Yosemite Trip Day 1
It’s always exciting to be in a new place especially when it’s a long awaited vacation. Sure nothing could ever top the 2013 Japan trip with Hiroshi (although the 2012 road trip was pretty awesome) but it’s always nice going to new places together. Well, it’s new to me since I’ve never been there and have always been curious. This year’s summer trip with boyfriend was Yosemite.
Since Hiroshi got laid off, we were broke, and still recovering from the Japan trip, we decided to have a small 4-day getaway in Yosemite. It shouldn’t cost much since it’s another camp trip and it’ll be nice to get away from our current situation.
The night before I somehow managed to pack everything I needed in my cycling bag. This is one of the things I love about camping: no makeup since that takes up a lot of space. However, we barely got any space in his S2000 since I bought too much snacks including sweet potatoes and we haven’t bought the main food yet. Yikes.
We left around 4am so we can get a decent campground and since it was on a Thursday and didn’t need reservations, our chances were pretty high. At a local grocery store close to the National Park, we grabbed some hotdogs, buns, and chili for our dinner for the next couple of days. Since there wasn’t any space for firewood, we had no choice but to drive 40 minutes back to the grocery later the day to buy some. And as tradition before entering the park, we had our morning breakfast at McDonalds. I have always associated McDonalds with traveling since it’s practically everywhere in the world. I’m very familiar with the chain even when I’m away from home. I guess you can say that’s the biggest reasons why I love McDonalds. Can’t eat that stuff everyday though.
There was a bit of a line when we got to the gate but it wasn’t as bad as Hiroshi anticipated. The park was huge and it took us a good 20 minutes to get to the Bridalveil Campground located at the top of the valley. Along the way I saw a couple of signs that says “Speeding Kills Bears.” Hiroshi told me they put up that sign at a particular location where a bear gets hit by a car. Starting from then on, whenever Hiroshi would speed up I would tell him “Speeding kills bears” with a sad face on. Haha, he found that hilarious.
We arrived at the campground with barely 2-3 opened lots around 10am. This particular campground was actually occupied the week before by firefighters since they were trying to contain the brush fire. Luckily, they left on Tuesday and we got there on the following Thursday. Man, that totally would’ve screwed our trip if we couldn’t find a campground especially over the busy summer season.
On the campsite, Hiroshi set up the tent while I put the food away in our bear box. It’s great how we have our system without having the need to tell the other what to do. Since we arrived earlier than expected and had plenty of time to kill, Hiroshi decided to head to the Tunnel View. It was quite a drive since there were plenty of turns (much to Hiroshi’s excitement unless there was a slow car in front of us) and he definitely made some noise through the long tunnel with his car. Once we passed the tunnel, the view blew me away. It was beautiful and it’s no wonder it’s one of the famous National Parks. Hiroshi pretty much caught my reaction on his GoPro when I first laid my eyes on the Half Dome. He said it was priceless and will give him a good laugh in the future.
He parked the car and we took plenty of pictures. The tourists were nice enough to give everyone their space and took turns to take pictures which was great. From the view point, you can see the Half Dome, El Capitan, Three Brothers, and Bridalveil Fall which was empty. Still, the view was breathtaking!
Afterwards we headed down the valley and man there was a huge change in temperature. It was nice and breezy at the top but down below it was a bit toasty. There were sure plenty of tourists down there too. We drove along the river and got a nice view of El Capitan. Hiroshi told me that a lot of professional mountain climbers would actually spend a couple of days climbing El Capitan and actually sleep on a hanging tent along the way. Talk about dare devils, I sure hope none of them sleep walks.
Along the way we also passed by the Three Brothers.
We arrived at the visitor center hungry along with a lot of tourists obviously feeling the same way. Most of them were families with their kids who seem to be either new to camping. I seriously would not wear makeup, perfume, or high heels in National Parks. The cafeteria line was long and Hiroshi played it safe with nachos while I tried grass-fed beef hamburger and we shared on a slushie. They obviously used mountain water on the slushie because we could totally taste it. The grass-fed beef burger I had tasted like it came from a middle school cafeteria while Hiroshi’s nachos were actually decent. Geez, and my burger costs more than his nachos…
Once we had our fill, we headed to the shop and thankfully it was not as crowded. I bought a couple of shirts and magnets for my sisters and brother-in-law and a bag for myself. On the way back we were planning to buy some firewoods at the grocery store outside the park which would’ve been a 40 minute drive but fortunately we found some at a store by the gate entrance. Lucky! We got to the campsite and realized we still had plenty of time to kill during the day before setting up the campfire. I did get a little worried since we heard some thunders from a distant. That pretty much made me excited because I’ve never camped through rain before.
