Back into the Light

Healing and perspective in Yosemite Valley

By Mark Smith

January 21^st, 2024

This is where we'd been

In April of 2023, Nancy was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of breast cancer. She then went through an eight-month process that included surgery, a series of day-long chemotherapy treatments over 10 weeks, and then 20 straight weekdays of radiation therapy. Ugh.

The photo above is from late June, with the first chemo treatment in progress. Nancy is wearing ice mittens and booties, plus a brave smile; I'm feeling like we're stepping into the unknown.

Looking ahead

Through it all, after being so homebound, Nancy kept hope alive for the day she could go SOMEWHERE besides the hospital and the ER.

So, on one of her "up" days - see photo at right / below - we made a reservation for three nights in Yosemite Valley – not knowing how much activity she'd be up for.

And in early December, just two weeks after finishing radiation, Nancy and I, Emily, and her boyfriend Eric set off to one of our favorite places on the planet.

Arrival

We arrived in the Valley on a cloudy afternoon. After lunch and check-in, we walked out to an area by the Merced River and the Swinging Bridge. It was cool, dark, and quiet, but it felt fabulous to be there.

A change of season

The next morning was bright and sunny. Yosemite embraced us, showing off its late-fall browns and grays, with frost on the flowers, while green grasses still flourished in the shallows of the Merced.

Valley Loop Trail and El Capitan

The Valley Loop Trail takes you through places most visitors never see, as you walk through the forest, beside the Merced, and up close to Yosemite's iconic natural masterpieces.

One of these is El Capitan.

Nancy and I had headed out early, and were looking at El Cap with binoculars when we noticed a tiny bit of movement, far up on one of its most famous walls.

It was two climbers - look just to the left of the large shadow / overhang at the center of the photo above, along those gray, vertical markings in the rock. There are two tiny dark dots. The top dot is one climber, and below is his/her partner with some gear.

The scale is nearly unbelievable: That overhanging slab is as big as a house - but in turn it's a relatively small feature in the granite expanse of El Cap.

Bridalveil Fall

We met up with Emily and Eric on the Loop Trail, and the four of us headed for Bridalveil Fall - an overlooked Valley feature.

Nancy was absolutely giddy about being ANYWHERE, let alone in Yosemite Valley with the three of us. Everyone was feeling great on this trip, including Nancy.

There WAS some light-headedness once or twice - but that was me, after having beers around the fire in the Mountain Room :-)

Under the spell of Half Dome

The following morning we took the shuttle to the eastern part of the Valley and walked up to Mirror Lake, near the base of Half Dome itself. This granite monster rises nearly a mile above the Valley floor, part of its domed top having been sheared off by a glacier millions of years ago. At its feet lay boulders the size of boxcars.

This close up, the extreme scale of Half Dome is incredible. As we approached, the temperature dropped eight or ten degrees and the light dimmed dramatically, as the mountain blocked out the sun on what was otherwise a bright mid- morning.

As we roamed around the lake, fully under the powerful spell of Half Dome, it was impossible not to reflect on what we all had gone through in the past year.

But now, things had turned around. And recovery was well underway. With this in mind we walked back into the Valley, happy to be back in the sun.

Last rays of the day

Late on our last afternoon, we went our separate ways along the Merced.

Nancy settled into a camp chair on the sunny river bank (look closely at far left in photo - at left or below), with the Valley at her feet. Emily and Eric went exploring farther upriver, and I wandered down to the Swinging Bridge to shoot in the golden afternoon light.