Don got a Yosemite backpacking permit for Rafferty Creek, one of the trailheads that takes off from Tuolumne Meadows. Together with friends Tim Scudder and Kristin and Brian Anderson, they spent four days in the backcountry, ending up back in Yosemite Valley.
For acclimation, Don, Laura, and Tim went a day early and tried to hike from Glacier Point back into the valley. Unfortunately, they got caught in a hailstorm just past Illilouette Falls, had to hike back up to Glacier Point and then back down. What was supposed to be an eight mile trip turned into a fourteen mile one.
