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| Our home if we got lost in the forest |
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| B |
Okay, so it's been a few weeks since the last post and my best friend, Hope, was quick to let me know :) So let me just tell y'all about our amazing trip to Yosemite! I honestly think it was the most beautiful place we've been so far. So our trip started off like every other trip we've taken while in California, NO SLEEP! We both worked the night before, came home and got about 4 hours of sleep. Then showered, packed and headed on the road. We arrived to Yosemite around 6, so we knew we only had about 2 hours of daylight so we went to the closest part of the park to do a short hike, and that happened to the the Great Sequoia Forest. It was so cool! I've never seen trees that big before in my life!We even were able to walk straight through some. At the beginning of the trip, we saw several people, but as we progressed, we saw less and less, and soon we were the only people on the trail! I thought for sure we were going to get lost, but Hayley had faith that we were going the right way, and we continued on! Along the way we saw a cute little fat squirrel, some deer and of course, God's amazing creation. One part of the trail was so narrow surround by plants and bushes, I was sure something, or somebody was going to pop out and get us, but we made it, WHEW! Well it was starting to get darker and we started getting nervous that we weren't going to make it back to the parking lot by dark. Or maybe that was my pessimism. But Hayley kept positive, we just kept following the trail along the road. Finally right at dusk, HEADLIGHTS! We made it!!! So now after our 2 hour hike, we were STARVING! In the small town outside of the south entrance, where we were staying, I think there were maybe 3 restaurants to choose from, so we decided on the Sweetwater Steak House. It was actually pretty good, but our server wasn't. She told us she was from Georgia, but obviously she lost all Southern charm/hospitality in her move to California. Oh well! So then we went to hotel in Oakhurst, CA and crashed!
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| Breathtaking view of Wasburn Point |
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| The map of our hike. |
The next morning, we woke up went to breakfast across the street (of course no grits!) and then headed back to Yosemite. This time we drove west instead of east, and made our way to Glacier point. On our way we stopped at Washburn Point to take some pictures. We found a sweet older couple to exchange us taking pictures for them, and them taking picture for us! Finally someone who can actually take pictures! (picture to the top-right). So then we continued on until we made it to Glacier Point. I was told by a guy at work that this was one of the best hikes with the best views, so of course we wanted to do that, bad idea! It turned out to be a DISASTER! We got mixed up, and ended up going on the strenuous hike, instead of the gradual hike! Oh my goodness I haven't been that out of breath in a long time, but he was right, the views were amazing! How anybody can't believe in God after looking at some like this is beyond me! Never-the-less we were excited to start our hike (at least thought we were...lol). The map said it was a 4 mile hike, so we thought 2 miles down, and 2 miles up. Surely we can do that. It acually meant, 4 miles to the bottom and 4 miles back up, STRAIGHT up! We had a our water, snacks, and were ready for this hike!!! Starting out it wasn't too bad, but then as we kept going straight down hill we realized eventually we are going to have to do this going straight up, but we were determined! Along the way, we passed some guys who told us to be on the lookout for a bear they had just seen. It was eating a pinecone on the trail, but they scared off Yogi! We started to get excited, because we had been wanting to see a bear the whole time! No Yogi, but we did find the evidence those guys told us, so we then knew they didn't lie. We kept a lookout the whole hike but never saw him :( So we made it halfway to a lookout point and that's when we realized it was 4 milies up and 4 down, not round trip. Then and there we decided to head back up, STRAIGHT up. During this time, I realized how out of shape a truly am! GEEZ!!!!! We had to like every 10 minutes! Along the way back up I found a stick! Didn't really help me much, but I felt like a true hiker :)
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| Just call me Mountain Lizzy! |
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| Bridalveil Falls |
So we finally made it all the way back to the top and were completely exhausted! But we had fun doing it! We went to a few lookout points at the top of Glacier point and then headed back to the car. We decided that since we didn't hike the bottom of the mountain, we would drive there. along the way we passed Bridalveil Falls. Its called that because of the way the wind blows, it makes the mist look like a bridal veil, clever right :) We were excited to see so many waterfalls, since we had been told most of them were dried up by this time of the year. We finally made it to the bottom, went to a gift shop and bought some magnets, and then began the drive home! This was an awesome trip and we had a blast!!
