This will hopefully be one of many blogs documenting my different summer vacations. Here's to new discoveries and places!!
Ahhhhhhh, Yosemite.
I drove from AZ to CA on a Saturday...stayed overnight at a motel, and went to church at a local ward Sunday morning...and then drove 2 more hours to arrive at YOSEMITE!!
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I discovered a waterfall just before you get to the main pullout for the valley view. I hadn't noticed it last time I was here, and was excited to get a closer view...so I hopped the safety rail & hiked down to get this shot. : )
This is the famous view of the valley. You drive through a tunnel, and !!BAM!! see this beauty of a view. El Capitan is on the left (one of the largest sheer granite monoliths in the world at 3000 ft), Half Dome can be seen poking out in the middle (90% vertical grade, and 4800 ft high), and Bridal Veil Falls on the right (620 ft high). Standing at this vantage point as I begin my vacation is a wonderful feeling...it's a phenomenal & thrilling realization that I'm on the edge of 'HERE' and I get to go explore and camp and play in this wonderful area...get dirty from camping and hiking, get sprayed by waterfall mist, ride my bike around the valley this time, and have visual overloads of majesty and awe everywhere I turn. Seriously...life doesn't get much better for this heart of mine! (As I stand there bouncing on the balls of my feet in excitement.) : )
Bridal Veil Falls is always next on the list since the trailhead is right off the main road. The base of this falls is an easy quarter mile hike...and once there, you're literally being rained on my the mist. Last time I went, I didn't know the 'legend' of the falls and although it was really COLD, I stood at the base getting soaked while everyone else tentatively snuck up to the viewpoint...and then ran away to avoid the moisture. I was awed and exhilarated to be getting wet from WATERFALL MIST!! Later I found out that according to legend, if you are single, the wetter you get from the falls, the sooner you'll meet your future spouse & marry. (& it worked! 8 months later I started dating the guy I married!) This time I stood, I sat, and I relished the waterfall & it's rainy mist. We'll see if it works the 2nd time, too. ; ) 
Sunday evening I set up camp and rode my bike around the valley, soaking up the exhilaration of standing in the valley, watching roaring waterfalls across the meadow, and smiling in amazement and awe at the 3000 foot cliffs on every side of me. I kept stopping on the bike path and turning around and around to experience (and try to hold onto) the feeling of being there and feeling so blessed to be a part it.Last time I went (2001), I vacationed here by myself. This time I was open to having company. I still traveled by myself and planned for the trip to be solo, but invited my dad to join me as well. He wasn’t certain if he’d be able to come up due to work & schedules, but he did! He arrived Monday night and stayed til Wednesday morning when I headed home. We spent time talking by the campfire and spent Tuesday exploring some of the main valley sights. It was a neat experience to spend with him, this being the longest one-on-one conversation we've had. (My parents divorced when I was one year old and he moved to California while we stayed in Arizona.)
The opportunity to spend time with my dad was both difficult and rewarding. I learned a lot about myself, was able to experience more of who my dad is & the beliefs that he holds sacred, and I have discovered greater peace in my personal beliefs that God is real and that He loves and knows me...and that this isn't just a fictional idea or story. I really am God's child. He really does answer prayers, and He pours out mercies and blessings in our lives. It's real.My dad doesn't share the same beliefs about God that I do. I respect the difference in opinion & beliefs. I respect that he feels passionately about his beliefs. And I hope that he does the same for me. It is a unique challenge to be with someone that I have numerous traits in common with, yet find very little common ground with...I accept that there is a cautionary wall which I've built between he & I, and that I am still learning where to fit a relationship with him in my life. Even after 30 years of being apart, I still carry expectations of what I think a father should be in some respects. It's not really difficult for me to accept him for who & what he is as a person, but when I bring the father-daughter relationship into the equation, I still carry expectations that aren't our reality, and never have been. I'm still working on knowing where my 'peaceful place' is in the equation.
