There is no place on earth like Yosemite.
     As I started down the Panorama Trail from Glacier Point in mid-June, a glorious Sierra burst into view.  Waterfalls roared, mountains stretched and domes reclined in a scene almost too intense to take in at one time.
     After three years of hiking in northern California, I had forgotten how powerful the Yosemite Sierra is. 
     I had also forgotten how hard it is to hike in Yosemite.  The granite steps, the constant elevation gain and lose.  I had hoped for an easy 5-mile hike to Little Yosemite Valley.  But this "easy" hike took me all day and I fell more times than I cared to count. 
     But as the sun set, I walked into the Little Yosemite Valley campground, tired and sore. 
     My son, Andrew, was with me, as well as a handful of other friends and kids. 
     The next day, after contending with a nasty bear for several hours, some of the group went up to Half Dome.  I spent a leisurely day with my son, resting and playing poker by the Merced River. 
     It was nice to be in the wilderness and not have to walk ten miles a day. 
     I left camp at first light for two reasons:  1) I wanted to get to the car ASAP and 2) I wanted to avoid meeting hikers along the way.  It seems that everyone I meet on the trail now looks at me in a funny way.  I preferred to be alone. 
     Even though I only walked about 12 miles in three days, I was exhausted when I got back to car.  Yosemite is too tough for me.  I hate to admit it, but it's the truth. 

     I needed a new vision.  Something doable, but not so intense that it consumes my whole life. 

     Sometime ago, I had read an article in the paper about a trail that circles Lake Tahoe.  As I considered a new vision, I remembered this article.  I found a trail guide to the route on the net and ordered it.  I had found my new vision. 

     Over the next seven to eight years, I'm going to chip away at the 165-mile Tahoe Rim Trail.  Summer 2005 will find me taking the water taxi across Echo Lake for a 30-mile section to Barker Pass. 
     I'll only hike about five miles a day.  I'll spend lots of time reading and sitting.  I'll keep walking.

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