Yosemite was sick nasty, in a good way. We've been here 2 other times and let me be completely honest (this is Giddi by the way), the first time we came here was bad vibes because we were moving all my stuff from Utah to Arizona. We had been road tripping in a tiny Jetta for 2 weeks straight and our car was full of all my junk, so it was really overwhelming. We only spent like a day and a night and then decided to head straight home because I'm a lady and I'm loco crazy sometimes with my emotions. The second trip to the valley we were highlining and swimming with friends. And we took an empty car, so that was much better, but I still had a bitter taste towards Yosemite due to my first experience there leaving a bad impression. But this third time around was super great.
We spent about 3 days in Yosemite and didn't do much hiking because I am a little lazy (whenever I saw the older folk in the spots we were going to, I knew it was going to be good and easy and that made me happy). Jace wanted to do much longer hikes, but was a champ and supported my laziness this trip. We visited Bridal Veil and Lower Yosemite Falls, and wanted to hike Vernal Falls but Lotus was not allowed on the trail (no pets sign) so we set up a hammock by the river and just chilled for a couple hours instead. It is a little difficult traveling with a dog when visiting national parks because they are only allowed in the campgrounds and on paved trails. It worked out ok here though, because we were doing all the "touristy" stuff and all of those trails happen to be paved anyway.
During the 3 days in the valley, we also drove up to Glacier point twice and it was amazing! So mind blowing! The views up there are incredible and it is a good place to go when they valley gets too hot because it is so much higher in elevation. We attempted to hike to Taft Point (near glacier) late into the evening one of the nights, but ended up getting lost. There was still a lot of snow up in the area and the trail was nearly impossible to stay on. After losing the trail a few times, and my headlamp dying (always check your battery beforehand - lesson learned) we decided to call it quits. It ended up being a good call because we had also met a guy in the parking lot who had been looking for his girlfriend for the past 2 hours. She had gotten lost hiking out, so the rangers had to come up to look for her, so we were like.. Maybe this is a terrible idea. So we loaded back into the van and looked for a pull out off the beaten path and went to bed.
The last day we were in Yosemite we figured it would be a good idea to clean and organize the van, so we drove over to Cathedral picnic area (by the way this picnic area has the only decent bathroom in all of Yosemite, everything else is death). We pulled 90% of our belongings and gear out onto the ground, deep cleaned, organized and put everything back. It was a much needed cleaning/organizing and felt much better after it was all finished. We cooked some yummy indian food and ate right next to river as the sun began to set. The colors of the setting sun on the massive rock walls and tall trees was so beautiful! We hung out after dinner for a bit by the river and then drove back up to Glacier Point. There was an instameet with Chris Burked and Jimmy Chin Jace wanted to go to so we watched the sunset and hung out for about an hour up there.
All in all Yosemite is great! A gentleman we met a couple weeks back compared Yosemite and Sequoia and mentioned how Yosemite is all hustle and bustle and Sequoia is like where you go toke it out and just chill and enjoy the double rainbow. Haha, jk. But really it is so amazing and a good place to just breath and be amazed by the amazing things this Earth has available for us to see! Even with all the hustle and bustle and loads of tourists, it is a place not to be missed! A few recommendations on my part: don't go on the weekends, bring hand sanitizer with you, take a hammock and just relax.