Mirror Lake, Yosemite, CA
I flew the T-Bird coop on Thursday morning for an interview and stayed in California to spend Easter weekend. It was so refreshing to be out the Glendale bubble and spend some time with friends and family in Yosemite.
Growing up in CA, we spent many summers camping with friends in Yosemite National Park, hiking, riding bikes and hanging out near the rivers and lakes. The trails are long and lush, very few loops, mostly point t0 point, walking through water falls and and enormous boulders. After wandering through the dry trails in Phoenix, it was nice to be enclosed in the shade of the forest. Yosemite is famous for many things, but mostly El Capitan and Half Dome. Ansel Adams spent several years and became increasingly famous for his photos of the landscapes, like Mirror Lake, in the Yosemite Valley.
We took far more moderate hikes this trip but during our last week-long visit we hiked the 16 mile hike up Half Dome. Half Dome trail typically doesn’t open until late May, early June, once the snow melts and only stays open until October. It is a treacherous hike once you reach the sub dome and requires the use of cables to ascend to the top. A permit is required to reserve your hike and it typically takes 10-12 hours round trip to complete. Yosemite is one of my favorite places and a sanctuary of natural beauty. Though it can be swarming with tourists in the summer, I put it on the “Must See” list for any T-Birds that can get to California before graduation.