Yosemite

We were out of the house by 6:45 and on our way to Yosemite for some hiking. And yes, we were still sore from the Grand Canyon.
Well, I was, anyway.
On the way we hit up Sonic for breakfast, again referencing the lack of a Chic-fil-A and our desire to be incredibly fat before I left for China. Plus we had been talking up how much we loved their breakfast burritos.
So I ordered the corn dog kids meal.
And he got a foot long coney.
At 8 in the morning.
Fast food the morning of a hike in Yosemite just after the Grand Canyon.
You can tell sensibility wasn't really on the agenda for this trip.
The drive was absolutely gorgeous and filled with lots of Blink-182 and related music and trivia, of course.
A few hours later, we show up, get our second national park map in a week and start driving through the park.
Again, another gorgeous drive.

After initially stopping for pictures for Yosemite falls, we decided we wanted up. 4 miles each way meant that this would be our only hike that day.
We looked at each other, shrugged as if to say "why not?" and started our ascent to the top of the 5th tallest waterfall in the world.
3 and a half hours layer, after many switch backs initially in the shade and later in the sun over both dirt and very rocky trails, we made it.
And it was worth it.

Well, I was panic-stricken. The boy has a video somewhere of my humiliating fear as I clung to the rock that acted as a back wall for the 1 foot, as in just a mere 12 inches (see above), stepped path down (half of it was missing the railing that would keep one from mis-stepping to their death) to the vista point.

The view was amazing. The mist coming off the waterfall was refreshingly cool.
We just watched for a while as I did my best to calm myself down. The view was an incredible outlook over a good portion of the park as well as a nice scene of Half Dome.
If it weren't for the fact that I would have to stay on the vista point, I would have seriously considered not crossing the path again. And it took a great deal longer than it should have as I crept along, very carefully making each step and envisioning the fall to my death along the way.
After much coaxing and baby-stepping, I made it.
Sigh.
Of.
Relief.
We climbed up to another large rock that also over looked the park and occasionally received a gust of mist as well to eat "lunch," a peanut power bar, and tap a nap.
Yes, we took a nap on a ledge that happened to be at least 10 feet above the 5th tallest waterfall in the world.

It was a great nap, until we woke up and realized where we were. It's quite a heart attack of a moment to wake up to before cursing your own stupidity.
After a very careful dip in the river for water (trying to avoid traumatizing families at the bottom who probably don't want to watch someone fall to their deaths) we began our descent.
Going down is faster, and for me, it was easier, too. I had to take breaks every other switchback on the last set up.
Well, I must admit it was slightly glorifying to see the boy more discomforted than myself.
Cut me some slack, this NEVER happens.
I have to say, it was a little tough coming down the rocky points as you had to carefully make each step which creates a lot of stress on the knees since it is a VERY uneven surface.
About an hour in we were wishing we had grabbed the Cheez-It box as our stomachs started to grumbled.
And so the list began again.
You know, the "When I get out of the wilderness I'm going to eat all these foods" list.
And since we were already tired with a 2 and a half hour drive ahead, it was all junky and sugary foods.
Sour punch straws
Reese's
Nerd's Rope
Dr. Pepper
Cream Soda
The stupid Cheez-it mix we left in the car.
We were near the end of the path at 2 and a half hours in when the boy suggested cutting through a hotel lot to save time in getting to the car.
Shrug.
Why not?
Let's do it.
The mosquitos in the woods were pretty happy we did.
We ended up horribly lost and crossing a very cold, but clear, river.
I was getting pissy, but did my best to hold my tongue.
Although I'm sure my face did not hide my dissatisfaction at feeding the mosquitos while I happened to be starving.
We finally turned back and followed the trail.
Near the end of the path, we encountered a couple of fearless deer that I'm sure we could have gotten close enough to pet if we wanted.



It was pretty cool.
Pissy attitude gone.
The boy had let me borrow his sunglasses earlier in the day and at some point we both wondered where they went.
And this is why I can't have nice things.
Well, nice sunglasses anyway.
This was the 3 pair of his sunglasses I had lost.
One actually being a gift, so that one doesn't really count.
As we nearly ripped open the trunk to take off our Five Fingers and grabbed the Cheez-its, there they were.
In the door frame of the trunk. Our mouths dropped open as we were simply shocked they hadn't broken.
And so we drove around cheez-its in hand, glasses on face (even though the sun was nearly set) lost for about 20 as we attempted to navigate through the most poorly laid out national park map we encountered that week.
We promised ourselves really awesome food and we got it.
All of it.
The Dr. Pepper, cream soda, sour punch straws, reese's, and nerd's rope.
A fit day ending on the perfect fat note.

Much love.