We LOVE Yosemite!
Unfortunately,
so does everyone else!
This year we braved the park during 4th of July weekend
-quite possibly the busiest the park ever gets-
and did it on a limited budget and with no reservations!
First up,
setting up camp.
Literally,
O N T H E S I D E O F T H E R O A D !
Yup.
It's legal, so long as your in an area where it's permissible.
We landed this beauty of a site,
complete with a firepit and
ample room for the kids to play well away from the road.
The best part?
It was only five minutes from the gate!
Woo-hoo!
Granted,
camping for free comes with it's own "price".
For instance,
no running water or toilets.
Yes,
this is camping at it's best!
Remember though,
it's FREE and it's YOSEMITE!
After burgers,
it's time to toast!
I can't believe my youngest can hold his own stick in the fire!
Tucking in for the night..
We'll...almost.
Gabriel's convinced the night is young.
Thank goodness he hasn't figured out
how to work the zipper yet!
{note}
Like my bear-scare contraption?
I will bang the pot like crazy if one comes close.
Great plan, right?
Yea!
We survived the night and
woke to other campers that popped up over night!
The beauty?
There's plenty of space for everyone!
Why the smile?
It's our favorite breakfast!
A tradition for the the first morning of camping:
Grilled Crossaints with Turkey & Cheese
Fresh Cantelope
&
Powdered Sugar Donuts
Our first day in the park we stopped at a roaring waterfall.
I'm not sure what's it's called,
but it was a stop-traffic beauty!
Next up,
the valley floor loop.
The meadows are amazing!
So moist and rich from the snowmelt flooding.
One of the main reasons we came,
to see Lower Yosemite Falls!
When Samuel and I hiked UpperYosemite Falls a few weeks earlier,
we knew we couldn't let the season pass without
taking our little ones to get drenched on the bridge!
Sure enough, they loved every minute of it!
Scrabbling on the rocks!
Doing a little cave exploring!
And Bella playing Little Mermaid!
Gabriel,
our escapee from the bike trailer!
Gabriel's need to run works out quite nicely for Iris...
Finally,
some relief from the heat thanks to the Merced River!
Gabriel,
not a fan of the cold water!
Throwing mud is another story...
Checking out the huge...trout?
Squeaky clean after showers in Housekeeping Camp!
Bring your moo-la though.
If you're not a guest in the camp
you WILL pay through the nose!
Home sweet home!
Gone is the thought of snuggling in the sleeping bag
with my honey!
Boys wrangled first dibs!
The next morning we enjoyed the second best breakfast ever:
Mini-cereal boxes!
The kids scored all their favorite sugar cereal,
while Samuel and cleaned out the high-fiber stuff!
Raisin bran, anyone?
As we approached the weekend,
we expected greater traffic congestion in the park.
Add in a couple of cubs and a great big momma bear
and, understandably,
all traffic came to a dead-stop!
Woo-hoo!
Our next hike!
Vernal Falls!
These kids are troopers!
They took the outrageous number of steps in stride.
Soaking from the mist!
Eureka!
We made it!
Don't ask me how some folks rationalize
going over the barrier to get any closer.
We enjoyed the views from behind the fence.
This was one of many incredible moments we experienced
as a family.
We each have a myriad of individual strengths and talents,
and I am amazed at how we all worked together
to overcome each of our weaknesses.
Life on the trail can be tough,
but it is also so, so rewarding!
As I prepped a well-deserved lunch,
Samuel entertained the kids by...
Rock-throwing!
Iris and her tiny friend!
Next up,
Nevada Falls!
Just kidding!
After consulting our map we realized we weren't prepared
for yet another hike onward.
We turned back,
and instead of heading back down the Mist Trail,
made our way to the John Muir Trail.
Love those dirty fingernails!
That right there is camping!
Catching the John Muir Trail is an exercise in elevation!
But this overlook of Vernal Falls is spectacular!
Once we hit the trail,
Gabriel was in hog heaven.
With the downward sloping grade that was largely flat,
he was able to head down almost entirely on his own.
The frequents switchbacks also allowed the girls
to hike a bit further ahead.
They loved being free to explore,
while still keeping within sight of mom and dad.
If you're familiar with this trail,
you'll recognize this rock!
I wonder how many hands have held this rock for a pose?
Enjoying a break down by the Vernal Falls Bridge!
Iris getting in some rock-scrabble time.
Bella being sweet with her little brothers!
Woo-hoo!
We made it!
From the shuttle we saw the beaches off of Housekeeping Camp.
We had promised the kids we'd try to swim today,
and so off the best we went!
Granted,
the sun was setting and the water was FREEZING,
but in Ava and I went!
Finally we dredged ourselves home
-laden with more mosquito bites than I can count!-
and found that we had camping neighbors!
