May 19th

This morning we woke up after a great night’s sleep with our eyes towards Highway 1 and San Francisco. The four of us (Stu, Chris, Carol, Laura) piled into the suburban and left Rita behind us. As we got underway on the 1, I began to understand why that road is so famous. The drive was simply stunning. We were beside the Pacific for about an hour and a half, winding over coastal cliffs and passing many strawberry farms situated right on the coast. The sun was shining and our music was blasting – it was lovely.
Entering San Francisco city limits at around 1:00, we headed straight for the Fisherman’s Wharf near pier 39. We found convenient all-day parking and walked to the center of activity there. We watched the seals for a good while and also observed Alcatraz for a fair bit. We made up good stories about escaped convicts and reminisced about “The Rock” and Sean Connery. The wharf itself was extremely touristy and packed with people, but obviously still entertaining. A lunch of fresh sourdough bread sandwiches from Boudin Bread Works hit the spot and prepared us for a bus ride to Haight-Ashbury – the district known for the summer of love, countless drum circles, and, of course, as the epicenter of the counterculture movement. The streets were vibrant and bustling with interesting characters. We walked into numerous Nepalese gift stores, trendy westernized Buddhist-themed stores, and even a pretty upscale tattoo parlor so that carol could get her nose stud replaced with a ring. Our San Francisco experience left little to be desired: The Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, the wharf, downtown, good food, and a little hippie culture all added to a great day. At this point it was about 7:00, so we decided to drive home and get some picnic supplies for the way home. Our plan was to sit on the beach along the 1 and watch the sunset. After was got said supplies we drove until about 8, at which point we found the perfect beach to stop at. We walked down a trail to the water and made both a great fire and some great sandwiches to accompany our view of surfers, sizeable waves, pristine California beaches, and an orange sun slowly falling into the horizon. We stayed at the beach until the stars were bright in the sky, and finally decided to head on home after a magical day. We made one stop along the way to sit on top of the car and look at the stars, which were numerous and sparkling.
When we got to the house, I realized that my wallet was nowhere to be found. I looked everywhere including Rita, but had no luck. Carol offered to drive back up the 1 to look for it. Both of us knew that the chances of finding it were slim, but we decided to try anyway. Sure enough, 20 minutes later we found the thing on the side of the road right by where we had stopped to look at the stars. I consider myself extremely lucky to have found it, especially since my driver’s license is in it… and I am on a driving trip…
The day was splendid by all accounts, and we look forward to getting to Yosemite tomorrow.

May 20th

Today was once again a lesson in the diversity of California geography. We headed north from Santa Cruz and immediately ran into three hitchhiking kids going to San Jose. Since we would be passing through there on the way to Yosemite we decided it would be interesting to pick them up. They were all either 19 or 20, and had been on the road for about 5 months. There was one girl accompanied by two equally tanned and worn looking boys. They carried two guitars and their backpacks that seemed to hold only basic bedding supplies and limited clothes. They told us that they were from Wisconsin, and that they had either gotten kicked out of their house or had dropped out of school. It is funny to me that we all shared a ride up to San Jose after living such different pasts – the world works in funny ways sometimes.
We let them off in the middle of San Jose and were on our way. Before entering the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, we drove for a while through some heavy agriculture land. There were fields and fields of fruit trees and bushes extending for miles all around, and the scent in the air was that of citrus fruit. We stopped and picked up some pomelos and a large watermelon for dinner that night. The drive up into the areas surrounding the park itself was filled with stunning views and terrifying cliffs on the side of the winding mountain roads. Carol got us to the campsite safely (though after hours), and we chose a campsite in between two massive RVs that made Rita look miniscule. The day was a success, and we went to bed with hiking on our minds.

May 21st

We woke up much later than we thought, and got to the Yosemite Valley visitor center at around 1:00. Much of this tardiness can be attributed to the campsite management who required us to change campsites, and who also gave us some serious attitude when we tried to ask directions to Sequoia for tomorrow. We finally got in the car to head to the valley, and when we got there we asked the information guy what a good hike would be. He enthusiastically recommended one up to a viewpoint overlooking the valley and Upper Yosemite Falls. The hike started with a 1000-foot ascent in one mile. The switchbacks were outrageous, and we could only gasp at the view when we turned around to face the inside of the valley. After about 1:30 of hiking we arrived at our destination, which was a beautiful view of the famous waterfall. At this time of year it reaches peak flow and so it sprays a generous amount of water onto the trails in the surrounding area. That mist was an excellent source of rejuvenation for the steep hike back down to the visitor center. We got back to the center and decided against another hike that would have taken another two and a half hours at least. We decided instead to make our way up to Glacier Point, a famous view of the main valley and most of the surrounding landscape from one of the highest points in the area. The drive was great, and the view was even better. From Glacier point we could see several gushing waterfalls, all of the peaks in the valley, and the entire NFS complex. It really put the size of the park into perspective. We headed back home for some birthday celebration and general festivities until early in the morning.