Camping Yosemite Day One
We got in at Upper Pines Campground just minutes after leaving Curry Village. We found our campsite (#4) with ease and I began unloading what I had only minutes before packed up. Alysa put Rem in his stroller and entertained him while I set up our tent.
Once camp was set Lys and I loaded the boy back in the car and made our way back towards the central of the Valley Floor to take in the sites. We made a day of it. It wasn't a hard way to spend the day. It was the week before several of the other park locations opened up for the season so we stayed in the valley.
We decided to try for an easy-ish stroll and made our way over to Bridal Veil Falls. It'd been over ten years since I was last in Yosemite. I forgot certain things. I didn't forget the focal points of the destinations, but I did forget the "lesser" details. I will always remember the falls, but I will now remember the light jaunt up to the viewing spot. With an aching back, two aching knees and two aching ankles on the fritz the light 1/4 mile walk was made a little more difficult. Especially when pushing a thirty pound kid in a twenty-five pound stroller up a slope. Even still the waterfall was amazing and Rem enjoyed himself too. He didn't really care about the waterfall though... His eyes were locked on the dogs people had brought along.
On the way back we enjoyed more views of the high rocky walls of the valley and the old chapel the front doors of which open up to an amazing view of Yosemite Falls. I enjoy and love our church family back home in Riverside, but I wouldn't mind our church's front doors opening up to that view.
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| View from the chapel's front steps |
Once we got back to camp we set Rem's pack n' play up and let him play around for a bit. Once he was bored of his confinement I put him up on my shoulders and walked over to the river. Rem and I walked up a good ways and found a nice spot with a little beach. I decided this would be a good spot for us to come back to the next day. I walked back to camp feeling completely blessed to have gotten to do so much with my wife and son. Usually I feel so beat at the end of the day... and that is with a very limited amount of physical activity. When I am more physical I am often in a very uncomfortable state in the evenings. Today, however, was one of the first days in quite a while where I was able to be active with out suffering through consequences. Praise God!
The day ended back at camp where we enjoyed some black bean chili and a warm fire before turning in for the night. The Temps in the day were in the mid to high fifties, but after the sun
set the temperatures dropped well into the thirties. We tucked the
little guy in with several blankets and then did the same for ourselves
not long after. When we had arrived earlier in the day there was pretty much no one at the campground and it was very quiet. At night the campground came alive with conversation, laughter and distant music. I usually prefer solitude and silence when camping, but it was nice to hear other people and know that we all had a good day experiencing creation.
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