They were the sweetest folks ever,
and they shared their farmstand produce with us
(huge ears of corn on the cob and giant taters),
in exchange for introducing them (or rather his wife, of Thai descent)
to marshmallows!
Well, she didn't like them at all,
but it was fun passing the evening with new friends.
The next day, Sunday,
we enjoyed random visiting around the valley floor.
We had planned to attend Sacrament Meeting at the Yosemite Valley Chapel,
but we underestimated the amount of traffic.
We gave ourselves 2 hours in lead time,
one hour more than normal,
and still it wasn't enought.
The painful part,
we crawled by the chapel just as Sacrament meeting was getting out,
and saw all of our fellow LDS-ers pouring out onto the lawn!
Sad!
Thank goodness you can slap yourself happy
with all the incredible views!
{top-secret}
One of the most whimiscal places in the park with
some of the most spectacular views are along the meadow south of the Ahwahnee
and north of day-use parking.
There is a row of incrediblyquaint residence cottages
that open onto a small walkway
which gives way to the meadow
which opens up to this tremendous view of Half-dome.
How amazing to live there and wake up to this every morning!
And to see the sun set on it every night!
Incredible!
Anyone want to work in Yosemite with me?
Literally lollying on the grounds of the Ahwahnee!
And maybe being more silly than reverent...
Who knew?
The Stanley Cup
on it's Northern California tour!
Dancing the day away...
My family...
We are so blessed!
And speaking of families,
we had the opportunity of watching one form!
A wedding,
right on the lawn.
We watched from a hidden location,
and though we urged the kids to move on after a time,
they insisted in staying until,
in Owen's words,
"They KISS!"
And so we did!
Waiting for the shuttle,
the kids busied themselves with building homes
for the bewildered ants...
After waiting a good little bit,
we realized the shuttle was taking three times it's normal time.
Apparently this was the busiest day for the park,
more so than the actual 4th of July holiday.
The shuttle services were experiencing delays
due to the immense crowds and tempers all over the park
began to flare-often requiring the dispatch of Park Rangers.
Now that we had an insight into the delays,
we hoofed it!
All the way to Happy Isle to catch the tail end
of the Jr. Fire Ranger Campfire program!
I am so proud of these little buggers!
Where in grown men were throwing fits all over park,
these kids took the inconvenience in stride.
I love this place!
There is literally something to do at every turn!
Especially if you're a big fan of rocks!
Coming out of the woods we noted that cars were still
at a standstill around the park.
So while everyone tried to wind their way OUT of the park,
we opted to stay in!
There is no better place to land late at night than Curry Village.
The place is hopping,
we were able to catch a feature on the big screen under a beautiful canopy of stars,
and gobble down pizza on the homestead porch of the lounge!
What did we watch?
The kids absolutely loved it!
And thereafter they could be heard shouting alternately,
Glacier:
"Hell-oo Camp Curry!"
Camp Curry:
"Hell-oo Glacier!"
"Let the fire fall!"
Glacier:
"The fire is fall-ing!"
It's hilarious to hear them do it,
and it still makes me laugh even now!
After a long, long night in the park...
In which we stayed out beyond the 10 o'clock curfew for shuttles
rendering us miles and miles from our car...
managed to get lost in the dark in the employee-only residences...
happened upon a port-a-potty in the dark-thank goodness!...
scrambled from said potty mid...you-know-what-
to catch a random bus that took pity on us and allowed us to get on!
Whew!
We crashed at our homestead around mid-night,
and the kiddies awoke to fried potatoes the next day!
Of course,
after a doozy the day prior,
we were anxious to go back!
Afterall,
it's the Fourth of July!
Who's up for a snowball fight?
That's right, snow.
Way, way up top of Glacier Point.
It was so fitting that the night before
we learned about the Fire Falls,
and now here we were,
where the coals were shoved right of the side!
Here we go..
And of course,
the views are spectacular!
Now they're sort of looking into the camera!
This totally looks like they could fall right off the edge.
They can't.
So don't worry, grandma!
Owen,
so proud of his Glacer lizard friend.
Yes, you can actually see the people!
They are so tiny...
and so lucky!
Can you believe there used to be a hotel up here?
At least you can still grab a Crunch bar!
This view point from (insert) is so incredible to me.
Rarely do you see Half Dome from this angle.
It is truly a sheer and utter masterpiece of rock.
Our next stop,
Wawona!
For an ol' fashion
Fourth of July Pioneer Celebration!
Our favorite activity of the day:
The Egg Toss!
Another fave,
the stables.
My pioneer women!
To the kids dismay,
Samuel and I dosie-doed to our hearts content!
We took one final photo outside the gate
before heading back to camp for our last dinner
before heading home.
This is our second year of taking the kids to Yosemite,
and we are more determined than ever to make this a tradition.
Can you imagine backpacking trips with these rascals?
It's going to be amazing
-CRAZY-
but A-mazing!
