Camp 4 in Yosemite Valley
Sunset on our drive down from Glacier Point
Vernal Falls
A guy highlining over Nevada Falls
Took the JMT back down to Vernal Falls
This past weekend a group of us decided to go camping at Yosemite National Park. It was weeks in the planning, but we had a solid group of 6 of us, Lauren, Lindsay, Sean, Andrew, Stephanie, and me. Yes, Tizzy and I were THAT girl couple. None of us had camped in a while, with only Tizzy having gone to Yosemite recently, we were all looking forward to sightseeing, hiking, and camping in the wilderness. So we all trekked the 6-8 hour drive to get out there.
We chose to camp at Camp 4. I like to plan things out, but we decided on a first come, first serve campsite because in the beginning I didn't know who was coming. Reading reviews online, and on the Yosemite website, I figured a spot at Camp 4 would be hard to obtain. But with a little patience, and loosing a few hours of sleep, we snagged a spot for the 6 of us. Camp 4 did not disappoint. We knew what we were getting ourselves into, close quarters with other tents, shared bear boxes, younger crowd, lots of rock climbers, but I am glad we chose this site! We definitely had to get there bright and early to get in line, Andrew having left San Diego at midnight and pulling in at 6 am Friday morning, and the rest of us, having stayed a few hours in Oakhurst to rest up, pulled in a little after 7 am. For a more detailed review on Camp for go to: http://www.yelp.com/biz/camp-4-yosemite-national-park
Finally choosing a spot to pitch our tents, we met our neighbors, John from Ohio, Naano from Florida, and a couple of Kiwis, we made lunch, rested up and were ready to go on a little afternoon adventure. We chose a short hike to Lower Yosemite Fall, less than a mile away from our campsite, definitely a spectacular view, but very crowded. An 80 year old in a wheel chair can get to this spot, that's how easy the hike was. After wandering around this area for less than an hour, we decided to head back to camp, get some firewood and head out to another sightseeing spot. Off to Glacier Point we went! The drive up to Glacier Point was not short, but very worth the winding roads for the view up top. Took about 1000 pictures and headed back down, made dinner (kabobs courtesy of Steph!) , hung out, and called it a night.
The following day we wanted to do a big hike, so Tizzy and I decided on Mist Trail to Vernal Falls to the top of Nevada Falls back down the John Muir Trail, roughly 7 miles round trip. Four of us hit the trail around 10 am. A steep climb, but definitely worth it. There were some crazy guys highlining, aka slack lining, across Nevada Fall. Crazy! Watching them balance, fall, get back up, and walk across is a pretty amazing thing to watch. Heading back down JMT, which isn't open during winter months, we hit a few patches of snow and even ran into Naano once we got closer to Vernal Falls. We didn't get back to camp until after 5:30. Andrew and Steph hiked Upper Yosemite Fall and were already back at camp when we got there.
We whipped up tacos on our 2nd night there, which was also our last night. We wished the camping trip had been longer but we had to head back to work and reality. Following morning we back up camp and hit the road before 11 am.
I would say pretty successful camping trip for the group of us! Of course there was bickering, dirty dishes to clean, and short fuses, but what do you expect when there's 6 of us....
Until next time Yosemite!
Are those hiking boots winter boots? They're super cute. I'm on the hunt for some new ones for the trip. Any recommendations on good spring time hiking boots?
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