Episode One : A delicious dose of a dynamic duo

The journey begins in a small town known for its scent of ocean breeze, quaint downtown aura, and seasonal college kid antics: San Luis Obispo, CA. Two ambitious men, Dan Macy and Greg Roberts, leave this place they have called home for five years previous and introduce themselves to a life of travel. With five senses readily available (the ability to see dead people having been lost by both Macy and Greg in two separate freak wind tunnel accidents), the United States of America is experienced.

The air freshener: Mountain Breeze. The mode of transportation: a 1998 Honda Civic, outfitted with a dope sound system, respectable gas mileage, and a cool neon light that Macy installed with a nifty red switch on the arm rest and everything. The starting odometer mileage: 79,620. And all that lie between Macy and Greg and their destination is the open road.

Destination: Yosemite National Park

Yosemite is reached after an easy 4 hour drive. The two enter the park from the south entrance, and it is here that they decide to ride the preferred mode of transportation, as provided by the park services: the bobsled. Here is Macy riding downhill in his bobsled at a rough approximation, right around an estimated 73 mph, about :

The beauty of the Yosemite National Forest attracts people of all walks of life, including carnival folk, pilots, and village people. Here, Greg is seen participating in the Annual Spelling of the Forest, a demonstration of love and appreciation. Volunteers stand on the side of the road and spell : “Yosemite National Forest, we love you, like totally.”

The first night is spent in the Bridlevail campground, not far from the more popular valley. Here we see that Dan and Greg have found peace with their friend, nature. As it turns out, squirrels have a knack for using digital cameras.

The sun rises on June 30th to find two eager adventurers ready to tramp on some wicked trails up in this piece. While heading towards the Wilderness Center in the valley, the two find themselves overwhelmingly compelled to frolic within the meadows.

The wilderness center provides some wonderful services for Greg and Dan. The two get hooked up with a camp site requiring a 1.2 mile hike, right on May Lake, the dead center of the national park. They also receive some good tips about what to bring with them into the wilderness, like glue sticks and power tools. Weighed down by an addition 135 lbs each, much of which is due to Greg’s masonry habit, the two ready for their first experience in the wild.

Dan and Greg ascend a hefty 500 feet to their first night in the wild, with bears and dear and stuff like that. The evening is spent getting comfortable while at their altitude of 9360 feet. The following day is beautiful and the two feel compelled to climb Mount Hoffman. “You’re going down, Mt. Hoffman, down beneath my feet, yo,” shouts Greg .

Making the ascent is not a simple task. With thin air and loose rocks abound, the two fight nature and exhaustion with every fiber of their respective beings. Dan makes it to the peak first, and as fate would have it, another one of those darn squirrels has a digital camera to capture the moment.

The top of Mount Hoffman proves to be a worthwhile destination. The view is spectacular, displaying the entire Yosemite National Forest. Here are Dan and Greg at the peak (10,850 ft), with half dome in the background.

The climb down the mountain is provided by a new route, one that is imagined by the adventurers and then executed with an insane perfection of balance, strength, and creativity. Here we see that their love of winter time activities has become of use. Greg is pointing at the ski marks left by both Dan and Greg who successfully skied the mountain by shoe (no wet butts, really).

From the snow, the two take a left at the second boulder, a right after three trees and stop at Q-zar for an enjoyable game of laser tag. After a few games, Dan and Greg hit up Dairy Queen for a blizzard and head back to camp. The view along the way is fortunately very tolerable.

Dan and Greg find themselves back at their camp site with time to spare. After eating a delicious meal of dehydrated lasagna, they are joined by two bucks and a squirrel who come out of their forest sanctuary for a few hands of five card draw. The wildlife went down, …sukkas.

... stay tuned for Episode 2, a vicarious yet enchanting experience of the wilderness provided by Glacier National Park ...