Oh my god, Yosemite was so much fun. It was a bazillion times more fun that I expected. I just wanted a weekend to decompress and relax, and I ended up having the time of my life and met some of the most amazing people.

We left friday night and spent the night partying on the bus on the way to Yosemite. I think I finally got to sleep around 4am, and we woke up at 7:30 in the valley to make breakfast, pack lunch, and set out on our hikes.

Our drivers cautioned us that we might not have enough time to do the glacier point hike, so being that I can never resist a challenge, I went with Juan, Sophia, Vinay, Edwardo, Jacob, Chris, Dominik, and Larry up to Glacier Point =). We left at 9:30 and needed to be back at Yosemite Lodge at 4:00 for our bus, so we figured we'd just turn around at 1:00 if we didn't make it to the top. Well, after a tiring trek, we made it up the 6.5k hike (and the top is 1k above the floor). We ate our lunch and lagged around a bit at the top, and before we knew it, it was already 2:00. We were exhausted anyways, so this gave us a good excuse to just take the bus back down (although some fo the group decided to book it down the path). So we went to the bus area and to our shock, we discovered that the bus cost $20 per person AND it wouldn't leave until 3:45... so we decided to hitchhike. To my surprise, it was actually pretty easy to get rides. 6 of us needed rides down, and 4 of us got in the first 3 cars we saw. Sophia and I were the last two, and after about 10 minutes, we were on our way down with a nice elderly couple. I tried my hardest to stay awake and make conversation, but I just couldn't keep conscious. I feel terrible, but I am very VERY appreciative to them =).

After getting back down to the valley, we headed back to our bus and took a small trip over to a picnic area where we made dinner (Yellow Curry). It was delicious (oh yeah, all the meals were vegetarian!). We then packed into the bus and headed out the east end of the park and camed out in the National Forest by Mono Lake. We had a camp fire, made smores, and all that fun camping stuff. I slept outside in the cold (I really need to get a warmer and smaller sleeping bag), but it was such a beautiful night that I couldn't justify wasing it by sleeping in the bus.

The next morning, we woke up to an oatmeal breakfast, packed up, and began our low-intinsity day. First we headed to Mono Lake, then we went into Mammoth Lakes (the town) where we stopped for a meal. The group I was with headed to a small diner that surved the most delicious food in the most plentiful portions. I got an avocado omlett (4 eggs!!) with homefries and 2 muffins (which those silly brits called scones). So much food... yummmm! Next, we headed out to the hot springs. Magma from a nearby volcano flows rear the earth's surface right under a river, so it heats up the water which provides a nice warm bath for stinky hikers =) We then headed back to our camp site for a burrito dinner, more camp fire, and another beautiful night sleep.

On Monday, I woke up to a sharp cold. Gregg (one of our drivers) was showing us just how cold it was over night. Our dish washing water had frozen about 1.5 cm of ice on the surface... pretty fricken cold... brr... but I kept warm in my sleeping bag for most of the night. I woke up, and helped make breakfast: south of the border eggs, leftover beans&rice, and for some of us, tortillas to make it into a breakfast burrito.

After breakfast, we packed lunch, and headed out. At our first stop, we went for a hike up to a beautiful view of Tualomy (sp) meadows. It was really beautiful. We almost didn't make it back to the bus in time (again). But they couldn't leave 10 of us behind (right?? right??) We then drove to Tualomy grove where we saw many Sequoias including a fallen tree that we were able to crawl through. After getting back from our hike, we loaded the bus and headed out to Groveland where we cooked dinner (pasta) and went to the bar for one last night of fun together before heading home.

I was really sad when I woke up in San Francisco on Tuesday morning. I took Bart back to the east bay with Dominik and Diane, and I walked Dominik back to where he was staying in Berkeley, and as I walked home alone, I realized it was over. I was back in Berkeley, back to my normal routine. As I walked around campus that day, I kept "seeing" the friends I had made walking around campus, but it always turned out to be someone else. I just didn't want to let go to such a great, fun, amazing time. Check out the pictures:

My Photos
Diane's Photos
Vinay's Photos