Yosemite!
Saturday
Up early for the bus, with frost on the ground and all over
the car, I was taken to the station for 7am; luckily I
didn't have to wait long for the bus to arrive. The ride to
Yosemite Valley took approximately three hours, and went from
the calm flat lands of California into the foot hills and
mountains of Yosemite National Park, high up in the Sierra
Nevada mountain range. By the time we entered the mountain
pass there was evidence of recent snow showers on rocks, and
the boulders by the side of the road became larger and
larger. One boulder was so large it had split in two where
it had crashed down and stopped, one was across the road itself
and had been blasted through to form a small tunnel.
I was amazed by all the
sights - the huge rocks and sheer mountain sides which
towered into the dizzy heights way up above us, their tops
shrouded by clouds and mystery. A world of difference
from just a few days ago in Santa Monica.
Eventually the bus came into Yosemite Valley and I trotted
off to the information centre to find out what I could do on
my first day in Yosemite. I discovered that many of the
hikes were closed due to the cold weather - ice on the paths
was too dangerous. There were two trails which I could
manage in a day: the Yosemite Falls and Vernal Falls hikes;
there were walks which went around the valley floor but they
didn't interest me; I wanted adventure, excitement, and
really wild things!
I bought some supplies: energy drink, almond mars bars (I
had grown quite fond of these), marathon bars, fruit, and
some extra water; unfortunately it was at this point that I
lost my new hat and gloves; I put them down at the fruit and
veg stall, but when I noticed I didn't have them and went
back to look, they'd gone! Nobody in the shop knew
where they were so that was that. I had to resort to my
backup gloves and go and buy a new woolly hat from the
Adventure Shop (not as expensive as I had thought though).
Making use of one of the metal day lockers, I stashed all
that I didn't need in the locker, strapped on my hiking
boots which I had been lugging around with me all this time,
and took to the path towards Yosemite Falls...
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