I decided to leave the title of this post blank because words can not describe what Eve and I bore witness to yesterday. We left my apartment at 9:30 and made our way southeast towards the Yosemite National Park. Traffic was heavy the closer we got, but we eventually made it to the valley floor around 3. After checking in to our yurt at Curry Village (canvas tent pictured to the right), we loaded our packs with plenty of fluids, trail mix, apples, and sandwiches, and made our way through the valley to the trailhead. We decided to tackle the Nevada Falls trail, a "strenuous" 5 mile hike that was estimated to take between 5-7 hours and would be a 1900 foot vertical climb.

Our spirits high, we made our way up the initial paved trail until we came to a steep path of granite steps carved out of the mountain side. This path was almost completely vertical and at times it felt more like climbing than hiking. After about 1.5 hours of hiking, we reached the top of Vernal Falls, the first of 3 waterfalls we encountered. At the mouth of the falls was a pool littered with large rocks. In need of a reprieve from our trek, we ate sandwiches and took a 20 minute break. Feeling recharged, we again set out on the trail. The first 10 minutes were easy and disarming. It wasn't until we caught our first sight of Nevada Falls that the second leg of the climb became challenging. With the sun beating down on us, we passed countless numbers of fellow hikers seeking refuge from the feat at hand. As we climbed, the views of the valley (now far below) served as a constant reward for our efforts. At about 5:30, we reached the top of Nevada Falls. After a break (and submerging our heads in the cool mountain pool), we encountered a brazen ground squirrel. We shared some trail mix, but had to leave after he began trying to assault Eve.

Eve Note: We actually ate lunch inside of the pool leading to the waterfall. By jumping from stone to stone we were able to make it to a flat boulder in the center of water, and sun ourselves while we enjoyed the view.

To reduce the strain on our aching limbs, we took the John Muir trail back to Vernal Falls. It was a little bit longer, but the path was much less steep. We reached Vernal Falls as the sun was setting behind the mountains. By the time we reached the valley floor, the sun had set and we needed to purchase a flashlight and seek food and drink. After a pizza and celebratory beer, we headed back to our yurt for the night. It should be noted that in the above picture of our dwelling, the small green locker to the right is a "bear locker". These devices are designed for storing items that attract bears to your yurt (i.e. food, scented hygiene products). We found this to be funny, until we noticed several lockers with claw marks across the front. Weary from our adventure, we latched our yurt closed and went to sleep. Sometime around 3 AM, we were awoken by yells of "BEAR!" from the yurts behind us. These yells were followed by banging sounds that we both thought were gunshots. Turns out the bear lockers do serve a purpose.

Eve Note: Before we went to bed we found a clearing to sit down away from the camping ground, so that we could see the stars. I haven't seen so many in years, even a shooting star was visible. It was peaceful, and we took some time to reflect on the beauty and strangeness of the America we had seen on the trip. This was one of my favorite moments.

We awoke this morning, gathered our stuff, and set out for for Wawona, located southeast of Yosemite Valley. Upon arrival, we hiked a relatively easy 3.5 mile meadow loop. On the way out of the park, we stopped at a vista point and snapped this picture on the right. I implore everyone to check out the full gallery of photos on Facebook!

The next post will be contain favorite and least enjoyable parts of out journey.