CALIFORNIA: Day 4 & 5

We set the next two days in our trip aside for adventuring through Yosemite National Park! The first day we attempted to go into the park did not work out so well. Our route was filled with high elevation and sharp winding curves at 40mph! Unfortunately our family was getting car sick during this and we decided it was best to go back to our hotel. After we got back into town we talked with some locals about alternative routes into the park and they suggested one that would bring us straight into the valley, which is the gorgeous part of the park.


Since we missed out on one day in the park we decided to leave extra early the next day to maximize our time there. This meant that we were able to see an incredible sunrise during our drive.

 

 

 

This new route we took was really great because there was not as much winding coming into the park. All of a sudden we are driving through a park that looks like Rock Cut State Park and then 'BAM!' out of nowhere are these massive granite rock mountains. See the video below to understand what I mean.

 



 

There are a few famous granite rock structures that we just had to witness while we were there, which include El Capitan, Half Dome, and Glacier Point. You can see those in the photos below. I am just in awe of the enormity of these strucutres. They truly embrace how mighty God is because things like that do not just appear! Also it was interesting when we went into one of the shops, because they had a detailed history of the first climbs on these rocks. The very first people to climb them took over a year to get to the top--yes, ONE YEAR! They had to sleep in hammacks which they attached to their ropes. That is absolutely terrifying to me! What if you jolted in your sleep and then fell out? Yikes! Then in the 1960s there was a group of about five guys who made it their mission to discover different routes up the rocks and continue improving their times. Rock climbers today can now get to the top of them in a matter of hours!

Half Dome

Glacier Point

 

In addition to the massive granite rocks, Yosemite is also well known for its waterfalls. Unfortunately we didn't know that August is the time of year when the waterfalls start drying up!! Luckily we were still able to hike to one of the waterfalls that was still going though--which involved some scrambing on rocks! 

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Below are some more great pictures from this amazing park! I cannot wait to go back and explore it even more. You could seriously spend weeks in the park and not even see everything there is to see!

 

 

"I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living." -Psalm 27:13

 

 

XOXO Alexa