Yosemite was awesome!

The weather was clear, the snow was abundant, and the company was great. I went up there with representatives from each of my three main sources of friendship at Cal; BUSSA, studio, and the dorms. The five of us, Mike, Lezlie, Allison, and Kay had a really nice time together.

We spent most of Friday afternoon on the road, until we got to Mariposa up in the Sierra Foothills. We stayed at the same hotel that I stayed at with Matt, Kim, Martin, Chris, and Gaby a few years back. Mariposa is a typical little Sierra town, with a population that looks to have come straight out of a 'red state.' Friendly place though, and we had dinner at the local hangout, a pizza parlor downtown. Told ghost stories back at the hotel parking lot, while we made Smores.

We woke up bright and early yesterday morning, drove to Yosemite Valley, and spent most of the day hiking and exploring. I can't believe how many activities we packed into one day. The friendly rangers at the visitor center gave us a couple great trails to take.

I've never really hiked in Yosemite, just explored and saw the things that were only a 5-10 minute walk from the car. After one easy hike, we decided to go on one pretty tough (and very rewarding) hike from the bottom of the valley to the base of Upper Yosemite Falls. The scenery was jaw dropping. It was so exhilarating to look down at the valley, almost 1000 feet below, and know that our own legs had carried us up that high.

All five of us got up to our destination, Columbia Rock, but the ranger told us that half a mile further was a great view of Upper Yosemite Falls. We were all pretty tired by then, and weren't sure how strenuous the next stretch would be. (It sure looked tough, with a steep accent up a snow covered cliff) Kay and Lezlie decided to chill at the rock but Allison, Mike, and I decided to give it a shot. Ends up the hike wasn't that bad, and we were rewarded with even more stunning views.

We decided to stay in the valley till the evening, so that we could ice skate under the stars in Curry Village. While we waited, we went to the Curry Village Lodge, a real down-home place in the middle of the camp ground. Worked on a puzzle near the fire, where an old man was telling stories about John Muir. Capped off the day at the skating rink for about an hour. Drove back to the hotel very tired, but very, very, happy.

This trip reaffirmed a belief I've held since the last time I spent a very similar short trip up there; Yosemite in the winter time is my favorite place in the world.