So You're a Camper Now?

Up until this year, I have really never been into camping.  I had been on too many youth group trips as a youth myself and as a youth group leader to know that sleeping on the ground for one night or more was a recipe for misery.  And what about all of those bugs out in the wilderness--not to mention snakes and whatever other wildlife I might encounter?!  Let's not forget the idea of not showering or likely showering with cold water for the weekend.  Worrying about these things did not exactly add up to my idea of a fun or relaxing weekend.

In 2012 -- year of the dragon--unexpected things are meant to occur.  Of all the unexpected things to happen in my life this year, becoming someone who enjoys camping might be pretty close to the top of the list.  I went from camping zero times before 2011 to camping twice last summer and four times this year!  So, what's been the big change?

Well, "sun of my life" is probably the biggest reason I have come to enjoy camping.  I don't feel embarrassed around him for my lack of camping know-how like I do with other people, and he and I seem to pretty much always like doing the same things when outdoors and have the same expectations for food and comfort stuff too.  Now that we are hip to bringing an air mattress to sleep on, I'm actually enjoying most aspects of camping and not just doing it to challenge myself to get out of my comfort zone.

This weekend we went to Yosemite National Park as a relaxing, adventurous weekend away to mark the end of the summer language program on Friday and the beginning of the school year at UCSC this week.  It was a stunning place!  We arrived Friday evening and set up our campsite at Wawona campground on the south side of the park.  Saturday, we went up to Yosemite Valley and hiked up to Vernal Falls since Yosemite Falls (upper and lower) are dry at this time of year.  It was a pretty strenuous 1.8 mile hike because it was basically completely vertical.  To give you a sense of how steep it was, it took us about an hour and a half to climb up and only half an hour to get back down.  Here are a couple of pictures from that hike:

We also went to Glacier Point and got an amazing view of Half Dome and the falls (Vernal Falls is at the bottom right corner of the picture):

Today (Sunday), we spent a few hours in Mariposa Grove, home of the giant sequoias.  And seriously, these sequoias demand your attention and contemplation as some of the oldest living organisms on the planet.  The "Grizzly Giant" is the largest in the park and is 100 feet around at the base...amazing!  I also loved the "Faithful Couple" tree, which is so named because these were two separate trees that grew together.  Sequoias share roots systems and help each to nourish each other, which is why they can survive in such close proximity to one another. 

 (Grizzly Giant)

(Faithful Couple)

I never would have thought of camping as a relaxing getaway before the official start of my new life as a PhD student, but it was really exactly what I needed!