Yosemite 2015 | Part II

Alright, I last left you on the edge of your seat, about to tell you about an experience in Yosemite that made it one of the best trips up there out of my 27 years of going there!…Well, the wait is now over…Part II, as promised:

Typically, my family likes to stay within the valley, and once we are there, it’s hard to get us to leave for the duration of our time in Yosemite. But, this trip we decided to venture out and take a drive after an early dinner one night up to a lookout called Taft Point. I had never been before, but apparently it was a hidden secret that my dad had been keeping from my sister and I, and recommended it to my sister’s friend, when he’d asked for ideas of things to do on a trip he’d made to Yosemite the year before. Sunset was the time to go, he had concluded, as it overlooked the northwestern part of the valley, making it ideal for watching the sun go down. We were game.

So we made our way up the windy road, the late afternoon sun streaming through the trees we passed by. We parked our cars on the side of the road when we got to the trail head, and hiked about a mile and a half through the most magical, most enchanted forest I’d ever seen. I get frustrated when I try and put this experience into words, as it will never paint the full picture/experience, but at least you can get a glimpse. It was covered in moss, and probably represented just about every shade of green imaginable. We were on a tight schedule, as we did have a sun to say goodnight to – so after about 5 minutes of walking, my sister and friends decided to run the rest of the trail. But I couldn’t get myself to do it (and miss the enchanting beauty that surrounded us?! At that point, “I’d rather miss the sunset,” I thought to myself).

So I let them run ahead, as I savored every moment I took in of the pines, red fir, and ferns all around me. I took notice of how completely silent it was, apart from a bird tweet or cricket chirp here and there. I drank in the crisp, woodsy air that surrounded me. I took my time taking pictures and even took a short video of the things I saw.

It was enchanting – there’s no other word I can think of. I made my way down the path and, as I broke through a thick patch of trees, I could see the sun going down behind a mountain, and I began to panic – “No!” I thought, “Don’t go! I was wrong – I really do want to say goodnight to you, sun!” So I booked it down the path I was on, the sun going further and further down behind the mountain…until the path took me back up! And then there the sun appeared again! I made it! I could see my friends and sister taking pictures and admiring the view.

As I got closer to them, I could see what they could see – one of the most magnificent views I’ve ever seen – down below us was hundreds (thousands? I’ve never been good at estimating distance…) of feet between us and the valley floor; we could see the Merced River as it said its own goodbye to the valley, flowing and rushing along; we could see both Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls with a peachy-colored family of clouds hovering off in the distance above them, the sun going down behind the mountains next to them, illuminating the sky and the trees around us. It. Was. Breathtaking. The sun was gone, but the stars came out to play and show off for us – and gosh, did they! I can’t decide which I liked better – being up there as the sun was setting, or as the stars were twinkling! But it all added up to an evening I will never forget, and made this trip to my beloved Yosemite one that will go down in my book as one of the best ones yet.

Yosemite has my heart, and always will. I could talk for ages about it, and will I’m sure bring it up again in the future. But for now, I will go to bed tonight dreaming of this experience and the magic that still seems to seep from my memories of it.