119/365: April 28th, Yosemite Day 3

I’m on the patio of our hotel room, drinking my third cup of steaming hot coffee with my Bible open, basking in the warm sun and quietly grooving to the soundtrack of the mighty Merced River… enjoying a lengthy sit before embarking on our next big hike.

An hour later, Matt and I have begun our trek to the base of Upper Yosemite Falls.

It was a lovely hike. A “real” hike… zero fluff, no pavement, just steep grades of stone steps and switchback after switchback… uphill all the way.

We took a short break at the base, leaning against a large smooth boulder, taking in the sight of this fantastic waterfall and grand views of the valley and surrounding peaks.

The walk back down is a welcome one to Matt, since it is downhill.

I, however, would much prefer climbing up another 1000+ feet, to descending the mountain’s steep downward slope. I kept envisioning my feet slipping out from under me, sending me plunging headfirst off the cliff, tumbling and crashing about like a cartoon character—never stopped by diving headfirst into objects below, but rather sustaining perpetually greater injuries as the downward spiral accelerates with ever increasing speed…the scenario on replay in my mind… Alas, Matt shared his walking stick with me.

Back at our rendezvous point, we snagged a sunny picnic table alongside the Merced River—the parents arriving a short time thereafter—toting yummy sandwiches, dried mango and authentic Australian ginger Bundabergs.

In deciding what to do next, Matt had the winning idea: visit the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias :)

To get there we parked our car in Wawona and took the free Wawona-Mariposa Grove shuttle in; once in, sequoias can easily be spotted from the parking lot. On our bus ride up I whispered to Matt, “These had better be cool trees…” -> They were.

One cannot help but feel a sense of their own smallness, next to the wonder of these beautiful, massive trees.

Their size makes them easy to spot… but I also enjoyed their round, overlapping scales, distinctive conical profiles and soft, spongy bark… and the really big ones had the best names…

Our short hike led us to four immense Sequoias known as “The Bachelor & Three Graces…”

Then, further on, we sat in front of the “Grizzly Giant…”

Further still, we stood within the “California Tunnel Tree…”

And lastly, Matt carved our initials into the “Fallen Monarch…”

We did have another car ride adventure on our way back to the Hotel… all because the shiny red Kia in front of us was driving under the 25mph speed limit and refused to use the turnouts… We were among the line of cars following, till Matt had a losing idea to hang out the window and motion for the car to pull over into the turnout. He might have succeeded, but he forgot to take off his hat and it was swept away behind us…

When we finally made it back inside the park, we decided on pizza in Curry Village and a final visit to mom’s favorite “white way of delight…” a path lined with rows of flowering dogwood trees.