Return To The South Fork Of The Merced. By Ryan Zondervan

I found this story online and quickly emailed the author and asked if I could use his story as well as a picture on Yosemite Blog. He said yes and even pointed me towards an album with more of his photos from his adventure. Ryan is an awesome writer. Here’s a short excerpt from his story.

Ryan: “This past weekend I had the pleasure of returning to the south fork of the Merced River with five good friends. My first adventure in that area happened almost exactly a year ago and marked a turning point in my emerging identity. It also ended with all parties being covered in poison oak, something I hope we avoided this year. Time will tell (no breakouts yet!).

What a difference a year makes! Last year the temperatures were in the 90s, and much of the hillside vegetation had already turned a monochromatic brown. On Saturday morning we awoke in a carpet of purple flowers. Everywhere you turned the landscape was exploding in vivid hues of orange, red, yellow, green, blue, and purple. I thought nothing could surpass my hike in Mt. Diablo State Park, but was more than happy to be proved wrong in such a short time!

To back up a bit – we left San Francisco around 8pm on Friday night, stopping in Oakland to pick up the last member of our party. The drive to the trailhead took just under 4 hours, with the last 45 minutes or so a white-knuckled ride down some very twisty roads. Around the time my eyelids started getting heavy, we arrived at Savage’s Trading Post.

After 15 minutes or so of organizing gear, we threw on our packs and started hiking. This time around we encountered no skunks, and only saw one or two red salamanders. In no time at all we arrived at our first campsite, quickly setting up our resting place for the night. Sleeping pads rolled out and food hung in the trees (keeps the bears away), we drifted off into dreamland.

I awoke the next morning to the gentle roar of rushing water. I turned my head and saw a carpet of purple and green around my sleeping bad. Wildflowers were blooming everywhere, and in a quantity and variety I had never seen!”

Now go read the rest of it over at Ryan’s site.

Nice job and thanks again, Ryan.