The sweet taste of freedom

SO I am finally out of school. I took my math final and completely bombed it. Oh well. I did well all semester so I am hoping to get a B. I don't know when grades come out but I'm not in any hurry to check them either. So with my new found freedom Yosemite was on the horizon. As you may or may not have read, last year Dan and I went backpacking in Mammoth Lakes and missed out on our annual Yosemite vacation. So I was eagerly anticipating the end of the Spring Semester. My friend Laurie had flown in on Thurs and was staying with another friend and so she come over on Sunday afternoon. Rich and Marcy made it up in the later evening and Ryan's friend Aaron flew in from Texas. It was very exciting. We had some wine and goofed around and played Karaoke. You could feel every one's excitement. Then Rich and Marcy really dropped the bomb and announced their engagement. I almost pissed myself...... I was just telling Ryan the day before that I secretly hoped they would get married soon. Weird. Anyways, Very awesome. I told them they should get hitched in Yosemite.

We hit the road the next day at 6am. I know what you are thinking, that it isn't possible for me to wake up that early. But I dug down deep and found the motivation to do it. It was Dan and Ryan in his truck, Laurie and me in my car, and Rich, Marcy and Aaron to follow a couple hours later. Lazy bugs. It was a really great drive. Empty roads since it was a Holiday, so getting there was fun and quick. I could really feel my excitement build once we hit the Park. The beauty is just overwhelming. I even had tears in my eyes. Funny thing though, it was very cloudy and foggy and the fog was low on the trees and made the landscape very solemn and mysterious. It was a new experience for me and was very pretty. I kept saying, "This is so crazy!". Even Half Dome was shrouded and couldn't be seen.

Once we made into the Park and to our campsite I was practically jumping for joy. I couldn't hold it in. However, when it started to rain my mood changed drastically. I was PISSED!!! I mean WTF? I had waited so long for this and now it was raining and sooo cold. This isn't the Yosemite I know and love. What was going on here? That Mother Earth, she can be a real biotch. SO what choice did we have but set up and get going. Jeff and his girl, Aly, joined up with us like 5 minutes after we arrived. While we set up Rich, Marcy, and Aaron showed up. All that remained was my elusive friend Shawn Dugan. He showed HOURS later. So we all hiked Mirror Lake and the horse shit trail. That was fun. Then I tried to kill myself and waded into the freezing river. brrr. What a big first day. Sheesh. We ended up hanging around the campsite and eating food and singing songs...."Fire Danger Warning....."

The Next Day, Aaron met a few young studs and left for Half Dome at 6am while we all slept. After waking and eating pancakes for breakfast, we went (minus Aaron) and hiked our first hike to Bridalveil Falls. In the rain. We all got soaked but it was a crazy easy hike. Then we headed over to Lower Yosemite Falls. That was a lot of fun and all of us (minus Danny) did some dangerous bouldering along the rocks where a big sign was posted "CLIMBING ON ROCKS IS DANGEROUS. " So with that, we all jumped the wall and off we went, looking for danger and death. Well Death seemed to elude us but it was pretty dangerous.

The following day Dan and I headed out for a big hike to the top of Nevada Falls. 6.5 miles. We started out on the Mist Trail which runs along the river and is pretty much 2.5 miles of stairs. I am not gonna lie, it was tough and slow going. But, oh man, was it beautiful!!!! I had been telling Dan that I want to hike Nevada Falls since I had never done it before. I had hiked Vernal Falls and that is along the same trail. Dan had never done either so it was really great getting to see him fascinated by it. Its so amazing and I saw the biggest rainbow ever. The sun peaked through a few times. While we hiked we seemed to be on the opposite side of the storm and so we got very lucky and had a rain free hike for the first 5 miles. It hailed a little and sprinkled but nothing too crazy. I only had to put on my poncho a couple of times.

When we made it to Vernal Falls we took a little snack break. It was nice sitting together and feeling good about getting there and just being able to enjoy our surroundings. It was too bad that no one hiked with us to enjoy it. I really think Ryan would have loved it but we heard later that everyone went for a bike ride and had tons of fun.

After eating we hit the trail again. I was really excited because this was a new hike for me. We stopped at Emerald Pool and took some video. Then we hit to road. This part was more trail for around a half mile. It was a nice break, then we got to the rock stair/road that became all switchbacks. UGH. I was pretty tired by that point but I was determined to make it to the top. Plus the view while hiking was phenomenal and so it made it worth every step.

We chatted a little to an older woman who looked around 55 or so. I thought if she can make it, so can I. At the top we rested again. Whew, I was grateful for the break and to be at the top. A few more feet down the trail and we made to the Top of Nevada Falls. WHAT A VIEW!!!! Unbelievable, it really took our breath away. no really, i was tired. Hanging over the edge of the Falls was SOOO scary and COLD! We got some pics and I think Dan may have gotten a video. It was very intense. I felt very liberated and proud of myself. I had originally intended on training before going to Yosemite but never did. I completely blazed this trail though and felt really good about it. We ended up taking the John Muir trail back and hit a little patch of snow. It was around 4 miles back to the trail head. We took our time and stopped often and took pics and hugged. I had wanted other people to go with us, but in the end it felt really good to be there alone with Danny. It was like we got to share this really special experience together and gave us time to reconnect. It was really nice.

When we got back to camp, we met up with everyone except Dugan who was out hiking Upper Yosemite Falls to Yosemite Point, so we all went to have dinner at Degnan's since it was pouring rain and we were all sick of it. It was nice to be inside. then the sun came out and we all went shopping and back to camp. We rearranged the camp to make it more suitable if another downpour came through. Then Dan build a great big and warm fire which we all loved. Sadly Rich and Marcy had to leave and we said our sad goodbyes, Marcy had to go back to work. Work Blows. We again made jokes and had beer. KING COBRA, and threw some potatoes on the fire. Dugan showed at at 9 and then the party got started. Around 1030 the ranger came over and scolded us for being so loud. oops. We all then went to bed.

The next morning bright and early we packed up and went to breakfast and hit the road. It was a sad departure. Especially since it was CRAZY SUNNY! It was a sad drive home but it was nice when we walked in the door. Nothing sad about coming home to San Francisco.