Before starting the campfire, we headed off to Glacier Point which was much closer than the Tunnel View. The turns were a whole lot sharper compared to the other ones and towards the end we were pretty much close to the beautiful but terrifying cliff. At the parking lot when I was trying to recover from the cliff view, I heard a weird and funny noise. Seriously, I had no idea where it was coming from but it made me giggle because I sounded like a weird fart. I followed it and realized it was from a couple of quails. Hiroshi heard it too and thought it sounded funny.
The view in Glacier Point was once again spectacular. The Half Dome was dead center while it was said we should also see 3 other waterfalls. In this time of year, I could barely see two but it was still a gorgeous view! The sound of thunder added more thrill to the view. Now if there were lightning, I’d be terrified.
Of course, there were some idiots who walked towards the area where it was prohibited. One guy instantly gave me white hairs when he sat by the corner of the cliff… Moron. His friend tried to as well but was too terrified that Mr. Moron suggested against it. At least he has some common sense not to let his friend fall.
Aside from the view and brave moron, the crazy elevation sure took my breath away. I had to walk slowly to catch my breath. I don’t think I’ve ever lose my breath this bad. Despite my everyday jog, this made me feel so out of shape. When it started getting dark and sprinkled on us, we decided to head back to camp.
Surprisingly it was still sunny at our campsite. Hiroshi started setting up the fire while I took out the food. I’m not sure if it was because of the elevation or the firewood brand (or both) but it took Hiroshi a long time to start the fire. He was really frustrated with it because he never had any problems starting the fire before. We ended up eating dinner late in the freezing night and our first attempt to cooking sweet potato on the campfire failed miserably. Some parts were burnt yet the middle was undercooked. Aside from the sweet potato, I tried Hiroshi’s pineapple fruit and found it a little tart. I didn’t mind so much but I had a feeling he’d want to trade with my mandarins eventually. It wasn’t a good start for the campfire but we still had a couple of nights to redeem ourselves.
Since Hiroshi got laid off, we were broke, and still recovering from the Japan trip, we decided to have a small 4-day getaway in Yosemite. It shouldn’t cost much since it’s another camp trip and it’ll be nice to get away from our current situation.
The night before I somehow managed to pack everything I needed in my cycling bag. This is one of the things I love about camping: no makeup since that takes up a lot of space. However, we barely got any space in his S2000 since I bought too much snacks including sweet potatoes and we haven’t bought the main food yet. Yikes.
We left around 4am so we can get a decent campground and since it was on a Thursday and didn’t need reservations, our chances were pretty high. At a local grocery store close to the National Park, we grabbed some hotdogs, buns, and chili for our dinner for the next couple of days. Since there wasn’t any space for firewood, we had no choice but to drive 40 minutes back to the grocery later the day to buy some. And as tradition before entering the park, we had our morning breakfast at McDonalds. I have always associated McDonalds with traveling since it’s practically everywhere in the world. I’m very familiar with the chain even when I’m away from home. I guess you can say that’s the biggest reasons why I love McDonalds. Can’t eat that stuff everyday though.
There was a bit of a line when we got to the gate but it wasn’t as bad as Hiroshi anticipated. The park was huge and it took us a good 20 minutes to get to the Bridalveil Campground located at the top of the valley. Along the way I saw a couple of signs that says “Speeding Kills Bears.” Hiroshi told me they put up that sign at a particular location where a bear gets hit by a car. Starting from then on, whenever Hiroshi would speed up I would tell him “Speeding kills bears” with a sad face on. Haha, he found that hilarious.
We arrived at the campground with barely 2-3 opened lots around 10am. This particular campground was actually occupied the week before by firefighters since they were trying to contain the brush fire. Luckily, they left on Tuesday and we got there on the following Thursday. Man, that totally would’ve screwed our trip if we couldn’t find a campground especially over the busy summer season.
