Let's hop in our DeLoreans and go back a bit—before I went to Petrified Forest, before Joshua Tree. I want to tell you about a specific trail at Yosemite. One I didn't mention in my original Yosemite post. I didn't want to come off as if I didn't wholly love Yosemite, because I did. But this was a park where I had to face one of my most severe and impractical fears. I'm sure a lot of people face their fears in the National Parks. But I feel like those fears are generally related to heights. My fear was (and is) bugs. I personally feel like I have made great strides with this fear, before I even set foot in Yosemite. I used to be so afraid of bugs that they took a serious toll on my relationship with mother nature. But, now it's mainly the buzzing, stinging bugs that still make me squeal. Yes, squeal. Or, in this case, actually scream. On our second day in Yosemite, we decided to hike a trail up to "Inspiration Point." It is actually a very long trail out and back, but it has various points along the way, and Inspiration Point is the first one. Our goal was to make it to that point, then head back. We weren't in for an incredibly long hike, because we still wanted to see other parts of the park that day. I don't even think we had made it half a mile into the trail before the bugs became a problem for me. A while into the trail I realized it was a specific kind of blooming bush that these particular bugs were attracted to. Any time I was near that bush I could hear the buzzing. They were swarming with bumble bees and other large, buzzing things that I couldn't identify. "Swarming" may be a slight exaggeration, but there were a lot. And these bugs weren't just going about their business, they were extremely territorial. I swear I was chased down by a bumble bee more than once. If it weren't me experiencing this fear, I would probably laugh at how silly it is. But in the moment, the fear is very real for me. Whenever I heard that buzzing too close to me, I would literally break into a run, with my big hiking backpack bouncing around on my back. It probably looked quite comical, but while it was happening, I really didn't care how I looked. My dad would try to warn me over my loud, unabashed sobs that if I ran, I could risk twisting my ankle on the very rocky and uneven trail, then I would really have nowhere to go. When we stopped for a water break (far away from any sort of bee bush), my dad looked up bumble bees on his phone in an attempt to calm me down. He was convinced that they didn't sting at all. Not only do they sting, but we found out that if they do sting, they will sting repeatedly. And that the males will chase you down, and generally use any sort of scare tactic to protect the females. I told you they were really chasing me! And that doesn't even speak to the threat of the bugs I couldn't identify. Clearly, that didn't set my mind at ease. The more we hiked, the more I thought, I've come this far; I can't give up now. I was determined to reach Inspiration Point, and when we did, I've got to admit: it wasn't worth it. People always seem to say that if you just face your fear head on, you won't be so scared anymore. But I think that trail made me even more afraid of bugs. I felt like I couldn't escape them the whole way up. And I still had to go all the way back down. Plus, this point didn't seem too inspirational. I can't speak to what the payoff is like at the very top of the trail, but I didn't even understand why this was considered a stopping point. There was a better view about a third of the way in. This was the view from the Inspiration Point: Can you see the tension in my face? I was not looking forward to the trip back down. And, honestly, after the hike up I'd had, I was thinking it had better be worth it. But there were trees blocking any kind of view. This was the view from what we later found out was "Old Inspiration Point" about a third of the way to Inspiration Point: Much more inspirational, don't you think? If we had stopped there, I would have saved myself a lot of energy. And I don't just mean from the running away. The actual anxiety of being surrounded by my fear left me physically exhausted. When I made it to the bottom of the trail (several minutes before the rest of my group, due to the running and screaming), I just walked over to Tunnel View and sat there staring at the park's beauty, thankful to be off that trail.
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Sequoia was a park that I was really looking forward to seeing on my trip to California. I was as excited about this park as I was about Yosemite. Something about trees that big just boggled my mind when I saw them in photos. I knew I wanted to see them in person, stand next to them, and be blown away by their size. So I did. We only stopped at a few different destinations in this park, because they were so captivating to me. I could have spent even more time at the places we did stop. And we didn't even see close to the whole park.
