The Nizhoni Life: Free Dorothy!

Since the first time I ever heard about this place called Yosemite, I have been dying to go! You cannot hear about Yosemite and not hear about John Muir either. I developed a deep connection with Mr. Muir – he had a natural flair for inventing things, he felt a connection to nature and believed that mankind is just one part of an interconnected natural world, not its master, and (at one time) God is revealed through nature, he was a man that greatly indulged in his wanderlust. His activism helped preserve Yosemite.

After watching The National Parks: America’s Best Idea my excitement grew and my eyes were set on climbing Half Dome. I didn’t know you needed a permit to hike pretty much anywhere in Yosemite, so I applied for one and got it the day before while I was in Mammoth, CA. As I was driving through the Tioga Pass entrance I picked up a hitchhiker that just completed 3 days off the John Muir trail. He was from Israel and completed his 2-year army enlistment and was on a US vacation backpacking Yosemite, Grand Canyon, then to Mexico, up to Canada, over to New York. He was super helpful as the Yosemite Village is a bit difficult to navigate through so he helped me locate offices, find permits and let me know about a backpacker camp that was only $5 that he was staying at. We parted ways and I let him know I’ll be over at camp shortly.

As I went to get my permit, the ranger was sort of bitchy. Something I really wasn’t expecting but she wouldn’t give me a backpacker permit. She said it was only for people that were going backpacking, so I told her I was going. She didn’t believe me and told me I needed to give her my itinerary, which seemed odd because no one else in the busy office was being asked for theirs. I got out of line to check out maps and locations so I went up to a different girl and let her know I would be heading out that afternoon to just underneath Half Dome to hike tomorrow. She gladly gave me a permit but let me know the backpacker camp was full, so I actually needed to backpack at least 7 miles on a high elevation gain beginning at 4pm. I got my pack ready and noticed another person next to me either packing or unpacking. We closed our cars at the same time and headed out. I lost him for 2 miles then all of a sudden he popped up randomly. We both looked at each other in bewilderment and asked, “Hey! Where did you come from?” We laughed and hiked on confused. He asked me what my itinerary was and I shared I would be hiking at least ½ mile past Little Yosemite Valley to backcountry camp, hike up Half Dome tomorrow then camp at the same place to explore perhaps Merced Lake. He had a pretty extensive itinerary but after a couple miles we decided to stick together as this was his first solo-backpacking trip.

He was a cool guy from Lehi, Utah that was around the same age so I asked him if he new a few people and threw out my Lehi crew’s names – he said sounds familiar but it’s also been 10 years. I told him I was just there to “marry Michelle,” this led him to think all weekend I just married a woman, Michelle, and left her behind to backpack in Yosemite alone, I laughed pretty hard the last day as we packed up to head out.

Friday finally came and we hiked the last 2 miles for Half Dome – whew! That was scary and steep! I had my Indiana Jones moment when the time we got off the cables my new Lehi friend asked a guy, “Do they sell beer up here?” The guy said, “here do you want one?” I said, “YES!” It was an awesome moment of a lifetime bucket list halfway complete (still need to get down) and I was offered a micro brew to enjoy the fascinating view. Barely holding it together, I felt so accomplished and proud. We hung out, took pictures, and just sat in silence taking it all in. We got back down the cables and packed up camp and headed past Little Yosemite Valley towards Echo Valley and came across this awesome waterfall that appeared to be a previously used campground. We set up and a couple came up behind us and set up as well. The guy said they come to this spot every year and there is never anyone else, he told us there were more great waterfalls to explore if we keep hiking. After we set up we set off for an exploratory day hike to find all these falls.

It was nice to have some company and we enjoyed discussing religion, Utah, our careers, life, relationships, and backpacking. He just got engaged and his fiancé was in Denver so was unable to come. It felt like a genuine human experience to just come across people like that and feel an instant friendship.

Saturday came around and we took our time eating breakfast and packing up. It got super hot as we hiked down and my toes were getting mangled, the crowd grew and just people everywhere – it was a mess. I finally got a little irritated and had hot food cravings and wanted a cold beer and mashed potatoes. I started to run down to the car and I ended up losing my buddy but found a creek to soak my feet. He was wandering trying to find the parking lot and we ended up losing our bearings for a minute, actually it was me, no one should ever listen to me trying to navigate – don’t you know this by now? We found the parking lot and he found his car and I could not…I walked around for a good 20 minutes and thought maybe he wasn’t the one packing next to me, maybe I parked some place else and I bet it’s miles away. Maybe I got my car stolen and everything – my ID, credit cards, car title, all I owned – was in the car. As I did a final walk around I saw a car with a yellow paper on the windshield. It was a warning because they had food on their car seat and in order to protect the bears they were warned for not using the bear food storages. On the warning there was a checkbox for: You were towed and call this number, which didn’t make sense for my case. I walked around and sure enough I missed a big sign that said to lock all food up in the bins in the parking lot or I could risk getting towed. I didn’t quite get service so good thing good guy Lehi was around and let me use his phone. We found out it was towed into a garage for improper food storage as I did just go grocery shopping for this trip and left it all out, however had I covered it with a blanket I would have been ok.

