Finally, the day we all had been waiting for! At the beginning of the trip, I said that going to Yosemite was what I was looking forward to the most and even though it wasn't going to be how I imagined, I couldn't contain my excitement! It's funny how much more energetic and excited the group was this morning compared to others - even though we still woke up at the same time. We got all of our stuff ready and had to get our bikes all prepared to be put into the van along with all of our bags and food...it was going to be a tight squeeze and we weren't 100% confident that we would be able to get it all in there but somehow the trailer crew managed and got everything ready to go! Everyone that was going to do the hike headed out so that we could catch a shuttle that would take us out the park. Because of the forest fire, we weren't allowed to ride the road that would take us into the camp site and if we did a detour, it would have taken our simple 76 mile ride to a 180 mile ride..and we just were not going to do that. The road up to Yosemite goes over Tioga Pass, which is a pass through the Sierra Nevada mountains that climbs up to 10,000 feet. I really really wanted to do this ride so that I could tell people that I had biked up to such a high elevation but on the way up, I realized how sore and how hard it would have been. The road was so beautiful though. We were definitely in the mountains and they were the intense ones! Once we got up to the top of the road and into the park, we were dropped off at the visitors center where we had to wait for a shuttle to come pick us up and take us to Olmsted Point. At the visitor center, a bunch of us just hung out and did a lot of shenanigans, including the string cheese dance, screaming toes, and making up our own dances. I don't know what was getting into us but we were acting so goofy and having so much fun! I really appreciated the people I was with on this day. We all really just let go of everything and were completely oddballs together. It was so much fun! Finally, we were shuttled to Olmsted Point where the goofiness and awesome pictures continued until we were able to find a ride to a trial that would take us down into the valley. After forever of calling Claire and trying to figure out where the other group had gone, we gave up and resorted to hitchhiking. We managed to find a Trek America van that was willing to drive us down to the Porcupine trail head. The people in Trek America get to drive certain routes in America and check out major landmarks and locations, just like we were doing, but a little less intense. They were super nice and really awesome for letting us use their van with them! Once we got to the trail, the hike began...we had 10 miles of hiking ahead of us before we would make it into the camp and would be able to lay down in the AC. I hiked with Colleen, Greg, Elle, Emma, Connor, Angela, Jamie, Gaurang, Molly, and Katie. I don't know how we managed to make a 10 mile walk seem like it went so quickly but we just talked and enjoyed each other's company the whole time. I had so much fun getting to know them more, especially Emma. This day was one of my top 5 favorite days, looking back on it. There was nothing but positive vibes and love between all of us and I couldn't have been happier. During the hike, we got to go to the upper Yosemite falls which is up before you climb down into the valley. The falls weren't very heavy flowing so we were able to play in some streams and pools that had been formed into the rocks. There was one part of the stream where the water created such a large pool that we were able to jump from the rock into the pool, about 15-20 ft below. After hanging out there for a little while, we continued our way down into the canyon and had to go down a path that was so steep that it basically felt like we were climbing down a cliff face. By the time we made it to the bottom, our whole group was so fed up and starving that we didn't even try to get to go to the host, we just went straight to the pizza restaurant. I ate half of a large pizza that day...and it was amazing. On the way back trying to get to the school we were staying at, Emma and I took the lead to try to find the shuttle that we had to get on that would take us there and got the group completely lost. We thought it was hilarious but they weren't thinking the same thing. Even though Emma and I couldn't stop laughing, we were really nervous that all of our group hated us. Eventually we were able to make it back ok and fall asleep immediately after an extremely long and strenuous day.
The next day, I was going to go on the Half Dome hike but everyone backed out so I decided not to do it either. With all of the smoke from the fire, there wouldn't have been any view and I'm not about to hike 20 miles for no view! So instead of having to wake up at 4, I slept in until about 7 and then made my way to the shuttle for coffee in the lodge! A bunch of us went over there and hung out until coming to a consensus on which trail we wanted to hike. All of us had extremely sore calves and it was really really hard to walk so we chose a pretty simple and short hike, hoping that it wouldn't be too strenuous on our legs. We went and did the Vernal Falls hike. The falls were so beautiful and we were able to hike right up to the bottom and sit on some rocks down there. It was really crowded but we did our best to find a spot where there wasn't a lot of people. Sitting next to the falls made me feel like I was sitting right under a huge mist machine and by the time that I left, I was soaking wet. We also hiked up to the top of the falls where Colleen and Claire went swimming in the water. it was personally way too cold for me but it was a good chance to give my calves an ice bath. After hiking down, we went back to the pizza place and ordered more pizza for dinner! After dinner, Colleen and I had some down time and really got a chance to talk with and learn about Dan K. He's an extremely interesting man and I would love to model parts of my life after him. He is extremely laid back and relaxed but he also is very driven to make a change in the world and chase big dreams. I also got some time to hang out with Connor again, who decided that it would be a fun idea to smash a ton of ice cream in my face! I had a really amazing time in Yosemite and I know that I will be going back again soon and exploring more of the park. It was so crazy to be standing in the valley of the park and look up and you are completely surrounded by massive cliff faces. It's just astounding what's in this world and what there is to see. Especially when people are so content staying where they are and not trying to go see these places. The United States are beautiful and I'm ready to keep exploring and see all of the world.
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