Destination: Yosemite- May Lake and Glen Aulin
Participants: Matt, Kay, Eric, Karen, Me, Kristen, Kristine(my friend), Allen, Madeleine, Ben, Collin, Maren
So, we left Tuesday night and drove up most of the way.
We slept in a parking lot. My family was all out on a tarp with sleeping bags but Kristine and I were in my car with the seats down. On wednesday morning, we got up and drove into Yosemite, got our permits, walked around Yosemite valley, visiting the Ansel Adams Museum and other stuff, and then we all went to the trail head.
We had a really easy hike to our first campsite. It was only a mile and a half to May Lake. There were a lot of gorgeous views, and the lake was big and beautiful.
We went swimming- Kristine didn't have a swim suit, so she just stuck her legs in. The water was freezing! I didn't get all the way under, but I got up to my neck, and then got out as soon as possible.
We didn't do much before and after dinner except play a few card games before going
to bed. Oh, all the older girls [Karen, Me, Kristine, Madeleine and Kristen} shared one big tent. That night we were pretty crazy and annoyed the other people in the camp. I won't tell you everything that went on, but I will say the words, 'steam-roller', 'worm-wrestling', and 'marry,date,or dump'.
The kids in my family have a tradition that started on a previous backpacking trip called Toothbrushing Party! We all start brushing our teeth at the same time and we spit at the same time- its all great, silly fun. Sometimes we call it the Toothbrushing Addicts Anonymous, and we introduce ourselves like at a real AA meeting.
Us girls also took a chance to shampoo and condition our hair to keep it smelling nice and looking good. We didn't have very much conditioner, and we had to use little buckets instead of the faucet because we couldn't get soap in the water, but it was still fun. It was cold, but really refreshing.
On Thursday, Kristine and I went with my Dad on a day hike up to the peak by our lake. It was a brutal hike- almost all uphill- and then downhill on the way bake (both extremes are not fun- we like level hiking.)
But the view was amazing from up top, and we saw lots of marmots. They're like giant squirrels with small tails, and are much cuter. We also sat in some snow and looked down at Eric and Allen who had gone cross-country(no trail) over the mountain and then back up to the peak.
When we got back, we all went swimming at a really cool spot in the lake with good rocks to jump off of and to swim out to.
We were really beat that night, so after dinner, we went to bed early again, but were not nearly as rowdy as the previous night.
On Friday, we packed up our tents and hiked out to our next camping spot. This hike was nothing like the first hike we did. This time, we went over 8 miles, most of it downhill. It was long and hot and painful on the knees to go downhill the whole time.
Kristine and my sister Kristen were in the lead (Eric and Karen both went back down to the cars to get some things that we had forgotten and some emergency things that we needed, like a new stove, because Allen's burst- they came up to the second place from a different, shorter route- they actually beat us there), my parents followed them, and I followed with
Ben. Madeleine, Allen and the youngest two kids came in last about an hour later.I was really glad to have Ben as a hiking buddy, because he was having a lot of trouble. {That sounded weird, but it was because I usually struggle as badly as he did when I try and keep up with everybody else} He was extremely worn out and wanted to stop all the time. Our pace was so slow that I was perfectly fine the first 7 miles, even carrying his tent and mat. I didn't get tired until the last mile. It was very nice to have Ben as an excuse to go so slow, and it was really great for me to take a turn, finally, as the stronger one. I was so used to being the slowest in the group that everyone pities, but on this trip, I felt fit, I felt great, and I was even able to carry someone else's weight for the first time ever. Ben was very headstrong and didn't complain. He kept up great conversation and helped me get to the end of the trail more, I think, than I helped him.
But still, 8 miles is a lot- by the time we got to camp, we were all dead on our
feet. Kristine and Kristen had plopped down with Karen and were reading Eclipse [a book from our favorite series] when Ben and I arrived- we plopped down with them. Once everyone had made it to camp, we set up our tents, changed into swimsuits and went swimming.
This lake was very different from the first. It was much smaller, and it had a large waterfall at one end. Kristine went swimming with us in her clothes, since she didn't have a swimsuit.
My family is very quick to get in the water, unlike me. They were all in and already swimming under the waterfall before Kristine and I could even make it in knee deep. It wasn't as cold as the first lake, but it is still shocking. I decided to just jump in and get it over with.
I swam over to the waterfall with my family and we all would go under, to the rocks behind it, and at the same time, we would all duck under and let the waterfall carry us out. I convinced Kristine to try it, but she didn't like it very much.