I AM so grateful for the chance to learn more about my dad, and to have more understanding about how we interact. And I'm incredibly grateful for the time and energy he spent in coming to join me in the beautiful Yosemite Valley. It was a rare experience in my life, and one which I will not forget. Thank you, Dad, for making it possible!Another big highlight for this trip was my hike to the summit of Upper Yosemite Falls. When I vacation, I’m far from an overzealous planner when it comes to my daily schedules, but I do like having a general idea of what I’d like to accomplish & want to have options of how the days might play out. I knew I wanted a challenging hike this trip, and, as usual, wanted to explore something new.
So I headed out Monday morning on my bike to try out the Upper Yosemite Falls trail. I wasn’t even committed to making it to the top, but I was excited for the day and the new trail ahead. After a beautiful 4-mile bike ride through the valley, I parked my bike and walked the half-mile to the trailhead…and began the 3.5 miles of UP. The trail has an elevation gain of 2700 feet, and it really is almost constantly uphill. I made a group of friends for the 1st 1.5 miles or so, and although they stopped at the first really scenic lookout, their enthusiasm and description of the view from the top was inspiring enough to get my motivation and determination flowing.
I didn’t really know what to expect from the rest of the hike other than it being challenging and offering a really great view at the end. I had my breath taken away when the trail opened up to an unparalleled view of the upper falls, and I realized the path was leading me right next to its enormous base. I had to force myself to watch the trail instead of the falls, and was amazed and thrilled to listen to its powerful, continuous roar. It was daunting to look up at the cliffs and realize that I was headed to the top of them. Daunting, surreal, and exhilarating.
I didn’t take a picture of the also-daunting switchbacks you face on the trail before you get to the summit, but I think I trekked through those at possibly the slowest human pace ever. I did finally make it to the top, though, and was greeted with a huge slab of rock to die (or rest) on. At this point, all I had to do was catch my breath and give my muscles a quick rest, and I was bounding along the rest of the trail, my exhaustion replaced with excitement for being ‘almost there’ (which is one of my favorite feelings, ever!) 
Walking up to the very edge at the completion of a ‘to-the-top’ hike is always so enjoyable and remarkable for me. There’s such a deep surge of satisfaction in knowing I MADE IT, and here I am, able to revel in the beauty and view and joy that my hard work has made possible. It’s so inspiring to sit on the edge and realize what my body has just accomplished. You made this possible. No manufactured engines, or artificial power…just the miraculous body that God has blueprinted for us.
I'm still a girl who enjoys sitting on the edge, with my feet dangling over, enjoying the view and sense of mixed liberation and exhilaration of being RIGHT there on the edge. I want as little as possible between me and that splendid, majestic view, and I LOVE heights. The wind and the view are the closest I come to flying without flying. I think hang-gliding should be on my list of things to do next. 
Being at the top of a difficult hike is exhilarating and reverential for me. I can’t help but think of how amazing God is, and how much evidence I find in the way our bodies work and tick. I’m always further convinced that God is the master in charge of this life I lead. And then I look around at the beauty of the earth and its natural majesty and grandeur, in all its unique beauties and forms, and I’m impressed with the reverence of how capable and competent He is as the God of earth and heaven. There is something I experience in nature, fresh air, and pushing my body to work hard, which I can only explain as heaven-sent and heaven-inspired. In all this amazingness, in all this glory, I MATTER, and God knows me. And He loves me. I never feel unimportant or forgotten in the vast grandeur of nature and the sky…I feel small in comparison, but ALWAYS feel overwhelming peace and love in knowing that I exist, and that with all these things God has created, I am a being whom He loves and treasures. I am His daughter, and He is aware of me and is guiding my life. 
These experiences are the reasons I’ve loved the great outdoors throughout my life. I find a connection, freedom, and sense of belonging that I compare only to the religious experience of praying and discovering that God is more than just an idea. They continue to build my testimony and my confidence and trust that all will be well in my life and in the world. Things are often hard. Hard beyond belief. But the end is worth it. And it always will be. 
