We were up stupidly early to have brekki and then make the
45 mins or so drive to Curry Village in Yosemite National Park. Along the way
we saw: Yosemite Falls (upper and lower), Bridalveil Falls (walked to this to
take snaps), and also the massive El Capitan rock (people can often be seen
camping on this rock face in hammocks they secure to the rock – no thanks!)
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| El Capitan |
We then started the walk to the top of Nevada Falls which
was actually quite a hard walk on the way up although the stunning scenery we
were surrounded by more than made up for this complaint. Part way up we walked
up the mist trail which led us right alongside the impressive Vernal Falls though
we had all come prepared thanks to Damian’s advanced warning. The two of us
donned our ponchos and trotted all the way to the top of this section where we
were treated to more magnificent scenery. After a few photos we continued
upwards.
Much more walking later we arrived at the top of Vernal Falls where we all sat and relaxed and enjoyed the pretty incredible vistas from this point.
Much much more walking later and we reached the very top of
Nevada Falls and the peak of today’s hike. This is where we all opted to have
lunch and rest for quite a while. Damian continued back down as he had tour
leader stuff to do but the rest of us weren’t in any rush. The sights from up
here were by far some of the greatest on our travels and we could have quite
happily stayed here all day. Atop the falls we could see all down the valley
and along the Merced River, and also the humongous rock that was next to us,
almost too large to fit into a single photograph (we think it was the famous
Half Dome rock but it could have been Liberty Cap… either way it was a big ol’
rock.)
After lots of: photos, resting, sunbathing, eating etc we
all made our way back down to the village area. Needless to say the way down
was much quicker and easier than the way up, though it wa a longer route.
Corrie, Victoria and Stefano all got to see a rattlesnake which slithered its
way across the walking track on the way back down; Danny was gutted he’d missed
out on this!
Back at Curry Village it was free time for us all and
everyone went their separate ways to do what they liked. We found a couple of
rocking chairs on a landing outside a building that gave us free wi-fi and so
we were quite content to recover her for a couple of hours.
At about 16:00 we all met up again and Damian told us he
would go and order pizza for our tea tonight and so we could all go and get a
shower whilst we waited for them to be cooked; and so we did.
Back at camp Swiss Victoria (of slightly pyromaniac-like
tendencies) quickly sparked up a fire for us all and we played a couple of
cheesy camp games before we called it quits for the night. The walk had taken
its toll on us all but Corrie’s blister had fully blossomed by now regardless
of the plasters she’d donned for the hike earlier – not the best thing as this
trip is full of hikes!
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