Yosemite National Park...top of Upper Falls
We've been wanting to go to Yosemite since we are somewhat close, and we decided to combine Thanksgiving and our anniversary together into an adventurous trip! Jeremy and Ellia are showing how big they are next to the huge sequoia's (Biggest tree around Mallary and Greg, while the Redwoods are the biggest tree in height...so there's one argument you can end! JK)
We didn't realize until Jeremy left the picture that Ellia wasn't comparing her height, she just couldn't put her arms down in her big winter coat!
As typical of one of our vacations there was one pretty rainy day, the fog can really make things beautiful though!
Ouray, C0 2006
Zion National Park, 2oo4
Less beautiful was the fact that nearly everything (as far as food goes) was closed for the season.
On Thanksgiving day we decided to take a hike. (notice half dome in the distance)
Not long into it, Ellia was already done.
The sky was pretty clear and the further we went the better the views got.
A mile in we reached the point we thought we were going to turn around, but Ellia was being so good we decided to see if we could get a little closer view of the falls.
On the way we walked against a super steep cliff just as more fog was rolling in (I almost fell over backward trying to look up and take this picture...no, literally). It reminded me of the white cliffs of Dover from Princess Bride, and just as we passed it we realized we were out of site of the water fall, Ellia was awake, and we were still hiking. Although pretty exhausted, not at all acclimated, rationing one bottle of water and Ellia's cheerios, and figuring we would end up turning back any time, especially once Ellia started screaming . . .
We made it to the top! A 3.5 mile hike that had an elevation change of 2700 feet!! (7 miles round trip). I don't want to sound wussy but I it was the hardest hike I can remember doing, and Jeremy had Ellia on his back!
Of course, just as we summitted the fog really made a presence and we only had a few quick moments when the fog subsided enough to see the view from way up here (as a comparison I've included another picture of the falls from a distance)
On Thanksgiving day we decided to take a hike. (notice half dome in the distance)
Not long into it, Ellia was already done.
The sky was pretty clear and the further we went the better the views got.
A mile in we reached the point we thought we were going to turn around, but Ellia was being so good we decided to see if we could get a little closer view of the falls.
On the way we walked against a super steep cliff just as more fog was rolling in (I almost fell over backward trying to look up and take this picture...no, literally). It reminded me of the white cliffs of Dover from Princess Bride, and just as we passed it we realized we were out of site of the water fall, Ellia was awake, and we were still hiking. Although pretty exhausted, not at all acclimated, rationing one bottle of water and Ellia's cheerios, and figuring we would end up turning back any time, especially once Ellia started screaming . . .
We made it to the top! A 3.5 mile hike that had an elevation change of 2700 feet!! (7 miles round trip). I don't want to sound wussy but I it was the hardest hike I can remember doing, and Jeremy had Ellia on his back!
Of course, just as we summitted the fog really made a presence and we only had a few quick moments when the fog subsided enough to see the view from way up here (as a comparison I've included another picture of the falls from a distance)
To get a better view (which ironically involved hiking downward) we had to take this super safe path (I don't think John Muir would appreciate the handrail but we sure did!)
No worries mom and Laura, we took turns going down while the other held Ellia on safer ground. If you look closely in this picture you can see the water taking the spill over the cliff.
One last reminder of our STEEP climb. The whole thing took us around 6 hours I think.
After the hike we went for Thanksgiving dinner at Yosemite Lodge (not closed!) and I can honestly say I have never deserved more or worked harder for a Thanksgiving meal, so generally it would taste better than any thanksgiving dinner I've ever had!
No worries mom and Laura, we took turns going down while the other held Ellia on safer ground. If you look closely in this picture you can see the water taking the spill over the cliff.
One last reminder of our STEEP climb. The whole thing took us around 6 hours I think.After the hike we went for Thanksgiving dinner at Yosemite Lodge (not closed!) and I can honestly say I have never deserved more or worked harder for a Thanksgiving meal, so generally it would taste better than any thanksgiving dinner I've ever had!
The next best thing about exerting yourself is feeling worthy of sitting on your butt the rest of the night...good thing we had Ellia to show us how!
Here is our little cabin.
On our last day in Yosemite we drove to Hetch Hetchy dam. It was similar to Hoover dam in looks which I found very surprising.
If you look closely you can see the dam
We ate at Evergreen Lodge for lunch that day and though neither of us felt very hungry we wolfed down some amazing food! I would recommend the place to anyone, it was SO good!
Ellia even continued eating her first pickle despite some telling puckers!
Finally, as we were driving out of Yosemite we saw a sign for a craft fair so we drove off the road a ways to a one room elementary where we bought some delicious pumpkin pie and other one of a kind souvenirs.
In other news, BYU lost to Utah. I know, know, its old news. Anyway, we watched the game with some friends, Mike was the only Utah fan, he tried hard not to be too excited in front of us at the end.
Ellia, when Utah won.
Here is our little cabin.
On our last day in Yosemite we drove to Hetch Hetchy dam. It was similar to Hoover dam in looks which I found very surprising.
If you look closely you can see the dam
We ate at Evergreen Lodge for lunch that day and though neither of us felt very hungry we wolfed down some amazing food! I would recommend the place to anyone, it was SO good!
Ellia even continued eating her first pickle despite some telling puckers!
Finally, as we were driving out of Yosemite we saw a sign for a craft fair so we drove off the road a ways to a one room elementary where we bought some delicious pumpkin pie and other one of a kind souvenirs.
In other news, BYU lost to Utah. I know, know, its old news. Anyway, we watched the game with some friends, Mike was the only Utah fan, he tried hard not to be too excited in front of us at the end.Ellia, when Utah won.
