Rushing river, fire pit, whiskey welcome

I flew into Oakland airport on June first. I was bound for Yosemite on a Friday afternoon in the busiest month the park sees. Except the first-come-first-served walk-in Camp 4, all campsites and hotels were booked for months prior. Fortunately, Katie's sister Evelyn was on the Yosemite trail crew and had welcomed me to crash with her for a night or two.

I drove my rental car across the Central Valley in 100+ degree heat and followed the 120 highway until it became a windy, narrow road through the mountains. The views became more and more spectacular as I went.

I made it inside the park in the evening and followed Evelyn's directions to the trail crew cabins. I pushed through the tall wooden fence door marked "Private Residence" as inconspicuously as possible and followed the path between two cabins back towards the river to find four new friends sitting around a picnic table in the sun.

The picturesque setting had me smiling so wide I could barely squeeze out an introduction.

"You must be here to see Evelyn," the woman at the table said, "She's inside cooking."

One of the guys offered up the bottle of whiskey that was being passed around.

"Welcome," he said as I took an initiation swig.

Adorable, tattooed Evelyn came bouncing out of the cabin to greet me.

She introduced me to the trail crew: Billy, Charlie, and Steve, and Charlie's girlfriend Holly who worked on a near-by ranch. I went to my car to grab the load of groceries I bought in Oakland to I could offer snacks to go with the trail crew's beer.

Evelyn shared her home cooked Indian dinner with me and I settled in with the hard-working, dirty crew. I was right at home!

We spent the evening in the trail crew's backyard. The river rushed by hypnotically and the night sky opened to infinite stars poking through vibrant indigo. We sat around the fire and I listened to the crew's stories of living in the back country for weeks at a time. Tales of life with no running water or contact with the outside world started me fantasizing about my own Yosemite adventures-to-come.

I fell asleep fireside, looking at the California stars, and listening to Holly and Evelyn play guitar and sing Gillian Welch's Look at Miss Ohio.

Thank you Yosemite, thank you Evelyn and crew for the warm welcome. I feel grateful and content in this magic place.