Naomi's Intrepid Suntrek Adventures...: Day Two: Yosemite National Park

Me with the San Francisco Bridge in the Background

Road through Yosemite

The waterfall!!!

So we are now camping at Yosemite National Park and have absolutely no signal whatsoever so this will have to be posted tomorrow but unless I write it today I am going to forget details!! Jose and I were up bright eyed and brushy tailed this morning, up, showered, dressed and breakfasted before meeting up with the rest of the group at 8am. Our groups awesome!! So diverse! There are 6 guys and 4 girls - from all over the world, NZ, Australia, Sweeden, Germany, Greece and a couple of British as well as our awesome guide Mike. After joining up we headed out of San Francisco. Note to those keen on doing this trip - come a couple of days early to discover San Fran, like the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz and of course Fisherman’s Warf. We headed out over the Bay Bridge before stopping off at Treasure Island half way through to take photos of the Golden Gate Bridge as well as Coit Tower and Alcatraz and then carried on. We stopped at a Farmer’s Market to pick up fresh fruit and then again for groceries and lunch before carrying on to Yosemite National Park. We are staying at Hargen Camping Ground just in the park’s boundries. We set up our tents - after a demonstration from Mike. Us girls were beating the boys hands down for the first like 5 mins before one of our poles refused to go in properly and we didnt have enough brute force so from there the guys took over and whipped us through and through. But hey we all have tents to sleep in tonight so thats the main point haha. Once again we all jumped into the van to explore further into Yosemite. Which is drop dead gorgeous by the way!! Like there is noo way that I would want to drive myself into the park; just the road coming in is so steep and windy but it is sooo a must see! We drove up to a lookout of Nevada Falls, Half Dome and El Capa Ton (best rock climbing in North America) and took photos before driving to the base of the Falls. We left the van there and carried on on foot. There were definitely some steep parts, and its a good challange for all levels of fitness but the views are totally worth it!! We almost saw a bear (black bear), were about 2 minutes too late, which is kind of guttering but knowing that they are definitely around means we will all be keeping our eyes peeled. I must admit my legs were shaking a bit by the time we had our first break at the lookout before deciding to carry on to the top of the falls. We all made it!! Which is quite impressive when you see how steep the track is, and how much some of us were puffing at the end of the first climb. But totally worth it aye, and the fact that everyone made it definitely proves that its doable! The view from the top was incredible; not only back down the valley (carved out by a glacier ages ago) but also looking towards Half Dome and the Sierra Nevada peaks. After lots of photo stops on the way down (which took half as much time going up) we jumped back in the van to come back to our campsite. Driving back was sweet as, we saw a couple of deers right beside the road as well as the ever present squirrals and chipmunks. No bears but we still have tomorrow to see them, fingers crossed aye. Its now just gone 8:30pm and its pitch black, not quite a full moon but pretty close to it. I must admit that Im stoked to be able to see stars again with no city lights or smog to block the view. And the smell of pine trees - well its beautiful in every way. Paul’s in charge of cooking dinner tonight, which will be Vegeterian Curry - smells good. Soo cant wait to eat!! Yup im hungry!! I spied s’more making ingredients in the van before so hoping they’re for tonight...but if not something to look forward!!!