So I woke up this morning to an amazing site. I was aware that I camped right next to a lake last night, I had no idea that the surrounding area looked like this. Just off Lake June was a HUGE granite mountain. The lake served as a mirror pool to the mountain, the view was quite amazing. 
So after getting up and seeing where I was camping at, I was amped for Yosemite. I decided to leave camp setup at the lake. I figured I wouldn’t be able to camp inside of Yosemite, and if I could I would come back for everything. What a mistake this was.
I started into Yosemite from the East entrance, which takes you through the Tioga pass. This drive is incredible. You drive up these granite mountains to an altitude over 9000 feet. There aren’t any guardrails, and they are literally sheer cliffs. One mistake, and you are going for one hell of a last ride. The Tioga pass is incredibly impressive though. Definitely something you must do. After that, I stopped at a bunch of lookouts and checked out some of the views that Yosemite has to offer. I really can’t say enough about this park. The views are incredible. There is nothing like it anywhere in the world. My camera won’t come close to capturing the scale of the cliffs and rock formations.
After checking out some views, I kept moving on until I reached the Yosemite Valley. I was completely blown away the entire ride in that I hadn’t realized how long I was driving. We will get to this. So I decide to hike to the Lower Falls once I get into the Valley. I was very excited to finally get out and go for a hike. It’s pretty much my favorite activity at this point.
The hike to the falls was a short one. I think it’s around .25 miles. Anyway, it only took me a few minutes to get there. The rock formations are incredible. However, the lower falls has been reduced to a trickle due to the season. Nonetheless, I hung out and watched some rock climbers. There were a large group of tourists coming up and I wanted to move up for a better view, so I threw my Gatorade in my back and moved closer. About 1 minute later, I started to feel my back getting wet. I turned to look, and I didn’t close the cap on the Gatorade all the way. I had one of those half-gallon containers of Gatorade, and half of it dumped into my book bag. I was immediately angry, because my lower back and ass were soaked. So now I looked like a fool.
I sat my backpack down to empty out the contents, and I saw the little string to my camera. During this entire trip, I had not put the camera in my backpack once. The first time I did, I spilled a whole bunch of Gatorade in it. Figures.
The camera is destroyed. Luckily, I was able to pull of the remaining photos from the memory card.
After walking back to my car with a wet ass and changing, I figured I might be able to salvage some of the day. This is when I started my trek for the visitor’s center. It took me over an hour to find the visitor’s center. I’m not sure why I found it so difficult to find it now that I know my way around, but when you get into that park it is very confusing. I personally think their maps stink.
Once I got into the visitors center, I learned that I had a two-hour ride back across the Tioga Pass to June Lake. So at that point, my day was shot. I didn’t get to do any hiking, got my ass all wet, and destroyed my digital camera. It may seem impossible to have a bad time in Yosemite, but this was by far the worst day of the trip so far.
Things picked up back at camp. I made a little dinner, packed up everything so bears wouldn’t eat me, then sat back and watched the stars. The stars are incredible out there. Best I’ve ever seen. The previous night I was fortunate enough to see a shooting star, and tonight I was again fortunate and saw one.
So after getting up and seeing where I was camping at, I was amped for Yosemite. I decided to leave camp setup at the lake. I figured I wouldn’t be able to camp inside of Yosemite, and if I could I would come back for everything. What a mistake this was.
I started into Yosemite from the East entrance, which takes you through the Tioga pass. This drive is incredible. You drive up these granite mountains to an altitude over 9000 feet. There aren’t any guardrails, and they are literally sheer cliffs. One mistake, and you are going for one hell of a last ride. The Tioga pass is incredibly impressive though. Definitely something you must do. After that, I stopped at a bunch of lookouts and checked out some of the views that Yosemite has to offer. I really can’t say enough about this park. The views are incredible. There is nothing like it anywhere in the world. My camera won’t come close to capturing the scale of the cliffs and rock formations.
After checking out some views, I kept moving on until I reached the Yosemite Valley. I was completely blown away the entire ride in that I hadn’t realized how long I was driving. We will get to this. So I decide to hike to the Lower Falls once I get into the Valley. I was very excited to finally get out and go for a hike. It’s pretty much my favorite activity at this point.
The hike to the falls was a short one. I think it’s around .25 miles. Anyway, it only took me a few minutes to get there. The rock formations are incredible. However, the lower falls has been reduced to a trickle due to the season. Nonetheless, I hung out and watched some rock climbers. There were a large group of tourists coming up and I wanted to move up for a better view, so I threw my Gatorade in my back and moved closer. About 1 minute later, I started to feel my back getting wet. I turned to look, and I didn’t close the cap on the Gatorade all the way. I had one of those half-gallon containers of Gatorade, and half of it dumped into my book bag. I was immediately angry, because my lower back and ass were soaked. So now I looked like a fool.
I sat my backpack down to empty out the contents, and I saw the little string to my camera. During this entire trip, I had not put the camera in my backpack once. The first time I did, I spilled a whole bunch of Gatorade in it. Figures.
The camera is destroyed. Luckily, I was able to pull of the remaining photos from the memory card.
After walking back to my car with a wet ass and changing, I figured I might be able to salvage some of the day. This is when I started my trek for the visitor’s center. It took me over an hour to find the visitor’s center. I’m not sure why I found it so difficult to find it now that I know my way around, but when you get into that park it is very confusing. I personally think their maps stink.
Once I got into the visitors center, I learned that I had a two-hour ride back across the Tioga Pass to June Lake. So at that point, my day was shot. I didn’t get to do any hiking, got my ass all wet, and destroyed my digital camera. It may seem impossible to have a bad time in Yosemite, but this was by far the worst day of the trip so far.
Things picked up back at camp. I made a little dinner, packed up everything so bears wouldn’t eat me, then sat back and watched the stars. The stars are incredible out there. Best I’ve ever seen. The previous night I was fortunate enough to see a shooting star, and tonight I was again fortunate and saw one.
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