Yosemite National Park

Bill liked the inaccessibility of Kings Canyon (you have to go back country there) and the lack of crowds and diversity of terrain at Lassen (our next stop) but I LOVED Yosemite so I am putting it at the top of my list for must do hikes. Bill was sick the day we drove in to Yosemite and it was 105 degrees so we decided to take the car tour rather than hike at 8500+ feet given the situation. The views of Half Dome and the valley below were stunning. I just don't have words to describe how beautiful this area is, you must see this for yourself! YOU MUST, I'LL GO THERE WITH YOU!

The rumors of gridlock traffic were not true for us at all, we drove straight into Yosemite valley without a problem on July 5th. We didn't stay down there long, just enough to snap some photos and dip in the river, it was incredibly hot down there and we had to get higher for the cooler air. I am really looking forward to returning here, in the spring when it's cooler and has more snow (we didn't see any) and we even called my mom and asked if she would babysit our un-conceived future kids while we hiked here. She said she would so I bet we'll be back in the next few years. I can't believe you can hike to the top of Half Dome, we could see people standing on top of that massive rock, freaky! I have to do it. I can't wait, I'm not going to blather on about it, just go there!

Bill said about climbing on Half Dome and El Cap, "People say Ironman is hard core but climbing that stuff is just crazy." Exactly, I was so glad he wasn't inspired to pick up that type of climbing. PHEW!