufas as there is no fish to be found in Mono Lake at all.

We walked around it and made our way to the Elantrona.

Okay, time to drive to Mammoth, grab a bite at Danny’s, and make our way up to Aspendell.

When we got there, the lodge was hosting what looked like a super fun wedding.

Luckily, they shut down the music at 10 PM. That allowed us to sleep tight.

Boy did we need it!

Day 5️⃣ - Chocolate Lakes → Soccer → HolySmoke BBQ → LA

Chocolate Lakes

As with all the other hikes we did, this one took up more than expected.

We walked by majestic lakes at over 3400 meters high (11K feet).

There were pristine meadows all around them and the sun was not up yet. On one occasion, we stopped and waited for its rays to warm our souls as we were lying down on the most tender, greenest grass.

That, too, was a moment of eternity.

Funny how this “eternity” thing is supposed to be the longest period to ever be conceived, but it is often found in the smallest, most furtive moments.

All lakes were beautiful and each one had its X-factor. And of course, even here we were among the first.

Solitude is a requirement for us; it enhances the overall experience, it makes you feel a part of it.

We were so lucky to see a pika from up close. So cute.

P.S. Pikas are rodents that live at high altitude. They are beloved by everyone as their features are super cute. Hawks love them too, unfortunately.