Yosemite: a journey in pictures

We just got back from our very first family camping trip, to Yosemite. The night before we drove out I made a list of everything that we needed to take, and once I had looked it over calmly informed Jeff that there was no way at all that it was all going to fit in the car. Never, never, never. The next morning Jeff worked his tetris magic and packed it all into the car. We were loaded to the gills, but it was all in (minus one sleeping bag which we forgot!).



Yosemite was amazing. Huge granite mountains everywhere. This was the view from behind our tent.



When we got there we met up with Tom and Megan and Megan's parents, who miraculously produced from their camping trailer everything that we needed and didn't have, including an extra sleeping bag, and a little snowsuit for Nicholas, because that first night was cold! Really, really cold!

There was lots of water - waterfalls, rapids, and fast flowing rivers. It was beautiful!





One of the things I loved the most was the meadows. Every now and again there is a break in the trees and the most gorgeous little meadows would just appear, sitting at the base of the mountains. The contrast between mountain and meadow was just lovely.



On our second day there Tom and Jeff went off and hiked the Mist Trail. From all accounts it was quite strenous (a 2,000 foot climb) but absolutely spectacular. They went up past Vernal Falls and Nevada Falls, and I have promised that I will do it at some point in the future, when the children can safely be left for six hours back at the campsite!



Our second night proved quite eventful. We lost Ellie for about 12 minutes (by my reckoning). Despite clear instructions to the contrary, she convinced an adult that she was allowed to go to the toilet block by herself. When she got out, she turned in the exact opposite direction and walked off. It was already getting dark. Fortunately, she was found by some people who realised that she looked lost and they kept her safe until we came charging through the campsite yelling at the tops of our lungs about twelve minutes later. They were the longest, scariest and worst minutes of my life.

In the middle of the night, at about 3am I was woken up by an absolutely massive clap of thunder. After the intial boom, then it just rolled on, and on, and on, and on. By about fifteen seconds in to the roll I was realising that it was not thunder, because no thunder on earth lasts that long, and I just had time to realise that it was an avalanche and then I lay there listening to it for about ten more seconds. I was just getting to the point of wondering whether I needed to get up and run for my life when it stopped. Phew. The next morning we found out that there had indeed been an avalanche, and the inital crack of thunder was actually a 75 ton rock splitting away from Glacier Point, and then a debris avalanche created all the noise. It was pretty cool to have heard it!

Nicholas was a very good little camper! When we were striking the tent we put his bed outside, and he played and took a nap until we were done.



He actually was a better camper than Kate, who ended up with her head in her sleeping bag and her feet sticking out the end the first night, and woke up at 6am every morning and talked very very loudly until she woke everyone else up!

We didn't see any bears, which was disappointing because before we left I actually cleaned out the car for the first time in my life. If bears can smell food, they would have been able to smell my car, with all the crumbs and spills that I know are back there! We had to store all our food, toiletries, and car seats in the bear box over night to be safe. The kids were fascinated with the bear box, espcially Ellie. She took every opportunity she could to open it. And when it was empty, to get in it.



The whole trip was awesome. We are going to go back. I cannot wait.

Because I want some pictures at this spot, in front of El Capitan, Half Dome, Cathedral Peaks and Bridalveil Falls where everyone is actually looking at the camera.