On the campsite, Hiroshi set up the tent while I put the food away in our bear box. It’s great how we have our system without having the need to tell the other what to do. Since we arrived earlier than expected and had plenty of time to kill, Hiroshi decided to head to the Tunnel View. It was quite a drive since there were plenty of turns (much to Hiroshi’s excitement unless there was a slow car in front of us) and he definitely made some noise through the long tunnel with his car. Once we passed the tunnel, the view blew me away. It was beautiful and it’s no wonder it’s one of the famous National Parks. Hiroshi pretty much caught my reaction on his GoPro when I first laid my eyes on the Half Dome. He said it was priceless and will give him a good laugh in the future.
He parked the car and we took plenty of pictures. The tourists were nice enough to give everyone their space and took turns to take pictures which was great. From the view point, you can see the Half Dome, El Capitan, Three Brothers, and Bridalveil Fall which was empty. Still, the view was breathtaking!
Afterwards we headed down the valley and man there was a huge change in temperature. It was nice and breezy at the top but down below it was a bit toasty. There were sure plenty of tourists down there too. We drove along the river and got a nice view of El Capitan. Hiroshi told me that a lot of professional mountain climbers would actually spend a couple of days climbing El Capitan and actually sleep on a hanging tent along the way. Talk about dare devils, I sure hope none of them sleep walks.
Along the way we also passed by the Three Brothers.
We arrived at the visitor center hungry along with a lot of tourists obviously feeling the same way. Most of them were families with their kids who seem to be either new to camping. I seriously would not wear makeup, perfume, or high heels in National Parks. The cafeteria line was long and Hiroshi played it safe with nachos while I tried grass-fed beef hamburger and we shared on a slushie. They obviously used mountain water on the slushie because we could totally taste it. The grass-fed beef burger I had tasted like it came from a middle school cafeteria while Hiroshi’s nachos were actually decent. Geez, and my burger costs more than his nachos…
Once we had our fill, we headed to the shop and thankfully it was not as crowded. I bought a couple of shirts and magnets for my sisters and brother-in-law and a bag for myself. On the way back we were planning to buy some firewoods at the grocery store outside the park which would’ve been a 40 minute drive but fortunately we found some at a store by the gate entrance. Lucky! We got to the campsite and realized we still had plenty of time to kill during the day before setting up the campfire. I did get a little worried since we heard some thunders from a distant. That pretty much made me excited because I’ve never camped through rain before.
Before starting the campfire, we headed off to Glacier Point which was much closer than the Tunnel View. The turns were a whole lot sharper compared to the other ones and towards the end we were pretty much close to the beautiful but terrifying cliff. At the parking lot when I was trying to recover from the cliff view, I heard a weird and funny noise. Seriously, I had no idea where it was coming from but it made me giggle because I sounded like a weird fart. I followed it and realized it was from a couple of quails. Hiroshi heard it too and thought it sounded funny.
The view in Glacier Point was once again spectacular. The Half Dome was dead center while it was said we should also see 3 other waterfalls. In this time of year, I could barely see two but it was still a gorgeous view! The sound of thunder added more thrill to the view. Now if there were lightning, I’d be terrified.
Of course, there were some idiots who walked towards the area where it was prohibited. One guy instantly gave me white hairs when he sat by the corner of the cliff… Moron. His friend tried to as well but was too terrified that Mr. Moron suggested against it. At least he has some common sense not to let his friend fall.
Aside from the view and brave moron, the crazy elevation sure took my breath away. I had to walk slowly to catch my breath. I don’t think I’ve ever lose my breath this bad. Despite my everyday jog, this made me feel so out of shape. When it started getting dark and sprinkled on us, we decided to head back to camp.
Surprisingly it was still sunny at our campsite. Hiroshi started setting up the fire while I took out the food. I’m not sure if it was because of the elevation or the firewood brand (or both) but it took Hiroshi a long time to start the fire. He was really frustrated with it because he never had any problems starting the fire before. We ended up eating dinner late in the freezing night and our first attempt to cooking sweet potato on the campfire failed miserably. Some parts were burnt yet the middle was undercooked. Aside from the sweet potato, I tried Hiroshi’s pineapple fruit and found it a little tart. I didn’t mind so much but I had a feeling he’d want to trade with my mandarins eventually. It wasn’t a good start for the campfire but we still had a couple of nights to redeem ourselves.
