going camping

This Labor Day weekend I am going camping. For the first time, well almost ever. I had a couple of school camping trips in 6th / 7th grade.. but I don't know, I was young, we had teachers and parents there and we usually had the area for our class. Oh, unless you count the times I set up the tent in my backyard and slept in the summer? No, okay then I haven't really been camping before.

It kind of started not that long ago, I mentioned to Brett that I would maybe one day want to go camping. Then we realized we had a three day weekend coming up and before you knew it Brett had bought a huge tent on ebay. So with a tent on its way, everything else just kind of fell into place. There are tons of lakes and coastal camping spots here in California so we are really lucky. We were planning on a two night camping trip, arrive on Saturday and head back on Monday. However, with the holiday weekend a lot of the places had a three night minimum. So, here I am, my first ever trip camping and we are going for three nights. {what was I thinking!} Once the tent arrived and we did a practice run setting it all up and making sure everything worked, I am extremely excited to get out there and become one with nature, or something like that. This tent is huge, it is about 7 or 8 feet tall, says it sleeps 6 and attaches to the back of your SUV so you can easily go from tent to car.

While I am a little bit of a rookie to the camping aspect, I have done my fair share of traveling abroad and taking quick spur of the moment trips and even my latest outdoor activity which you may remember, hiking in Yosemite, I had a few series of blog posts about the experiences and a few pictures of things I packed. {1,2,3} I thought I would share a list with you of some of my "camping essentials." I'm not talking about the basics here, I think we all know you need a tent, sleeping bag, padding, pillows etc. This list is more a girl friendly version of things you may need to keep you sane without our usual daily rituals; running hot water, a proper shower, sink with mirror.

1. Paul Mitchell, awapuhi moisture mist - This stuff is amazing! Use it for your skin & hair to freshen up. I literally spray it everywhere and rub it in a little and it dries in seconds.

2. Fresh Wipes - Seriously any kind of baby wipe or clean wipe. Use it if you've been hiking and get sweaty; it cools you down, soothes your skin, and makes you feel fresh again.

3. First Aid Kit - Always important! I actually usually buy a couple and then combine them and make my own. Always have band aids, insect sting relief, ibuprofen, hand sanitizer, gauze pads, sticky tape, and of course tide-to-go!

4. Platypus Hydration Pack - I personally like these better than the Camel Pack's, they are cheaper for one and I like that it's clear and you can put it in any backpack. But obviously bringing enough water is key.

5. Deodorant - Everyone knows to bring this but I actually prefer the men's kind. Something about the ARCTIC scent somehow does it better than 'cucumber' or 'baby powder.'

6. A Book - I think bringing an actual book instead of reading on your kindle / ipad seems more camping like and it is something relaxing to do by your tent or lake.

7. Bug Spray - Another probably obvious one, but I seriously do not like bugs, spiders, snakes, none of it so I bought the most intense looking bug spray I could find, it's almost 100% deet {I think that's good?} anyway it smells terrible but I do not want to be covered in bumps.

8. Vaseline - I actually love this stuff for my lips as chapstick, but if you also get a small cut or burn or dry skin it comes in handy as it has a lot of uses.

9. Makeup Essentials - Lets be serious we don't need a lot here, so I always have my foundation with spf, a little mascara, a black pencil eyeliner, a compact and some blotting sheets to take away any oil and dirt from the day.

10. Dry shampoo - This is a must for every time I travel, the actual one I use is from the UK and I have to stock up when I go over there but I've heard this brand is also a good one too. Just give it a quick spray in your roots & crown of your head, use your fingers and run through it, then brush it out. Don't you look beautiful!

11. TP to go - You never know what those "bathrooms" or Port-a-Potty's will look like, honestly maybe just hiding behind a bush for a quick tinkle with some TP is a cleaner option.

12. Flashlight - And lots of them! Sometimes it's hard to remember just how dark it is with no house or city lights around. Go for an LED one too, they are brighter & will last longer.

13 / 14. A good hat / headscarf - I have one of each and as you probably saw I wore them all the time on my recent trip to the Greek Islands. Sometimes you can't control the humidity or wind or whatever, so put your hair in a quick braid, throw the hat on and ta-da!

I really hope all of these will be helpful for any of your upcoming trips / travels. It took me awhile to get this routine down but I would love to hear your comments and suggestions on things you can't leave home without in the comment section below!

