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1500’ drop over the next several miles. We were all much happier going downward than with our prior day’s ascension as it helped to speed us along the way.
    We arrived at Hetch Hetchy about a half mile up from the dam and proceeded eastward towards Tueeulala Falls. Tueeulala Falls was a high falls and made for impressive pictures this time of year. The creeks and streams that fed it were all at high levels from the spring and summer snow melts. It took us two hours to hike to the top of the falls; it was close to 900’ of incline.
    We broke for lunch and a rest while we gazed over Hetch Hetchy reservoir from our lofty perch. Again the scenery was breathtaking and as I had suspected would happen earlier, Susi had used her last roll of film. We rested for half an hour and then began our hike back to the trail below. The almost two hour trek going up turned into a half hour hike on the way down.
    It was just after lunch when my legs were really starting to feel a burn from the hike. I was happy that Wapama falls was only a few hundred yards further on. Wapama Falls was huge compared to Tueeulala. The volume of water was easily three to four times as much volume. When we again reached the edge of Hetch Hetchy we took a break and rested. With all of the wondrous scenery, the fear and the troubles of the night before seemed to fade away.
    From Wapama we proceeded on along the shoreline of Hetch Hetchy. We had a fantastic view of Kalona Rock which jutted upward from the opposite shoreline. Kalona was a massive piece of granite that rose almost 1000’ up. It seemed to almost loom above you as you walked. The elevation continued to increase as we hiked towards Rancheria Falls.
    There were several sets of falls along Rancheria Creek and our path would take us past them all. As we continued the terrain had turned rocky and once again uphill so our forward progress slowed. I was getting fatigued and I was sure the others were starting to see it in my increasing grumpiness. When we arrived at the second set of falls we decided it was as good a place as any to set up camp.
    I was exhausted, but somehow my sister seemed as chipper as ever. She had continued on with her fitness through gymnastics and running since her college cheerleading days. I on the other hand, usually spent my spare time cozied up to the bar trying to entertain clients. I had gone out hiking for several months before coming on the trip, but apparently that had not been enough. I slid out of my pack, removed my boots and socks and walked over into the icy cool water of the creek.
    The cold bit into my feet and I immediately hopped back out, but after another try I began to feel relief. As I stood in the water I turned to see the girls setting up the tarps while Bull and Kyle headed out to hunt down dinner.
    Even though Yosemite was a National Park, back in the 1950s the rangers did not seem to mind if wilderness hikers in the back-country hunted small game. Since there were not a lot of visitors there was no real danger of over hunting. Commercial hunting though, was absolutely banned and if caught came with hefty fines. This night we once again had squirrel and we chopped up three of the six potatoes I was carrying in my pack. I was glad to be rid of the extra pounds I had been carrying and the squirrel stew hit the spot.
    After eating, the girls had asked us politely to go off into the woods because they wanted to bathe in the falls. We were all in need of a hygienic overhaul at that point, so we obliged and walked downstream, we were soon out of sight. With an hour of daylight remaining they washed and hung their clothes and got into the spare set they had in their packs. We returned after 20 minutes and then sent them downstream so that we could do the same.
    The water was frigid, but it felt good to once again be clean. We had been on the trail for three solid days. It was funny how back then body odor did not seem to bother people quite as much. It was an odor