Sentinel Dome

Hiked: 6/27/2018
Distance: 2.4 miles round trip on trail
Summit Elevation: 8122'
Elevation Gain: 548'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 0.43
Round trip time: 1 hours 10 minutes
Recommended water: 16 oz.
Parking/Fees: $35 National Parks Fee (per car, good for 7 days), Glacier Point Road
Difficulty: Easy

We drove to Yosemite on Wednesday and had a couple of hours to kill before our hotel was ready so we stopped to do a warm up hike to Sentinel Dome. This is a short hike to a small granite dome above Glacier Point. There is a wide, family friendly trail that leaves from Glacier Point Road. Parking was an issue at the busy trailhead but found a good spot when someone else left. It's still far less busy than Glacier Point. The trail goes around to the north side of the dome where the slope is gentle. The views are similar to those from Glacier Point, but with fewer people and no guard rails in the way. There was a silver disk set in one of the summit boulders with a map of various landmarks etched into it. It was worth the short trip for spectacular views.

Sentinel Dome through the trees near the start

Following the trail up the north side

Yosemite Falls

El Capitan, still astonished that people climb it

Half Dome, Clouds Rest, North Dome (left), and Basket Dome (left)

Looking east to Mt. Starr King, Nevada Fall lower left

When we checked in to the Disney Grand Californian Majestic Yosemite Hotel, we were in a cabin in a wooded area away from the main building. I joked with the bell hop about when the bears showed up. Less than an hour later, we heard a loud pop outside and some yelling. Leisa looked out the window and a medium sized black bear ran past. My immediate reaction was to grab my phone and open the door. Due to bad lighting and a running bear, I took a blurry photo of a brown smudge. My instinct was to give chase. I trotted after the bear as he left the hotel grounds into the sparse pine forest. He slowed to a walk and I saw two yellow tags in his ears. I took another photo, but he was in shade and still hard to see. I kept what I thought was a safe distance and started to take a video, following him at his pace. A few seconds later, a ranger jogged past me armed with a paint ball gun. He yelled "Get out of here, Bear!" in a harsh tone. The paint ball gun must have been the loud pop we heard earlier. With the ranger in pursuit, I backed off. On the way back, he admonished me not to approach the wild life. I nodded, but both of us knew I wasn't making any promises.