Until next time,
~Hayley and Elizabeth~
Check-out wasn't until noon, and our Alcatraz tour was at 250, so we figured that would give us plenty of time to make the tour. Of course we were WRONG!! We slept until 1130 (didn't go to bed till 4), so of course we were slightly stressed try to get ready in one bathroom in 30 min! Missed checkout by 5 minutes, but I doubt they noticed. Some thing we didn't anticipate was both of our cameras going dead the night before! On our way to San Francisco, we stopped by a walmart to buy and charger, but it ended up not fitting either of our cameras, so that was a wasted trip. Still we figured we'd get to the ferry in plenty of time, and might be able to find a camera store in Fisherman's Warf before the ferry left. Wrong again! Didn't know we were going to run into College football traffic at the Giant's Stadium! So with 20 minutes to spare, we finally made it to the correct peir, but parking was terrible to find. Finally found a parking garage, but you had to pay before we left the car and there was a line, so Hayley jumped out and went to reserve a spot in line while I paid and followed quickly behind. Talk about anxiety, we thought we were going to miss this tour, the one we've been wanting to do since we got to California. We made it to the line with 4 minutes to spare, Whew! Since we didn't have time to find a camera store, my iPod was our camera for the day. The picture are a little grainy, but at least we have some :) While on the ferry, I thought it would be cool to stand at the front of the ferry to see the bay (even though it said "Splash Area"). I thought surely we'd be fine. Oh, that's right, WRONG a third time. We got some mist and that was fine, but the huge wave that hit us both in the face wasn't cool (actually was very cold) and we moved right on inside. Once we got to Alcatraz, we were given audio guides and did a self tour. It was a very neat experience and I would definitely recommend it. There is so much history to read! That night for dinner we ate at Bubba Gump's! Very delish! So our final trip to San Francisco before we leave this state was another one to remember!
Okay, so it's been a few weeks since the last post and my best friend, Hope, was quick to let me know :) So let me just tell y'all about our amazing trip to Yosemite! I honestly think it was the most beautiful place we've been so far. So our trip started off like every other trip we've taken while in California, NO SLEEP! We both worked the night before, came home and got about 4 hours of sleep. Then showered, packed and headed on the road. We arrived to Yosemite around 6, so we knew we only had about 2 hours of daylight so we went to the closest part of the park to do a short hike, and that happened to the the Great Sequoia Forest. It was so cool! I've never seen trees that big before in my life!We even were able to walk straight through some. At the beginning of the trip, we saw several people, but as we progressed, we saw less and less, and soon we were the only people on the trail! I thought for sure we were going to get lost, but Hayley had faith that we were going the right way, and we continued on! Along the way we saw a cute little fat squirrel, some deer and of course, God's amazing creation. One part of the trail was so narrow surround by plants and bushes, I was sure something, or somebody was going to pop out and get us, but we made it, WHEW! Well it was starting to get darker and we started getting nervous that we weren't going to make it back to the parking lot by dark. Or maybe that was my pessimism. But Hayley kept positive, we just kept following the trail along the road. Finally right at dusk, HEADLIGHTS! We made it!!! So now after our 2 hour hike, we were STARVING! In the small town outside of the south entrance, where we were staying, I think there were maybe 3 restaurants to choose from, so we decided on the Sweetwater Steak House. It was actually pretty good, but our server wasn't. She told us she was from Georgia, but obviously she lost all Southern charm/hospitality in her move to California. Oh well! So then we went to hotel in Oakhurst, CA and crashed!
The next morning, we woke up went to breakfast across the street (of course no grits!) and then headed back to Yosemite. This time we drove west instead of east, and made our way to Glacier point. On our way we stopped at Washburn Point to take some pictures. We found a sweet older couple to exchange us taking pictures for them, and them taking picture for us! Finally someone who can actually take pictures! (picture to the top-right). So then we continued on until we made it to Glacier Point. I was told by a guy at work that this was one of the best hikes with the best views, so of course we wanted to do that, bad idea! It turned out to be a DISASTER! We got mixed up, and ended up going on the strenuous hike, instead of the gradual hike! Oh my goodness I haven't been that out of breath in a long time, but he was right, the views were amazing! How anybody can't believe in God after looking at some like this is beyond me! Never-the-less we were excited to start our hike (at least thought we were...lol). The map said it was a 4 mile hike, so we thought 2 miles down, and 2 miles up. Surely we can do that. It acually meant, 4 miles to the bottom and 4 miles back up, STRAIGHT up! We had a our water, snacks, and were ready for this hike!!! Starting out it wasn't too bad, but then as we kept going straight down hill we realized eventually we are going to have to do this going straight up, but we were determined! Along the way, we passed some guys who told us to be on the lookout for a bear they had just seen. It was eating a pinecone on the trail, but they scared off Yogi! We started to get excited, because we had been wanting to see a bear the whole time! No Yogi, but we did find the evidence those guys told us, so we then knew they didn't lie. We kept a lookout the whole hike but never saw him :( So we made it halfway to a lookout point and that's when we realized it was 4 milies up and 4 down, not round trip. Then and there we decided to head back up, STRAIGHT up. During this time, I realized how out of shape a truly am! GEEZ!!!!! We had to like every 10 minutes! Along the way back up I found a stick! Didn't really help me much, but I felt like a true hiker :)