The Giant Forest is the real show. Yes, there is a whole park to explore, but I had too much fun in Giant Forest to explore much else. The trees are huge. I know I already said that, but it's hard to explain how big they are and feel like you're doing these giant sequoias any justice. There was a stop along the trail, that had an outline on the pavement that was a to-size replica of the base of General Sherman, but at the time I went, the path was so muddy I couldn't really see it that well. I can tell you, though, that probably at least twenty people could have stood in that circle. And had enough room to do a little dance, if they so desired. General Sherman is nearly 103 feet around at its base. And it was among its peers in this forest. I could rattle off facts about all the trees I saw in this forest in an attempt to impress you as much as these trees impressed me, but I think I would fail at that task. They're that impressive. I recommend going to this park yourself and standing next to one (or several) of these giants. Something about them just made me want to walk around this forest for hours. Hopefully these photos will make you want to go see them too. If you've ever been to Yosemite, then you know. If you haven't, I don't know how I can describe its beauty, but I will definitely try. Of course I had heard great things about Yosemite before I went, so I had some high expectations, and it did not let me down. I want to tell you about some of the highlights for me, and hopefully in the process I can paint as close to an accurate picture of the park as possible.
Bridalveil Fall I found that there were some pros and cons to going to Yosemite in April. One of the biggest pros is the waterfalls. Since the winter snow is melting, the waterfalls are spectacular. This particular trail was not too long (half a mile round trip) and, not only did it have a great payoff at the end, but you could see for nearly the whole walk the creek into which the fall was flowing.
Sentinal Beach This one was not even a priority for me. I hadn't seen it as a "must see" in any of my research, but this little picnic area made me stop and realize how beautiful this park really is. I know I have been raving about the beauty of the park for this whole post, and have probably used the word "beautiful" too many times, but I honestly don't think I really was able to take it all in until we stopped at Sentinal Beach for a break. During the days we spent in this park, we never stopped and ate lunch. We always had so much to do that we would just munch on snacks in the car whenever we got a little hungry. Not only is this probably not very healthy, but it never allowed me stop and absorb where I was. We were always on the move. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad we got to see all we got to see. I'm just so grateful that we at least took this one moment at Sentinal Beach to just sit down and hang out for a bit. I was just sitting in the grass looking up at the beautiful rock formations and realized how miraculous they really were. We definitely don't have anything like them in Missouri. Not only would I recommend a stop at Sentinal Beach, but I also recommend stopping at picnic areas like it every once in a while just to let your heart catch up to your mind, which, if it's anything like mine, was saying "go go go" the whole time. Lower Yosemite Fall ![]() This was one of the last stops we made during our time in Yosemite, and it definitely didn't disappoint. The trail to the lower falls is short and easy, and when you make it to the falls, they are misting and I felt like I was in wonderland. I guess I kind of felt like that a lot in this park though. There's just something extra special about waterfalls. They're captivating. Especially ones as large as Yosemite Fall. It's actually the tallest waterfall in North America. But you can't really see that until you get close to end of the loop and look back, which I definitely recommend. What we didn't do Glacier Point: Everything I read about Yosemite said you have to see Glacier Point. They said it's the best view in the park, and you don't even have to hike to see it. You just drive right up. But, I mentioned that there are cons to seeing the park in the spring, and this is probably the biggest one. The road to Glacier Point is closed for the winter. It was closed when we were there, so the only way to see it was a pretty long hike that we didn't have the time for. Half Dome hike: This hike is intense. Or, at least the pictures I saw online made it seem that way. It's the kind of hike I would have loved to do, even though you have to dedicate a whole day to it. However, this hike requires a permit. Not only that, but there is a lottery for those permits, so not everyone who wants one gets one. Even if I could have gotten one, which wasn't statistically in my favor, this trail was also closed for the season when we were there. Ultimately... you should just see this park. There is no way you can know how great it is unless you experience it. It's like the second you step out of your car you're somewhere else. You're in a beautiful outdoor palace where everyone is as entranced as you are. I've heard that some people are put off by the amount of people in Yosemite. Yes, there are a lot of people; it's one of the most visited National Parks in the country, but it felt to me like all the other people were as happy to be there as I was. There were good vibes coming from the crowds of people. The crowds that I was happy to be joining.