The only bad thing about swimming in that lake with the strong currents were the large rocks that were everywhere. If you didn't pay attention, you would bang your knee on one and get a bruise.
Kristine and I got out of the water sooner than the rest of my family and we lounged on the warm rocks in the sun.
After dinner, Kristine went to take pictures of the beautiful sunset. We played more cards and read more Eclipse- we had a bunch of people in the tent listening to Karen read it, including Eric, who had never read it before and had missed the first two books. But Eric seemed to enjoy it, and he even did sound affects.
On Saturday, instead of a hike, we followed the river down to where the river was quieter. Dad and Allen wanted to fish.
As I was stepping from rock to rock out to where Allen was, I stepped on one rock and quickly discovered that there was a SNAKE [this is a very serious, traumatizing issue for me], slithering along in front of me!!!!
I screamed!! and jumped back, almost falling into Kristine. She laughed, but I didn't think it was very funny. If you guys didn't know, I am deathly afraid of snakes, I don't even like looking at the snakes in the zoo, even though they are behind glass.
I called for Eric, and then Karen came, and they called Allen over. Now, everyone who knows Allen would have laughed. He is like a giant little kid, the minute we said 'snake', he comes barreling over, and without even looking to see what kind of snake it is, he reaches down and picks it up.
Everyone was passing the snake around for the rest of the night while me and Kristen tried to stay as far away as possible. Karen and Eric made plans to take it home and keep it as a pet, even though it is illegal. They named it Iago (from Othello-which I actually approve of, the name fits). Luckily for me, the snake escaped while we all went back down the river to swim.
There were a bunch of smooth rocks that the river flowed over, and my family all had fun sliding down. We got some great pictures and video. It was when we got back to camp that Karen discovered that Iago was gone.
We went to bed early on saturday night because we got up at 5:45 on Sunday morning to pack up our camp and head out. It was really cold as we put away our tent and quickly ate breakfast.
Karen, Kristine, Kristen and I started off together before anyone else left.
I wanted a head start because I like to go slow and I don't like getting rushed. Karen and Kristen eventually pushed on ahead and Kristine and I stayed together a little farther behind. Eric very quickly caught up to and passed us. The hike back to the cars was almost 6 miles, but Kristine and I made it in very good time. We left at about 7:30 and made it there by 11. It was great. We saw 3 deer along the way, including a buck, though we didn't get a good picture of him. He really scared Kristine when he jumped across our trail only a few meters in front of her.The sites were amazing, we only wish they could really be captured with a camera, but alas, they can't. But don't worry, we did take pictures non-the-less; but you really couldn't understand how beautiful it was from a picture.
Here are some numbers from the trip:
Mosquito bites:
Me- 14(minimum)
Kristine- 4 (maybe 5)
Animals:
Chipmunks- a zillion
Marmots- 20
Deer- 3
Snake- 1 (already too many)
Cool birds- 3 different kinds
Fish- 1 (dad and Allen were very disappointed)
Hours on a trail:
(for me) 16
Stars:
I think Kristine went out and saw the stars, but I never did, the night I really wanted to, it was all cloudy. Well actually, it was smoky, because there was a fire somewhere far away.
Here are a few more cute stories from the Yosemite trip:
1. Maren, the 5-year-old, was very entertaining throughout our trip. It was often fun to watch her running around with her pretend dog without shoes, jabbering away to no one in particular. On one of the first mornings, us five teenage girls were still lying in the tent when we heard Maren demanding that Ben take her to the bathroom (their tent was right next to ours). But Ben was not ready to take her yet, and she wasn't dressed. After a few seconds of arguing, we hear the unmistakable trickling sound of you-know-what, right by our tent. Then Maren said, "see!(accusing Ben) I needed to go!"
2. While we were waiting around camp after breakfast, we soon discovered a marmot wandering around nearby and poking through fire pits. We sat and watched patiently as the marmots slowly got closer and closer. They came all the way to our fire pit *while we were sitting around it* and one passed within a foot of my foot. It was very exciting and cute.
3. On the hike out to the cars on Sunday, Kristine and I had seen a few deer in the meadows, but nothing was as exciting as when suddenly, Kristine yelps and jumps back toward me. I look up and see the back end of a deer jumping across the trail only a few feet in front of her. It scared her so badly. We move around to get a better look, and I realized that it was a buck! and we were so close! We didn't get a good picture of him, but it was still really fun to see a deer with antlers from so close.
4. At every chance I had, I would fill up my water bottles with fresh spring water. It was so deliciously cold and tasty! I've always been a tap-water kind of girl, and mountain tap water is the best kind!!
