I love nature or outdoorsy activities. Thanks to my stint as a girl scout back in high school, I was able to appreciate the beauty of nature when my group hiked Mt. Makiling during a summer camp; and once again at a medical-dental mission that had us hiking through the mountains to find that elusive waterfall. Those hiking trips were maybe half a mile long and it was exhilarating and very intimate because it’s just me and the nature.

Two years ago, I joined a hiking group in our community. We went to Big Basin Creek at Half Moon Bay. It was more than 10 miles hike. That experience ruined my love for hiking. It was long, the pace was hard, and I wasn’t wearing proper hiking shoes. My feet just died. So for the next year or so, I didn’t join any of their hiking trip. Then came my Yosemite trip which hiking was part of the itinerary. Even though the Mist Trail was 3 miles long, the elevation was so ridiculous! It was uphill all the way and I was left trailing behind my group for  good 45 minutes before I could catch up with them.

I decided that next time I went hiking, I have to research the trip properly before I dive into the activity. First, I went and bought me a pair of proper hiking shoes. It served me well in Yosemite. Second, I made sure the distance of the hike, elevation of the area, and the weather for that day before I join the trip. A week ago, I decided to join that same hiking group to a hiking trip at Nisene Marks Park at Aptos. According to the details of the trip, it was 6 miles long with slight elevation. Great! My kind of hike!

Hiking is a good exercise for me. I’ve recently noticed that I’m gaining weight and I’m having a problem losing them. I decided to take up tennis and hiking. I just need to have an outlet for health. Going on a hike also allows me to travel beyond my community. I don’t go out much so this is a good way of seeing places. I like the group that I hiked with. They were all above 40 years old and the hike leader Tom was probably 60y/o. Nonetheless, they were really good hikers. They kept a good pace and they seem not to be panting whereas I was ready to call it quits.

Hiking trails are picturesque. For my recent trip, it was  all redwood trees, redwood trees, and redwood trees. I would have loved to see animals but the only animal I saw was a banana slug. I brought my Vivitar camera with me to take pictures. I would not be surprised if the prints come out greenish! In addition to, that much close to trees reenergized my brain and body. I think I have breathed all the oxygen I needed for the next two weeks.  

The group’s next hike would be at Point Reyes which was 13 miles. I’m going to sit that one out. After the 7-mile hike my feet were tired, my muscles were sore and if not for my weekly tennis workout, I wouldn’t have been able to move properly for the next three days. Even though there’s only a short uphill trail,  my legs were screaming. However thanks to my group who weren’t as fast as younger people, I was able to catch up with them.

Hopefully my endurance will continue to grow and I can participate in longer hikes. But for now, I’d rather have fun hiking.

Related posts:

1. I hate dental injections!
2. I love our Prius
3. A weekend at Yosemite part 1

Day 2 of Yosemite adventure, we headed to Yosemite Park to hike. Yosemite Park is a 1200 miles of preserved park with innumerable lakes, meadows, forests and granite summits with endless unspoiled alpine scenery. From Midpines we travelled 10 miles to the entrance of the park. There’s an entry fee for visitors and the validity is good for days.

As I’ve mentioned, it is advisable to bring a car with you because it helps with going from one attraction site to another. I’ve seen coach buses, RVs, and big vans inside the park. The RVs have their own parking space to rent so that family can set up camp. There are camping grounds with public bathrooms for those who are camping.  Roads are well kept and paths to hikes are preserved. Cars are required to park a distance away from the trails to maintain the area.

When we entered the gate, we were given a map to navigate around the area. Due to time constraints, we were able to quickly explore the west side of the park. Here are quick top sites to see inside the park:

The weather was not cooperating when we hiked up that day. It was dreary, overcast, and there was light rain. I didn’t bring anything to protect myself from the rain so this was lesson learned. It is important to check the weather first before going to hike and gear up appropriately.

We drove first to Tunnel View. It was a vista point with a spectacular view of the El Capitan, Sentinel Rock, and Bridalveil Falls. Oh to have a dslr camera at this point. But it wasn’t a good camera day because of the heavy fog. Still it was breathtaking. 

After a few Kodak moments, we headed down to Bridalveil falls which you can on the right side of the picture above. It was a short hike to that falls but expect to get wet and freezing. My friends went to get an upclose shot of the falls but I refrained because I was wearing cotton, I didn’t want to freeze to death. From the parking space, we already got a glimpse of the falls.When we got to our next destination, which is the mist trail to the Vernal falls, there was a steady light rain. I almost sit out that trek because I didn’t want to get soaked. Fortunately, my friend had a spare rain poncho though was big for me (I looked like a yellow ghost), protected me from the rain. The mist trail was a 3 mile round trip hike with a 1000ft elevation gain to the Vernal fall. It featured a hike which starts at Happy Isles, then a climb at Mist Trail beside the beautiful Merced River to Vernal Fall, which has a 330 foot drop.

We almost spent 2 hours in this hike mostly because of me. I was really slow. My friends were in better shape than me. So I was most of the time on my own trailing way behind them, which was good because I was able to rest and enjoy the scenery. I caught up with them twice…once at the bottom of vernal falls and next near the top of Vernal falls.

Finally we reached up the summit…errr 50 ft away from the summit. I could have gone up more but decided not to because the trail up above is steeper and there was no handrail. I’m just happy that I reached the “top”. I was surprised that on my way to the summit, I saw an old man with a cane assisted by his family coming down from the top. If he could do it, then I better can do it too!

We went down after taking some pictures and ate our lunch pack in the middle of the trail beside the gushing river. It was cold but exhilarating. The hike back is better for me since it’s downhill. No more trekking uphill.  We went trailed back to the parking lot, tired, soaking wet but satisfied.

That ended my Yosemite weekend. If you’re into photography and you have your own car, it’s nice to stop in the middle of the road to take pictures. The beautiful plains before entering mariposa is a nice and picturesque view too for a kodak moment.

To learn more about Yosemite Park, click here. 

Related posts:

1. A weekend at Yosemite part 1
2. A weekend at Yosemite part 2
3. My love-hate relationship with hiking