Okay, maybe not really lost, but I now have the experience to say, always bring your map. Always. We didn't really have too much of a plan when we went to Kings Canyon. I feel a bit like this park kind of falls in the shadow of Sequoia National Park. They're usually listed together as "Kings Canyon and Sequoia," even on the National Park Service's website. I didn't know until we had arrived at the park that a huge portion of it is pretty much inaccessible this time of year. There is a main road that is closed seasonally, so for us, the only way to reach it would have been an overnight hike which we did not have the time for, and may have been too snowy for what we packed for. So we were exploring a pretty small portion of Kings Canyon, open to the idea of heading in early to Sequoia if we had the time. We didn't. We went in knowing we had to see General Grant Tree, and after talking to a few people at Kings Canyon Visitor Center, we decided on hiking a relatively short trail that was close by, after we saw General Grant. We never made it to that trail. The actual trail that goes around General Grant is less than a mile and has wooden fences guiding the path and preventing people from stomping on General Grant's roots. How could we get lost in that, right? Well, like I mentioned, we weren't really lost. More like distracted... in a place we weren't familiar with... without a map. Since the trail around General Grant is so short and simple, we didn't even think of packing up like we would for a "real" hike. I pretty much just grabbed my backpack with whatever was already in it. Admittedly, I always keep certain standard items in there, like sunscreen, a first aid kit, a knife, etc., but unfortunately, our park maps were not included in those items. It didn't take very long of walking the path around the tree for us to start veering. We left the path to take some photos with fallen trees and some of the other giant sequoias that we were allowed to get close to. When I saw a green blaze nailed to a tree, my curiosity got the best of me. Since we knew the trail that we had intended to hike was close by, we thought maybe these were its blazes. Clearly, we weren't even thinking that through, because even if it was the right trail, we didn't know how far into it we were or which direction we were heading. Nevertheless, we kept following the green blazes. Every once in a while we would consider that we didn't know where we were even going, but we just kept naively thinking that if we just go a little farther, surely we'll make it to the end of the trail. We didn't. I've found out that hiking can often feel like gambling (which clearly I am an expert in, since I spent 10 minutes in a Las Vegas casino on the drive to California). What I mean is that when you are lost on a trail like we were, or even when you're just hiking a long trail that is out and back, rather than a loop, you find yourself weighing whether you should turn back. If you keep going, maybe it will only be a bit farther until the grand pay off at the end, but if it isn't, then you've dug yourself into an even deeper hole. That's how I was feeling on this trail. I knew the farther out we went, then the longer it would take to get back if we did decide to turn back later on. After following these blazes for about an hour and a half or so, we decided to cash out and head back. When we finally made it back to our car, we looked at the map and found out that we had definitely made the right decision to turn around. It would have been miles until we reached the end of the trail, which we found out was indeed not the trail we had planned on hiking, and if we had made it to the end, we would have had to walk several more miles down the road back to our car, which was still parked by General Grant. Since we spent so much time following the wrong trail, we never did get to hike our original plan. But I'd say we definitely got our adventure. ![]() Death Valley National Park is huge. It's actually the largest U.S. National Park south of Alaska. That being said, I had no idea what to tackle first on my short trip to this park. In my experience, Death Valley doesn't have these big ticket landmarks that everybody just knows you have to see, the way Yosemite, Yellowstone, and other nation parks might. Since it was the first park I saw on this trip (we ended up seeing six), I hadn't had the time to do a lot of research. So I want to take you through all the things I got the chance to do during my short time in Death Valley. Golden Canyon Trail: After taking a look out at Zabriskie Point, we stopped in Furnace Creek Visitor Center to read all the trail descriptions and talk to a ranger about what all he recommended we do on our timeline. Our first stop after that was the Golden Canyon trail. My interest in this hike pretty