Sequoia National Park & Yosemite

Dominic, Roxi and I just got back yesterday evening from Yosemite National Park. My friend, Art, had called the park a few months ago to reserve a campsite and he came across someone's cancellation so he was able to book a spot sooner than normal. Originally, he and a friend plus Dom and I were supposed to go, but at the last minute he and his friend both had personal emergencies they needed to take care of so only Dom and I went. It was my first time.

We started our adventure at 5:30am, Thursday morning. We drove to the Sequoia National park first and spent a few hours there.

The scenery was gorgeous, and snow was getting thick.

We pulled over a few times to check out some of the more popular and well known Sequoias. I really wanted to see a bear!
My hair color matches the bark. I think when asked what color my hair is, I'll say "Sequoia" from now on..for lack of a better description :)
Sir Dominic and General Sherman. We be itty bitty.
That's massive. And that's a RAD photo :)
I love the Sequoia National Park THIS MUCH.
We stopped here for the great view...AND to give Roxi some exercise. She was getting a little restless in the backseat. She LOVED the snow. She was pouncing and bouncing all over, and couldn't get enough of her frisbee.
Floating upper body, weird.

Here are the roots of big one that had fallen over.
The deeper we got into the park, the deeper the snow got.

On the way into Yosemite, we stopped at the first rushing river we saw. I like bridges.

Finally that evening we were close to our site and only had time enough to set up camp and make some dinner. We had sausage dogs and chili beans that night. On the road there, we had to suddenly slam on the brakes to avoid about 6 deer that were crossing the street. I love nature.
Here's my Mr. Wilderness, gathering up some old pine needles to give us some more padding to sleep on (since we sleep on mats, not an air mattress) and some more insulation. He has good ideas. Thanks, babe :)
Here's our pride and joy, our 4-season bad ass tent. Oh, night time temps of upper 30s you say?? No biggie...that thing is WARM :)
Friday morning, we ate breakfast burritos filled with scrambled eggs, potatoes, sausage, garlic and cheese. Delicious. We packed up our day packs and I made us some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for our day away from camp (this pic is of me making Saturday's sandwiches).
We drove out to Yosemite Valley to check out all the views and the waterfalls. It was a gorgeous day and the weather was great. Here are some shots of the breath taking sights.
A close up of Half Dome...which I will climb one day. Hopefully this year. My brother and a group of friends did this last year and I had to miss it because of work. They had a blast and their pics are amazing.
Here is El Capitan! You have to say it with force :) We got out the binoculars to check out some crazy rock climbers that were almost halfway up. This day, we only counted maybe 3 or 4.
Here is a close up shot of 2 guys I think, and one spot is their bags.
Just another one of MANY waterfalls. There was a ton of snow melting so water was everywhere and the falls were very powerful.
When got into the center of the valley, we checked out their store/gift shop, bought some ice cream bars and then headed out for a walk with the dog. We strolled through a cemetery on our way towards Lower Yosemite Falls. Dom made small talk with a man from Texas during our walk and he TRIED to take our pic with the falls in the distance. This is what happens when you have a rad camera ;)
We walked across the bridge for a better view. The wind was kicking up and the mist from the falls was all over the place. Everyone was getting wet...

...including my camera :)
A little further and we were out of the mist and still had a nice view.
We then found a trail called Yosemite Loop that we joined. We weren't really sure where we'd end up but gave it a shot. We stopped after a mile for our PB&J lunch on a picnic bench with THIS outstanding view.
After an almost full day of sightseeing we headed back to camp. On the way, we saw a ton of cars and tourists pulled over on the side of the road, cameras were out and so was a ranger. It could only be for one thing.... A BEAR!!! Pooh bear, Yogi bear, Smokey the bear...
I was so stoked, I had my fingers crossed since we left HOME in hopes of seeing a bear.
That night, Dom made some "stew" that turned out to be super tasty, salad on the side. We enjoyed the campfire again before heading to bed (10:00pm) even earlier than Thursday night (10:30pm). Our long day plus the elevation got the best of us, I guess.

Saturday was very chill. We couldn't take advantage of all the great trails and hikes that the park has to offer because they are NOT puppy friendly. Roxi wasn't allowed to go and we didn't want to leave her in the car. We took our time making breakfast burritos again and enjoying our site. We headed to the meadow at the base of El Capitan again to catch up with the mountain climbers. We lounged in the grass and found about 15 climbers! They're super tough to spot. The sun was out and we ended up passing out for a little bit laying together. We headed back to camp and relaxed. I read for a while from the new book I'm reading, Twilight. You may have heard of it ;) I know, I'm a little behind the rest of the world but I just saw the movie the other day and LOVED it. Kasia lent me the book, thanks! Dinner that night was BBQ chicken, grilled zucchini and cous cous. I finally made s'mores that night, my favorite.

Sunday morning we were up early, had cereal and started packing up. We noticed that the newcomers to one side of us that set up camp the day before had left just about EVERYTHING out...food and trash were everywhere and NOT in the bear box that clearly states they will be fined for not using it properly. It was disgusting how sloppy they were and they were endangering the rest of the campground AND the bears. Dom and I ratted them out to the ranger when we left. Get a clue, people. On our drive home, we pulled over to check out some white water rafters. This looked like SO MUCH FUN. I've done it once in Kern and definitely want to do it more.

One great thing about this trip, was getting to try out all of our cold weather clothing (vest, fleece jacket, etc) we've been collecting from REI, along with other gear we've bought to prepare us for our big Bishop trip coming up in June. For the most part, I stayed generally warm at night, but I've already made a little shopping list of BETTER clothing to buy. It's Wednesday and my room still smells of campfire.

We had a lovely time in Yosemite, I'm grateful to Art for setting everything up, but we were both bummed that he couldn't have made it. Missed ya Art :(
I can't wait to head back and hike the shit out of it! (Sorry, Roxi...gotta stay home).