I get to the garage, exhausted, hot and slightly sunburned and they said I needed to pay but since my payment was in the car I had to walk to the impound get in payment and walk back to pay then walk back to retrieve my car. As I complete the steps and on my way to get Dorothy the Park Ranger checks my license and cannot release my car because it was suspended in Nevada 5 years ago. By this time it’s 4pm on a Saturday Memorial Day weekend and no DMV or place will be open till Tuesday. I’m completely lost in what to do so I look the ranger standing behind the counter in the eye and let him know I was stealing his pen and clicked it in his face and walked away. I was worried that I would miss guide school that starts on Monday and everything just seemed like a wreck. The office said all campgrounds are full so I couldn’t really stay in the park either. I said just because I didn’t cover up my food from the Rangers I am stuck. He quickly came back with, “Well I hate to break it to you but I could ticket you for the bear thing, no insurance, not registering your car within the allotted California time, driving with a suspended license. I’m just trying to help you get your life back in order.” Trying to help me get my life back together? Hmm… thanks but excuse me, I think you could use a bit of my therapy and did you not get the memo on my recent revolutionary vision quest? I packed a bag full of the beer I had in my car he said I won’t release your car if you finish all of those I told him I would see him next Tuesday.

My eyes moistened and called my parents. They just gave me this supportive pep talk the morning I left for Yosemite and when they heard the news they jumped into action by finding me phone numbers, hours of weekend DMV’s and my mother even was ready to hop in the car to help me. I needed a minute, I didn’t quite gather myself and I immediately lost control of myself. I hung up the phone, opened a beer and laughed my ass off. Seriously, Erica, what did you just get yourself into now? Really 5 years ago? I was “stuck” in Yosemite, what better place to be stuck in? It was gorgeous; I could live here and thought about just packing up and heading back to the wilderness again. Before I left Vegas I met a guy that I really enjoyed talking with. I called him up and it was nice to chat and calm down it was sweet that he was even ready to drive out to help.

I decided to have pizza and another beer then camp a night at the backpacker’s campground. I called the Park Ranger to get into my car to get stuff to camp the night. The officer just got on duty and wasn’t aware so I gladly updated him, he interrupted and asked if I was Navajo. Odd, people don’t always get my nationality and stare at me, ask if I am Pilipino or start speaking Spanish to me. He used to work on the Navajo Nation and recognized my features. He told me he wished he could help me out but I only needed to find a person with a valid license and that would get my car out and I could be on my way. He suggested having a great night, having more beer, making friends and enjoying the park. I did just that. I set up camp, had lots of beer and made friends.

There was a camp of 4 men that left their wives back for a backpacking trip. It was interesting hanging out with them because their normal activity is canoeing and to hike up 2000ft in 2 miles seemed a bit ridiculous to them and asked what it was about it that attracted people. I stood on my soapbox and proudly announced it’s a sense of accomplishment and feeling empowered as a woman that I am capable of physically and mentally performing these activates, when I get back into a work setting I feel a lot more confident heading towards other goals that seem so simple, it also keeps me emotionally stable – it’s that “do you know what I just did this weekend and you’re complaining about not having coffee stir sticks in the break room? Or “I’m sorry your room didn’t have any lotion but I just climbed Half Dome and thought I was going to die.” I shared my vision of my couples wellness resort and they were pumped about it and thought their wives could use a weekend with me. A camp over there were 2 other guys that were from Reno, totally chill dudes that discovered a Tupperware full of a vegan rice mixture in the bear container and were eating it over a few Fat Tires.

In the morning I regrouped with the 2 guys from Reno and the night before told them my bummer Dorothy story and they offered to help me. They said if I were in that situation it would be nice to have someone help out. I cried and jumped up and down, packed and we headed to Free Dorothy. Stupid me, I lost my payment receipt to show I paid the day before, the new Park Ranger lady was a beast, I did not want to get on her bad side. I think I just looked pathetic enough she released the car to my new friends. I hugged and thanked them and got their contact information and Dorothy and I tried to high tail it out of there before we caused any more mischief as I was “that Erica Nelson stuck for the holiday weekend.”

I ended up hitting a fork in the road and realized I had no road map I saw a group of 5 men pilling out of a car with big cameras so I stopped to see if they had one or could tell me where the hell I was. I introduced myself and one guy said, “Are you Miss Navajo Nation?” Another recognition. Weird. LOL! "Oh," I told him, "I’m sorry I get that a lot but unfortunately no." That was a lovely thing to hear after not showering for 4 days and completely smelly and disheveled. They ended up being all natives, 1 Navajo from Arizona, they invited me for their hike and picture session; however I let them know I needed to head out from a crazy night in Yosemite. They told me I shouldn’t be traveling alone but gave a quick story and awed them - they sent me on my way with directions and hugs.

Dear Yosemite, you have seen the best of me and the worst of me. Leave it to a vast beautiful wilderness to play with my emotions like that. 2 old gals back on the road, I made it to Folsom, CA and an email with a full time summer job offer.