much came solely from the fact that it said "most popular hike in the park" in the trail description. This trail was hot. And I don't mean that in the figurative, Paris Hilton sense of the word. Even though the forecast predicted it would be a little bit cooler in the park that day, it ended up being about 97 degrees. In early April. Heat doesn't bother me too much, so I was fine, but I would definitely recommend doing this trail earlier in the morning than we did. Most of the trail runs between high walls of rock, which kind of intensify the sun. Or at least, that's how it felt. ![]() It was hot enough that half of my group turned back pretty early on to get my little nephew, Emmett, back in the air conditioning. But my mom and I continued on. The rocks were pretty cool, and you could see quite a distance in some places. I'm still not sure we ever made it to the end of the trail. There was never any sign, but we knew the trail was supposed to be three miles round trip (out and back), so when we reached about a mile and a half on my fitness watch, we threw in the towel and headed back. Maybe there was some grand payoff that we would have seen if we had only gone a little bit farther, but if there was, it required a bit too much climbing than we had the energy for. ![]() Salt Creek Interpretive Trail: This trail was beautiful! We were there as the sun was going down, so it wasn't too hot. The whole trail was only a half a mile loop, and it was on this wooden bridge type structure, so we could just stick Emmett in a stroller. It was a lot of beauty for not a lot of work. This grassy creek area seemed so out of place in the otherwise barren area, but it was a cool change of pace. ![]() Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes: We really lucked into a great experience when we made our way to the Sand Dunes. We coincidentally made it there right at sunset, which apparently is a prime time to see it. It was stunning. The shadows that the dunes create at sunset are so beautiful. This site is listed as a two mile hike, but when I arrived there, I saw no such trail. Not that it mattered to me one bit. People were walking and playing everywhere enjoying the view. Some people brought picnics. Some people brought sleds. There were so many people that you'd have to make a bit of a trek into the dunes to manage taking a photo without other people in the background. But by the end of the day, taking photos was really not that important to me. So you get to see all these lovely strangers in my photo! They really are lovely though. There's something about National Park people. They're so happy. There's always a great energy in crowded parts of National Parks. I'll probably touch more on that in my Yosemite post, but the many people at the Sand Dunes were no different. ![]() Mosaic Canyon: We wanted to squeeze in one more excursion before we lost daylight. Even though Mosaic Canyon is a four mile hike, the ranger had told us that you get to see a lot of this trail's beauty at the beginning. He was definitely right. We didn't make it very far into the trail at all, and we saw amazing marble formations with such colorful patterns. It was cool and smooth to touch, which I found out when I pretty much just stood there gawking at the walls. What I Wish I Did:
There was one trail that I was really curious to see, and that was Darwin Falls. The whole concept of a desert waterfall seems so contradictory to me, that I knew I wanted to hike this 2 mile trail. But when I mentioned that to the ranger at the Visitor Center, he was quick to inform me that there's no way to get there without a high clearance vehicle. Don't even try it. Boo! One other thing I wanted to do was see the Racetracks. Apparently, this is where some big rocks mysteriously slide across a otherwise empty desert surface, leaving a trail in the dirt behind them. I wanted to see this for two reasons. Reason 1: how the actual heck? Reason 2: that one episode of Spongebob where they were delivering a pizza and he said the pioneers used to ride these babies for miles. My Spongebob reasoning was not enough to make the two and half hour detour necessary to see this site. Plus, you may have to have a high clearance vehicle for this one too... Death Valley was cool. Definitely not literally, though. But it was only the first park I saw on this trip. Look for my posts on Yosemite, Sequoia, Kings Canyon, Joshua Tree, and Petrified Forest all in the next few weeks! |
About the blog.I started this blog in 2017 with the goal of seeing all the U.S. National Parks and writing about them. But as I kept writing and posting, I realized there's so much more I want to document in my life. So, the blog grew into something much broader and even more special to my heart. Archives.
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