Yosemite Falls, North Dome, Mirror Lake

Yesterday I rode Amtrak to Yosemite ($53 round trip from San Jose), arriving at dusk without a map, a camping reservation, or any real plans. With my usual luck (?) I quickly found a map (2 actually) and a space in the Sunnyside campsite (only $3 a night; boy am I glad I didn't book one at $14 a night!) put up my tent and sat around eating bread and salami with two climbers from Colorado who'd been there a month. The only problem? No methylated spirits anywhere in the valley, so my stove is useless. But the shops aren't that expensive. // Today I climbed to the top of Yosemite Falls, and then kept on going, returning to the valley via North Dome and Mirror Lake--a walk that wasn't in any of the lists of day hikes for some reason (it's 18 miles, but only about 3000 feet climbing all together, so no real problem). The views are just spectacular--I've never seen anything like it before, and I can undestand why Yosemite is such a tourist mecca. There must be 2000+ people in the valley, but I only met about 15 climbing Yosemite falls, and 3 at North Dome--I had the whole 8 mile track from there and back to the valley all to myself (except for the chipmunks and the birds--no bears or mountain lions so far). // I've just eaten a pizza and feel much better. Cheers, Danny