X x

the-15-mile-10-hour-hike-of-a-lifetime

I was having some difficulty trying to figure out how to write this post, because no words I can come up with or picture I have to share will do this trail justice - it was that amazing. Nevertheless I am going to try my best and have decided to turn this post into some what of a "how to" and help anyone else who wants to do this be just as prepared as we were.

The trail we did was called Panorama Trail - don't let the name fool you though, it was a very intense, long trail, climbing up and down a few sets of mountains. Usually you can take a shuttle to the top of Glacier Point and start the trail from there, but I guess Yosemite is not currently providing the service so we hiked up to the top of Glacier Point and then went from there to Panorama Trail which takes you all the way back down to the valley floor.

From start to finish it took us a little over 10 hours, we tried to leave a bit earlier but by the time we parked & even got to the start of the hike it was 9am. The trail up to Glacier Point is called 4 mile trail {also deceiving because it's actually 4.8 miles} which is alternating uphill switchbacks to climb up the mountain. That was pretty hard going and it took us about 3 hours, we made really great time. We stopped once to have a couple snacks to give us energy to finish the uphill to Glacier Point. Once we arrived there we had such a feeling of great accomplishment just looking out at the breathtaking views. There is actually a general store with food and snacks as well as restrooms which we did not know about but were very relieved to find that out. They also had a water fountain so we could fill up our Camel Pack's.

Once we had a nice long break, filled up on food & used the restroom it was time to start Panorama Trail. The first few miles are all downhill and the trail changes as it feels more like a desert with the sun beating down on you. Once you get lower down the mountain there are more trees covering you and it feels more like a forest. Then the first waterfall you see is called Illilouette Falls, it is nice but there are still two more impressive waterfalls coming :)

Before you know it, you are at the bottom between two sets of mountains where there are rapids flowing very aggressively. We could not believe we had come all the way down after being so high up at Glacier Point. Once you cross the river though, the tough part starts again and it is back to uphill climbing. This time it was a little bit tougher because we had already been on the trail for 5 or 6 hours and were getting a bit tired, not to mention it was the middle of the afternoon and the sun was pretty strong. We took this next uphill part pretty slow with a few little breaks every now and then in the shade to catch our breath. There was a great parting between the trees where you can see the back of Half Dome which quickly reminds you just how high you have climbed, again. 

Not too much further and you come to the top of Nevada Falls, which I think is the biggest waterfall. With all the snow still melting Nevada Falls was in full force with its loud crashing water falling down. It was just breathtaking and you could really feel the energy and power that the water had. We took a little break here and sat on the rocks because out of nowhere this horrible blister on my heel decided it didn't want me to walk anymore. We also had some more snacks to refuel for the hike down via the Mist Trail. This takes you along side Nevada Falls, brings you to the top of Vernal Falls and then really along side Vernal falls with lots of, you guessed it.. mist! The "steps" were very tricky and basically just rocks scattered, you really need to watch every step you take. Going down is actually extremely tricky because you are using different muscles than ones you normally use on a day to day basis and you need to have good solid balance as you climb down. Coming down the Mist Trail was definitely worth every one of those steps because when you are beside Vernal Falls and all you can hear is the roar of the water and the mist on your face, there really is nothing better.

At the bottom of the stairs, I turned back up to look and all I could think was, We did it! We did it! Wow I can't believe we did all that! In a way I was so relieved to be back at the bottom and know there was just about one mile to go of just wide open road and pavement and then I could sit down, relax and take off these clothes. I can tell you this though, I had no idea what I had done all day. I didn't believe that I went all the way up those mountains, and down.. and then back up again. Was I dreaming, did this happen? Brett tried to point out where we were during the day & all I could say was No, no way - we weren't up there, are you crazy?

And just like that, there is my summary and experience with probably the second best hike in the park {I think first being Half Dome} One thing to keep in mind is the valley floor is about 3,000ft in elevation already and when you are at the top of Glacier Point it gets up to about 8,000ft - I believe that is important for anyone to know who wants to go into this. Also here is a list of things we brought with us that I would advise anyone else to do the same. I hope you enjoyed this experience I shared & I would love to hear if you did this hike or anything similar & what your experience was like!

