Yosemite

Audrey at the fallen tree - those are the roots

On our way to the clothespin tree

At our cabin - #944

El Capitan

View from the tunnel

Parched children

Tired mom

Exploring a small cave

On our way to Vernal Falls

The stairs of death under Vernal Falls

Vernal Falls

At the top of Vernal Falls

At the top of Vernal Falls

From high up John Muir trail

Buffet dinner after 6 hours of hking

Picnic lunch at Cathedral Beach

Dad is always entertaining

Cheese!

Our sweet little wood sprite

Cathedral Beach

View from the beach

We need one of these at home

Audrey's super balancing act

Melissa swimming with the current

Daddy and Claire check out the current

Pizza dinner - had to fight off the squirrels

Playing around the outdoor stage

Claire's best jump

Audrey's graceful leap

Lounging in the Awahnee

Half Dome

Packing up

We went to Yosemite this summer. All the words and phrases I can think of to describe the landscape there have already been used to death: majestic, soaring, awe-inspiring. And they are all true. Having seen it for myself I still cannot quite grasp the scale of the trees and rocks and mountains.

We spent the night in Fresno so we could get an early start. Saturday we reached the Sequoia National Forest by lunch and we walked through all the giant trees. We were completely dumbfounded by their size. There were signs nearby that said "This tree is bigger than a..." and I would try to imagine my car sitting next to it looking like a toy. 

Then we headed toward Yosemite and were greeted by the biggest beetle ever. It flew in the window and landed on Audrey's car seat. She started yelling and jumped into Claire's lap. I turned around and saw the thing and screamed a little, then Mark. We made him swat it out of the car - he wanted me to do it but there was no way.

Sunday morning we set off to Vernal Falls. I think our plan was to just get to the bottom of the falls, but we continued up the Mist Trail to the top. It was gorgeous up there - lots of people swimming and then getting yelled at by the rangers. So we just waded a little by the edge. After we cooled off and ate our lunch we followed some other hikers to a route that was supposed to be less treacherous than the steep stairs on the way up. It was less treacherous, but took us up another 400 feet and added an hour to our hike. Start to finish we hiked from 6 hours. Our kids did great, but we kicked ourselves pretty hard for pushing them so far. I have to blame myself a bit. I had sprained my ankle July 3 and did not want to disappoint Mark with my gimpy-ness, so I  just kept going when I should have stopped. Once we were at the top of the falls all we could do was get down one way or another. He was worried about the stairs for all our sakes, especially mine and Claire's, so we took the John Muir trail. The geography was amazing - I am glad we got to experience it - and even more glad we were safe at the end of the day.

Monday was a breeze after that hike. We toured the various shops and galleries in the village and then went to Cathedral Beach. It was the perfect spot to spend the day - a sandy, rocky beach, fallen logs every where, cool water running by and gigantic mountains above. I was in heaven. Running water and the sound of wind in the pine trees are two of my favorite sounds. We ate our lunch and played in the water and stayed 4 or 5 hours.

That night we had pizza and ice cream and my ankle gave up so Mark took the girls out to see the starry skies. The next morning we packed up and toured the Awahnee ($400 per night, FYI) and walked to Yosemite Falls. But we were all pretty tired of walking so we were ready to head home.

Throughout our stay I was, as usual, much occupied with the needs of my girls. Their desire for snacks and sweets never abates and my desire that they should not fall off a cliff is also unceasing. There were quite a few moments during each day when I had to remind myself to look up and take in the beauty of the geography around me.

What I say after every trip I take with my family is that it was wonderful and horrible at the same time. I love going on vacation and then I love coming home. Claire said it, too, in her way, during the first mile of our hike to the top of Vernal Falls: “This is fun, but wouldn’t it be more fun if we could just turn around right here?”

When we returned, the rushing  river sound came with us, trapped in my right ear. Either the altitude or some kind of virus, my ENT said. I thought I might go a little insane. After a round of steroids, the noise went away, but the vertigo began and that is how I spent the rest of July - dizzy.

I was terrified to go to Yosemite -  the bear thing seemed a bit too close for comfort. Little did we know a smaller animal was much more dangerous. We didn't meet any bears, but I had a 2 am rendez-vous with a small deer mouse that could have been carrying Hantavirus. Our 900-block "signature tent cabin" was one of the first shut down when the spread of the virus became known. But we are 7 weeks from our trip and no one has gotten sick so far. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the virus incubates for 6 weeks, so we should be good. It was a memorable trip, to say the least.