California has more than beaches

YOSEMITE

I love road trips. I haven't been on one longer than down to Moab for a long time and it was fun to go on a long one.

Our trip started because of looking into a Tegan and Sara concert. They weren't playing in Utah, (but I found out, since that they are playing at Thanksgiving Point with Death Cab for Cutie so you should go!) so we ended up finding one in Davis, which is just outside Sacramento, which is where I served my mission. So, after buying those tickets we decided to make a real trip of it, and go to Yosemite as well. I had been when I was 8 but neither of the other two had been there before.

We left Thursday, in Harriett packed and stoked for her first trip. I got on a roll and drove the whole 13 hours into Yosemite. It was good that it was dark because I'm sure it would have taken way longer had I been able to enjoy the scenery. The road into the valley was closed so we pulled off the road somewhere and set up our tent. Luckily we got out of there in the morning soon enough that we didn't get busted.

The next morning, we found Camp 4, set up camp, and then found 'The Manure Pile'. It's close to the base of El Capitan (and for those of you who don't hablo Espanol, that's Spanish for The Captain) and we did a 6 pitch route called After Six. (Just an FYI ... a pitch means length of a the rope. Like, one pitch I climb up, get to a belay spot, belay from there, then the next person climbs up to me, and we keep going, and do that six or however many times). Molly has done a couple multi-pitch things, but Jess never has, and it was my first time being the one leading all the pitches, and setting up all the anchors. So, it was an adventure, but I gotta be honest (and a little bragy) and say it was great and everything went really smooth. The first couple pitches took forever because it was all teaching and checking and double checking everything, and getting all the kinks of climbing with three worked out, but then we all got the hang of it and it was so fun. We stopped in the middle to have a PB&J lunch. The view from the top was great, and it was awesome to have done it.

The next day we relaxed in camp for a bit and then started a hike to Upper Yosemite Falls. It was a rough hike with steep switch backs at the beginning and at the end. It was only 3.5 miles but it took us just under 2 hours. It was steep but totally worth it. We had great views of Half Dome the whole way up. I couldn't believe how close we could get the the falls at the top and close to the edge. There was so much spray and wind at the top it was It was awesome. Such a great view of the valley and it was a great time to be there because there was so much water flowing. It was rough on the thighs on the way down . We hung in camp for a bit, then tried to motivate. We looked through the climbing book and tried to find a couple different spots, but couldn't find them, so ... I'm a little hesitant to admit this but we climbed in the back of Harriett, put the seat down, and watched Juno on my laptop. I know, I know, it's supposed to be this "hard core climbing trip", but we enjoyed taking some rest time, and told ourselves it was a "girl's trip" also.

The next morning, we cleaned up camp, then went to do Mungenella, a three pitch route by the Lower Yosemite Falls. There were great views of Half Dome throughout the whole route. We did it in two pitches. As with all the climbs, the hike down was more sketchy than the actual climb.

We drove in to Sacramento, and found my friend, Heather's house. She was one of the last people I taught on my mission, and it's been a while since I've seen her, so it was so good to see her again. We drove around Downtown Sacramento and Old Sac, and did a little shopping. I didn't ever see a lot of it while I was out there, sadly enough. We drove up to El Dorado Hills, my first area, and visited a family and an older couple that took good care of me while I was out there. It was good to be back there, and I was amazed that I was able to find their houses. That night we went to the concert. They put on such a great show. They're Canadian twins, and so fun to listen to. They have such great banter, and I love their music. I think musicians that can change up their music, so that the concert songs are different than the CDs are great and they did that, and it was awesome. Here's a couple more pictures for good measure.

Over all it was such a great trip. I love climbing trips and this one was awesome because it was so much fun, and great to do it with just girls. Molly and Jess are leaving on missions in a month and a half and I'm really sad to see them go, and getting pretty bummed to be loosing two of my best friends right now! But I know they'll be great missionaries and I am stoked for the people the get to teach and I'm jealous of their companions (Not the being on a mission again part, but the getting to hang out with them all the time part). Good luck girls!