Necessary Items:

• 2-3 liters of water {seriously!}
• lots of quality food & snacks
• energy blocks or liquid goo
• quality hiking shoes & socks
• first aid kit {band aids, ibuprofen, gauze - the usual, just in case}
• sunscreen
• hand sanitizer
• bug spray {look for one with deet}
• mole skin {i actually left this back in our cabin & really regretted it}
• light weight & comfy clothes
• a camera!
• a sense of wonder and adventure

 

 

X x

Yosemite National Park

Well here they are, here are some of the amazing scenic shots that I got this past Memorial Day weekend in Yosemite National Park. When I first uploaded all the pictures from my different cameras, I had a little over 300 {yikes!} I went through to delete the duplicates and pick the best ones. Now I am down to about 200 but that is still a lot. Let me tell you, it was a very tough choice to choose just a few favorites to show you because every single one was amazing and does not give the park as much credit as it deserves. This is definitely a must see place regardless if you feel you are an "outdoorsy person" or not, trust me!

Let's start from the beginning though, shall we? We arrived just south of the park entrance around 11 on Saturday morning, we took a quick stop at the place we were staying since it was on the way to ask a couple questions and use the restroom, then it was back in the car and off we go - or so we thought.. the road up to the park is a one lane either side windy road that as soon as we rounded a corner we immediately came to a complete stop and then sat in traffic for two hours, moving a couple inches every so often. That was kind of a bummed out way to start the trip but we were both so excited the time went by pretty quickly. Once we got into the park we took the first parking spot we could find and grabbed the bikes and off we went. We biked around the valley floor as the clouds and rain went on and off. We were determined not to let anything ruin our first day. The lower Yosemite falls was our first stop as we took the bikes all the way to the falls and locked them to a tree. It was so incredible to be standing so close to the waterfall and feel all the mist blowing over you from the falls. Then as the afternoon went on we decided to get back in the car and drive up to a couple of the famous look out spots; Tunnel View and Glacier Point. It seemed a lot of people had the same idea we did and it was pretty crowded but the low hanging clouds made for some interesting photos. On the way down from Glacier Point we even caught a glimpse of the sun setting! We arrived back at the house we were staying at to check in with the others, eat some dinner and get ready for tomorrow.

Sunday we had big plans, a long adventurous all day hike through Yosemite. That is the next post though, so stay tuned for that :] Monday morning we were dragging a little to get up and get going but it was beautiful perfect weather and we had reservations for horseback riding so we made it into the valley stables in good time. The horseback ride was a two hour ride through one of the trails to Mirror Lake. For me, it was a little disappointing and not quite what I expected but it was still fun  much and it was nice to take a ride and enjoy some more scenery before leaving. My horse's name was Vicki and she was sweet but a little stubborn in that she didn't like to wait or stop for the rest of the group she just wanted to keep going. Brett had a mule named Fred who was also great and didn't cause too much trouble. After the ride was over we went through a couple of shops in Curry Village and sat outside to have some {late} lunch. Then we had kind of a long trek back to the car to get out of Yosemite and make the long drove home.

X x

preview of yosemite

Hello everyone!! We made it back down safely from Yosemite, really late on Monday night. There was a lot of traffic on the roads with everyone returning home from their weekend getaways as well. It was truly an amazing experience and I am excited to share all the pictures and memories with you. This first post is just a little teaser of all the pictures to come, because we took over 300 photos! I have my work cut out for me - trying to scale them down and pick out the best ones to post.

First let me tell you a little bit about our trip. On Saturday morning around 7am we packed the car, grabbed some breakfast and hit the road. We made good time to get into Yosemite, however about 4 miles away from the park entrance we hit traffic. Bad traffic. Where we sat in the car for 2 hours moving a couple of inches every 10 minutes. We started snacking on some food I had packed and watched a couple episodes of Whale Wars on my iPad before finally getting into the park. That day we just spent our exploring and figuring out what we wanted to do for the rest of the trip. We made it out to the lower Yosemite Falls and climbed on the rocks to get the best view and full experience of the waterfall's raw power. Unfortunately the weather was rainy and there were lots of low clouds hanging in the valley.  Saturday and Sunday were absolutely stunning with bright blue skies and a couple of white puffy clouds in the distance.

Sunday was our big hike day and we were gone from 7am to 7pm just hiking through the mountains. It was a long, tiring and trying day but we came out on the other side both physically and mentally stronger both as individuals and together in our relationship. Even today {Wednesday} I am still feeling the after math of blisters and sore muscles, but the experience was 100% worth it.

Then on Monday we had a 2 hour horseback ride booked and we biked around the valley floor enjoying the beautiful weather and taking it all in before we had to come back to reality. Then about 6 o'clock we said goodbye to the beautiful forest and made the trek back home.

Stay tuned for a couple more posts in more detail with amazing scenic photographs and the beauty that is Yosemite National Park.

X x