After months of planning, Dan and I finally made the trip to Yosemite National Park last weekend. We had such a grand time! Warning: Big, extravagant words will be used excessively in this entry.
By far, this is the biggest group of friends we’ve camped with – eleven awesome people! Thanks to Dan’s planning prowess, everything down from the camping spots, carpooling, hike trails, lookouts, and food for every meal has been meticulously planned. He was up until 3 AM Friday putting together kebabs (that he marinated two days prior!), bacon-wrapped shrimp skewers and slices for the sandwiches!
Since Dan did a lot, I became the official driver for the trip, driving for six hours one way, plus getting to the trails and back again to our camp. Here’s us just arriving in our campgrounds, Hogdon Meadow.
Chef Dan served up the awesome kebabs and no-fail bacon-wrapped shrimp skewers with Sweet Baby Ray’s Honey Chipotle sauce basting the first night. Since our Sequoia camping trip almost a year ago, we have definitely come a lot more prepared this time around. Here’s Dan with Johnny who first introduced us to the legendary bacon-wrapped shrimp goodness that got everybody hooked!
Saturday, we left camp and drove out to Vernal Falls and hiked up the most grueling uphill climb of the weekend – about three miles and 360 view of amazing landscape. The view is just spectacular! Going up to the Vernal falls can get a bit tricky since the mist gets heavier the closer you get! The side of the mountain was carved out to make stairs so people can climb up and down, but it can get quite slippery. I was mesmerized by the rainbow just beneath the falls, it’s been a long time since I last saw one and to see one up close is just magical.
Halfway through the hike. At this point, photo opts were a welcome break to stop and catch our breath! Aside from enjoying the majestic views of course!
We found this little fella, a Western Grey Squirrel by the bridge we crossed to get to the top of Vernal Falls. He’s so not shy!
Climbing towards the top of Vernal Falls.
Check out that rainbow on the left.
After Vernal Falls, we drove out to Yosemite falls which was a short hike – about a mile. It was incredibly gorgeous all its own!
Another spectacular view right where we parked to get to Yosemite falls.
Our last trail for the day was Bridalveil falls, another very short hike. As we parked, we saw a mother deer with two “bambis” trailing her. We couldn’t help follow them around for a much-needed photo opt. They weren’t shy at all! In fact, some of us got so close and had their palms licked!
We were told that during the drought when a very small spray of water would fall, it was easy to get to a cave-like opening the shape of heart, hence the name Bridalveil. Once inside, one could find rocks shaped like living room furniture set up like it’s ready to receive guests!
Word is that there had been many accidents and fatalities that occurred in this waterfalls so there were many signs like this surrounding the area.
Alas, boys will be boys and some of them started to climb over the slippery rocks. When Dan tried to follow I almost wanted to throw my camera at him. Good thing he listened and climbed back down or else this blog entry would’ve gone to a completely different conclusion if something horrible had happened!
More rainbows! At the Bridalveil Falls, we saw three rainbows! I’ve never seen anything like it in my whole life!
On our last day, Sunday, after breakfast we packed up and drove out to our last stop, the Mariposa Grove where Yosemite’s share of giant sequoias grew and have been in existence for hundreds of years! But first, we stopped at the famous “tunnel view.” It’s hands down, the best view Dan and I laid our eyes on. All big, epic words almost won’t come close to describing how breathtakingly magnificent the sight of it is. It’s like one of nature’s grand orchestra!
While there, we saw a photo shoot with a bride and groom. That backdrop is priceless!
Going to the Mariposa Grove, we caught a 20-minute one way shuttle bus then about a half mile hike to check out the “Grizzly Giant” and the “Bachelor and the Three Graces.” The tour guide mentioned that Yosemite National Park has the highest concentration of sequoias but we were running out of time to check out anything else beside the ones I just mentioned. We got out of the park close to 6 PM arriving in Los Angeles past eleven.
Fallen sequoia.
The Bachelor and the Three Graces.
Grizzly Giant! It looks like a whole forest growing on the trunk of this giant!
Let me end this entry with this photo we saw while filling up our tank just outside the park before heading back home. Thanks for reading! And to view the complete album from the trip, click here. Don’t forget the password: cindyndan
Filed under: Camping, Cindy, Dan, Hiking, National Parks, Travel Diaries, Yosemite
