More beautiful than I could have ever imagined.
Day one in Yosemite
We woke up in Sequoia ready to take on the day! We headed towards Fresno and got coffee at Hi-Top and hung out there for a few hours before heading to Paso Robles to find a Planet Fitness before we went for Yosemite.
After waiting in traffic for two hours whilst only being a half a mile away from the park, we finally made it. We also may have forgotten that it was Labor Day weekend. So, we decided to find our camp spot for the night and get some rest for a head start on the next day.
We found a spot just outside the East exit of the park by El Portal, right along the river. It was beautiful! We decided to swim in the river for a bit to cool off, then we went to sleep.
Day two in Yosemite
We started our morning off by heading back into the park and towards Curry Village. We started with a hike to the top of Vernal Falls; it took us two hours to go up, and thirty minutes to get back down. The view from up there was amazing and well worth the climb! After we got back down, we went and explored Curry Village a bit and got some groceries.
Then we headed towards El Capitan to walk to the base of the mountain, but I was kinda dehydrated and it was really hot that afternoon that we decided to save it for the next morning.
So we went to explore the Yosemite Village and walk around there a bit. I had gotten terrible blisters from our previous hike and it was super painful to walk, so we got some ice cream and decided to go back to our camp spot and swim in the river a bit before heading to bed for the night.
Day three in Yosemite
We woke up early to walk to the base of El Capitan and touch the mountain. It was a lot cooler than it sounds. After our walk we went back to the visitors center and walked the store a bit.
We then explored the Ahwahnee Hotel for a while. It was rustic, full of history, and amazing to see.
Afterwards we took a nice walk though Cooks Meadow, then went back to Curry Village for some burgers and fries, you know, camping food.
Then it was back to the campsite to swim and we actually made a few friends at the campsite! We sat and talked with Hada, from Brazil and her husband David, from Columbia, a man named Diego, from Argentina, and Andrea and her boyfriend Mario from Czech Republic. They were all camping in the spot too in their vans. They were all super friendly, and it was cool to swap stories with them.
Day four in Yosemite
We started our morning off by heading up to Glacier Point to get a better view of the whole valley. After that we decided to hike up Sentinel Dome for another view point. Because we went in the early morning, both spots were thankfully not too crowded and we were able to get some great pictures!
After the hike, we opted for a more relaxed day, so we went back to the visitors center to really look around and visit the museums and watch a few documentaries about the history of the valley.
That killed most of our day, so we went back to the campsite for more swimming before getting ready for our last day.
Day five in Yosemite
We set off towards Tunnel View in the early morning to catch the sunrise over the valley. After that we headed down to the Mariposa Grove to see all the sequoia trees. We walked up to see the Grizzly Giant, the largest sequoia in Yosemite and the 25th largest in the world. After about two hours in the grove, we decided instead of just sitting at our campsite the whole day, we were just going to head to our next destination, San Francisco!
After about three and a half hours, we made it! We found a Planet Fitness and a laundromat, then went to find a spot to sleep.