I have been wanting to go to Yosemite for awhile now, but for various reasons (weather, work, etc.), it hasn't happened until now. It took a little convincing, but I persuaded Brett to take the trip with me. Once Brett was on board, the conversation went like this:
"Hey, Jeff, what'd you have in mind for our hike?"
"Oh, you know, leave at 6 AM, hike 8.2 miles, drive around a little bit, and come back later that night."
".....What?!?"
Despite Brett's initial hesitation, I have to give him credit for manning up and destroying the trail once we got there. It took about four hours to drive to the McGurk Trailhead where we started our hike. According to the map we had, the 8.2 mile round-trip journey up to Dewey Point and back is supposed to take 4-6 hours. We started on a fast pace, leaving families with young children in the dust. As we got deeper into the wilderness, we started to make some stops to take pictures and do random things like handstands on rocks and climbing on top of giant, fallen tree trunks.
Even with the breaks, we made it to the summit in about 1 1/2 hours. Our quads were burning quite a bit, but once we made it to the top of the cliff, that didn't matter anymore. Although it might be cliché to say the view was breathtaking, there really is no better way to describe it. Dewey Point overlooks the whole Yosemite Valley and its mountains, lakes, and even waterfalls. Some of the best pictures of the day came from Dewey Point, including the ones of Brett flirting with death by sitting on the edge of the cliff.
Once we were finished photographing the landscape, we started back to the car. We hiked way more slowly on the way back even though it was mostly downhill. By the time we were to the last mile, it felt like a crawl. A sense of relief overwhelmed us as we made it back to the road. Amazingly, when I checked my watch at the end, we found that we had done the whole journey in 3 1/2 hours, a half hour better than what the guide had indicated it would take. Sore as hell but content, we started back home.
Yosemite has so much to see, so I'm sure I'll go back someday. In the meantime, enjoy the pictures I got on my first trip there. Also, take a listen to this soulful folk tune by Beth Moore. Her voice along with the catchy violin riff are sure to get stuck in your head: Beth Moore- The New Side of Me
"Hey, Jeff, what'd you have in mind for our hike?"
"Oh, you know, leave at 6 AM, hike 8.2 miles, drive around a little bit, and come back later that night."
".....What?!?"
Despite Brett's initial hesitation, I have to give him credit for manning up and destroying the trail once we got there. It took about four hours to drive to the McGurk Trailhead where we started our hike. According to the map we had, the 8.2 mile round-trip journey up to Dewey Point and back is supposed to take 4-6 hours. We started on a fast pace, leaving families with young children in the dust. As we got deeper into the wilderness, we started to make some stops to take pictures and do random things like handstands on rocks and climbing on top of giant, fallen tree trunks.
Even with the breaks, we made it to the summit in about 1 1/2 hours. Our quads were burning quite a bit, but once we made it to the top of the cliff, that didn't matter anymore. Although it might be cliché to say the view was breathtaking, there really is no better way to describe it. Dewey Point overlooks the whole Yosemite Valley and its mountains, lakes, and even waterfalls. Some of the best pictures of the day came from Dewey Point, including the ones of Brett flirting with death by sitting on the edge of the cliff.
Once we were finished photographing the landscape, we started back to the car. We hiked way more slowly on the way back even though it was mostly downhill. By the time we were to the last mile, it felt like a crawl. A sense of relief overwhelmed us as we made it back to the road. Amazingly, when I checked my watch at the end, we found that we had done the whole journey in 3 1/2 hours, a half hour better than what the guide had indicated it would take. Sore as hell but content, we started back home.
Yosemite has so much to see, so I'm sure I'll go back someday. In the meantime, enjoy the pictures I got on my first trip there. Also, take a listen to this soulful folk tune by Beth Moore. Her voice along with the catchy violin riff are sure to get stuck in your head: Beth Moore- The New Side of Me
Vista point on the way to the park
Bug on a flower
River going through Yosemite
Yosemite Valley
Yosemite Valley waterfall
Tall trees!
Dewey Point
Dewey Point
Summit victory pose
Idiot!
It's really far down
Waterfall
Waterfall
Dewey Point
Raven
Half Dome
Half Dome
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