Yosemite

This past June I spent one of the best weeks of my life in Yosemite with my boyfriend, Greg. I had never been to Yosemite before, which is quite a shame considering it is only a few hours from my home. As we started to near the entrance of the park, Greg wanted me to prepare myself for the view I was about to see. Sure I knew it would be beautiful, it was nature of course it would be nice. Little did I know that it would be one of the most breathtaking things I had ever seen in my life. No wonder people go there all the time! We drove in silence as I stared out the window in awe.

Once we arrived we checked in and went to our campsite...no we did not necessarily camp, we cheated a little. They were tent cabins with a wooden frame, canvas roof, and beds(my favorite part). We spent the rest of that first day unpacking all of our stuff and bear-proofing our tent. The following week was filled with yummy breakfasts, beautiful hikes and quality time together. Greg was very adamant about doing one really big hike during the week. I obliged. However, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. For any of you who have been to Yosemite, then you know the Upper Yosemite Falls trail is quite the doozy, at least for me it was. We started out relatively early in the morning and after 15 minutes of trying to find the trail head (not Greg's fault at all...) we started the hike. As soon as we began the incline I knew I was done for. "I hate you". This spewed multiple times from my mouth on this hike. Of course I didn't actually hate Greg, the hatred was really bitterness because he was in much better shape than I.

The trail is about 7.5 miles round trip and according to my googling ability, it is the equivalent of climbing two Empire State buildings. You gain roughly 2,600 feet in elevation and the first 1,000 feet is gained in the first mile. I had no idea why I agreed to this, maybe it was for fear of being left alone all day while Greg went and climbed mountains by himself, or maybe deep down I knew it was worth it. I'm not sure how many hours it took us to climb, but with my frequent "picture" stops it was probably longer than normal. Finally, we reached the top, finally! Once we did, it started raining, harder and harder. It then proceeded to hail. I was soaking wet, even with my rain gear on, and freezing. We huddled under a tree and ate our food and then went and looked at the amazing view and the mountain we had conquered. I didn't hate Greg anymore. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life and one I would gladly do again.