Left from reds meadow, back on trail. Went to the day hiker attraction that is devils postpile. Very neat hexagonal earth rock column formations from hot lava cooling. Hexagons are my favorite shape.
Gladys lake on JMT
7/3
Mile 928
Hiked the 14 miles of jmt rather than the pct. The jmt went through lush forest and many beautiful alpine lakes. Happy to not be on the exposed ridge line walk that the pct was, apparently.
7/4
Hiked over Donohough pass. Said happy forth to many people starting to hike southbound on the JMT. I was exited to get into toullomne meadows to see who was there. In front of the general store and grill, I got to see great people (hiker trash) I haven't seen in a while; Cheeseburger, Drew and little (danger) spoon. Met new people like Chupa chabra, Apache, and Ewok with the beautiful resonant and heart opening space drum, similar to the hang drum. Drank a beer and made our way to the backpackers camping section of the massive toullomne campgrounds, were the one and only Tink was holdin down the fort.
7/5
Decided to go with dad into Yosemite valley and hike and climb up the famous Half Dome. We arrived on a bus from toullomne and we were both blown away by the beautiful waterfalls and mountains, and the unbelievable amount of tourists. I think we were tourists too, just with 40 lb packs with full resupply on our backs. Oh, and dirty, very dirty. Probably smelly too. We got our permit to do half dome. Hiked up the mist trail to catch views of spectacularly large water falls. So many people. So steep. So many freaking stairs. 4 hard miles up to the little Yosemite campground. 
7/6
We camped and woke up at 4am to hike 4 miles to the base of half dome. Slack packed. So exhausted when we got there at around 6. The view was huge, and the morning sun, luminous. Dad was having some fear about the height, the sheer clifs directly in our vision. I was scared too. This was one of the most terrifyingly steep "hikes" I've ever done. And arriving at the top, one is supposed to grab onto a wire cable and walk up a rock dome perpendicular to the ground, ones body parallel to it. While I didn't really have the desire, the fear in dad's eyes turned into a burning determination. It was life or death in his eyes and he decided not to choose, just go for it. He went, and he went and he made it to the top. I shouted "I can't believe you're doing this" after I attempted and made it only 1/4 of the way and had to slide down very timidly. I was so amazed that my brave and dynamo father just did this.
So proud of him! For not believing his thoughts and facing and conquering his fear of heights. What a role model.
Hiked down the JMT, the very beginning of it in Yosemite. The steep downhill was brutal on the knees and ankles, especially because it was concrete. Ate a delicious caprese sandwich, and took the bus back to toullomne. I had a feeling I would see siesta fiesta... And I did as soon as I arrived at the store. Set up camp once again at toulomme campground with an amazing crew of people. Celebrated my dad's accomplishment of hiking the JMT and climbing half dome on his final day. I sense a transformation within him and around him. You can read about that on his blog, papahikesjmt.blogspot.com
7/7
962
Said my sweet goodbyes to dad, aka Gravy. And Tink. Parting is such sweet sorrow.
Gypsy saw 2 deers mating. Walked til after 8 in the rain.
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