Yosemite!

For the Memorial Day three day weekend (commemoration for US soldiers), a good bunch of I-Housers went for our last camping trip in America to Yosemite National Park. Located in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, this park is one of the best known wonders of the world, with some of the Earth’s most spectacular natural sights. This writer, painter and photographer’s paradise was made through millions of years of geological dynamics, and elegantly shaped by river and glacier flow. It is a wilderness of evergreen forests, lush green meadows, sheer granite walls, and magical waterfalls.

Leaving early Friday morning, the 25 of us fit into six different cars (owned and rented), all stocked up with tents, canned food, ingredients that made sandwiches, and plenty of water. It was an ideal road tripping atmosphere. The seven hour drive wasn’t enduring, as we evaded the rush hour traffic in LA. Stopping for lunch at (you guessed it) In and Out, we arrived at the cozy mountain town of Oakhurst late afternoon.

We tried our best to coordinate our trip with the other cars, which had all left at different times of day. After helping out a fellow car that caught a flat tire, we started the navigation process towards our reserved campsite. It was long and grueling, as the roads narrowed from marked to unmarked to one way to unpaved and structurally neglected. Sharp rocks and potholes that constituted pretty much the road winded us deeper into the wild, as the daylight gradually diminished upon us. Not to mention, cellphone service was dead in the entire area. Rangers, people on dirtbikes and miniscule road signs covered in dirt helped us reach our campsite finally at late dusk. We put up our tents and it wasn’t long until we hit our cold, hard beds, in anticipation of the next day.

We chose one of the busiest days in the calendar year to visit Yosemite, so parking our cars was not easy, even in the early hours of the day. In Yosemite Valley, where most of the famous sights were, we first hiked to Mirror Lake, where reflections of the granite cliffs from the calm lake surface were famous.


Mist trail was next, and this was a popular track that lay adjacent to and took us to the top of Vernal falls, soaking us subtly and softly with water vapor while striking us visually with its infinite number of rainbows. I will never forget this beautiful walk. Spring was when waterfalls were at their maximum flow and thus beauty, so we had picked the right time.

That night Esther, who was tired from driving, gave me permission to drive…in the United States! Yosemite was not really a place scattered with law enforcing police, so I did not turn this offer down. Without hesitation I took hold of the wheel and drove on the right hand side of the road in the left hand side of the car. Weird! I hugged the centerline, since my sense of car size to the right was uncertain. And of course since cars here have their windscreen wipers where their indicators should be (jeez), I inevitably hit the wipers a few times unnecessarily. Returning back to our very cheap campsite took 2 hours. There are always prices to pay for cheap prices. Some groups were already back, eating wild-made pasta, having s’mores by the campfire, and using the nearby stream as a chilly bin for our Bud Lights.

The next morning, we drove to Glacier Point, where the great Yosemite panorama was experienced. Situated almost a kilometer above the valley floor, most of the major features of Yosemite Valley was seen from this world famous viewpoint.

Half Dome, the symbol of Yosemite, was stunning from here.

We then embarked on the most strenuous hike of the weekend, up to the top of the highest waterfall in North America – Yosemite Falls. Reaching the top on a scorching day after a 5.5 kilometer climb, we drank a bit of much desired water from the river that preceded the falls (risking giardia, but it was worth it), before making the slippery descent (especially slippery for some people…ahem Saya). We also saw some wild deer, millipedes and giant ants during that hike.

After having sandwiches for pretty much three days, we indulged ourselves with some quality buffet Korean BBQ in LA's Koreatown on the way back.

This weekend, probably having been the final camping trip during my exchange, was (apart from the inaccessibility of the campsite, and missing out on a cool bear encounter) the best camping experience I’ve had in a long time, with the most gorgeous natural views I’ve ever seen (yep, prettier than even the Grand Canyon). I urge you all to go!