Devin and I had the amazing opportunity to go to Yosemite on our friend Zach's back country permit to hike the famous Half Dome. Permits are notoriously hard to get (15-18% success rate, per our buddy Google). This has been on my bucket list for a while and I was SO happy to be able to check it off. Zach kindly allowed Devin and I to travel with him & his family- which includes my friend Trent and his wife Melissa, Zach and Stacie (Trent's sister and husband), Dan and Holly (his other sister and husband) and Melissa's friend Denelle. They all arrived Sunday and spent several days before we got there sight- seeing in nearby parks. Devin and I arrived late Tuesday night into Fresno and then drove to meet them outside Yosemite Wed morning, where we started up the Happy Isles trail toward Little Yosemite Valley. The back country permit meant we needed to camp and get up early the next morning to summit the dome before the day hikers with permits.
The hike up was gorgeous, steep, and hard! It was so beautiful. We took our time and stopped when we wanted, including a long stop for lunch about 3 miles up. I have never backpacked before, and hauling up 30 extra pounds is no joke, especially with such a steep trail. But, we did it! We made our camp by mid-afternoon, then hung around the camp area in hammocks and took a swim in the nearby river. The nearby park rangers gave us several spiels about bears as the local brown bears had been very active in the camp area.
Though we are not camper people, Devin and I survived one night in a tent (well half a night- we got up at 3:30 AM to start the ascent up to the summit!). It was totally worth the camping. It is just the sleeping in the tent part I don't like. Everything else I liked- the being outdoors, the swinging in a hammock with nothing to do, the sunset among the trees...all of it. Oh, the food was subpar too, but what do you do? ha.
Okay, now for a million pictures of day one.
At the airport- it was funny wearing those big old hiking backpacks through the airport. Never done that before!
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